The only person who has sold more books in Britain than Jamie Oliver is J. K. Rowling.

Jamie has been watched and read by millions. His enthusiasm for food is often infectious. His cooking and his campaigning have changed the way we eat.

I'm speaking about Jamie with Rachel Roddy, author of a regular column on Italian food for the Guardian.

We focus mainly on how Jamie, and others, have viewed food in Italy and I ask whether this helps explain why Jamie is often seen by some people as blaming poorer individuals for what he says are bad eating habits.

In this episode we mention Alberto Grandi, Carla Tomasi and Massimo Montanari.

Rachel is the author of An A-Z of Pasta, among other books on food.

The Full English is produced by Lewis Bassett. Mixing and sound design is from Forest DLG.

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Alexis Soyer cooked for the rich and poor alike. He transformed elite restaurant kitchens in London with new technologies such as gas stoves and he provided nourishment to the starving in Ireland and the battered and the bloody during the Crimean war.

Soyer's fierce desire to feed people went against the grain of Victorian common sense and he helped change how we think about who is responsible for public nutrition today.

Joining Lewis Bassett is Pen Vogler and Miranda Carter.

Pen discusses Soyer in her book Stuffed: A Political History of What We Eat and Why it Matters and some of Soyer's recipes also appear in her book Dinner with Dickens.

Soyer is a central character in Miranda's novel The Devil's Feast.

The Full English is produced by Lewis Bassett. Mixing and sound design is from Forest DLG.

Follow the Full English on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The most influential cook that you've probably never heard of, according to food historian Neil Buttery.

Elizabeth Raffald captured the distinctly modern English food of the 18th century. The Heston Blumental of her time, inspiring cooks like Fergus Henderson today.

Neil Buttery is the author of "Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England's Most Influential Housekeeper". He's also got two new books coming out, Knead to Know: A History of Baking and The Philosophy of Puddings.

Find Neil's blog and his brilliant podcast here.

The Full English is produced by Lewis Bassett. Mixing and sound design is from Forest DLG.

Follow the Full English on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.