What we would think of as a beef animal had the double purpose of being a working or draught animal that could pull heavy loads. There is an old adage, “A year to grow, two...

Incidentally, although the Cistercians did much to improve the quality of sheep, the animal remained much smaller than its modern descendants; as late as the early eighteenth century a sheep wasn’t much bulkier than a...

By the middle of Henry VIII’s reign, the white meats — that is, dairy products — were considered common fare and people from all classes would eat meat whenever they could get it.

Wolsey and Henry VIII, it has to be said, were not exceptional in their love of the table. The English of Tudor times had a reputation throughout Europe for gluttony. Indeed, overeating was regarded as...

I don’t know it is that I always feel that other people can create things but that I can’t. I imagine it’s simpler living in remote tribes or communities where one is obliged to have...