Food and drink

A red herring on a plate

Q&A Why do we say ‘red herring’?

Dr Katrina Moseley explores the surprising story of slimming clubs, touching on female friendship, entrepreneurialism and feminist fury. (Image by Getty Images)

The changing shape of slimming clubs

Historian Timothy Hickman answers listener questions about the ban on booze in 1920s America, from speakeasies and moonshine to Al Capone’s shady dealings. (Image by Getty Images)

Prohibition: everything you wanted to know

Alcohol is poured away into a New York sewer during the prohibition era, c1920

Prohibition quiz: how much do you know about the US ban on booze?

A flapper shows off her hidden bottles of alcohol

The morning after: the impact of prohibition

Pancake day celebrations

The history of Shrove Tuesday: why do we eat pancakes?

Annie Gray portrait by Ian Farrell

Annie Gray “For Queen Victoria, food was a way of exploring the world”

Women queue for potatoes in a greengrocer's shop in London, c1945. (Photo by Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer/IWM via Getty Images)

Second World War

Saving food, saving lives: rationing in the Second World War

The Eridge Hunt, Boxing Day 1952. (Photo by REX/Associated Newspapers)

A brief history of Boxing Day

Almond Hedgehog: A debonair addition to the hostess’s armoury in the Georgian period. (Illustration by Clair Rossiter for BBC History Magazine)

What was the best meal in history?

Illustration showing Roman Saturnalia banquet. (Photo by Alamy)

Saturnalia: the origins of the debauched Roman ‘Christmas’

Land girls on an Essex turkey farm round up the turkeys for the last time. (Photo by Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

A brief history of turkeys, plus why we eat a turkey dinner at Christmas

The First Thanksgiving in 1621, after a painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme; screen print, 1932. (Photo by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)

7 facts you might not know about the history of Thanksgiving

Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria’s voracious appetite for food and sex

Illustration for BBC History Magazine.

How potatoes conquered the world