The history of French toast-like dishes from ancient Rome to the 20th century, and a medieval Italian version made with saffron and rose water

The history of Thai massaman curry and the kings who ate it

The history of buccaneers and making boiled leather, for when you’re starving on a pirate ship

Attila the Hun: scourge of the Roman Empire and eater of meat

The Great Molasses Flood of 1919 and Boston brown bread

Al Capone’s soup kitchen and an Italian soup that could have been served there

An early fad diet created by 18th century Dr. George Cheyne, and a delicious soup that would technically follow the diet’s rules (but is a dessert if we’re being honest)

The important role of beer in very ancient Sumer, and a recipe for it that is recreated from a hymn

The history of latkes and a recipe based on 20th century versions

The history of wassail and its myriad forms, along with a recipe from 19th century Oxford

Christmas dinners during WWI and a ration-friendly Christmas pudding recipe from 1915

What Marie Antoinette ate (the lady loved chocolate), and 18th century French recipes for an intense chocolate creme and meringue-like chocolate cookies.

Coffee’s checkered past and a coffee-less coffee-looking cocktail that would have been safe to drink during one of the several times the brew was banned

The history of this most Scottish of foods, and Ewan Paterson of Allan’s Butcher in Auchterarder, Scotland helps me make some

How the Portuguese’s brief stint trading with Japan in the 16th century changed Japanese cuisine, and a recipe of one of the tasty dishes to come out of it

The Wampanoag Nation and pilgrims in the years leading up to the First Thanksgiving, along with a venison stew that could have been served there

An overview of American WWII field kitchens and rations and a recipe for a classic dish straight from a manual written in 1944

The long relationship of macaroni and cheese, and how they were brought irrevocably together by a Scottish macaroni salesman, two Swiss food chemists, and a Canadian cheesemonger, along with a fancy 19th century recipe.

The opening of King Tutankhamun’s tomb and what we know (or can guess) about his life, and a recipe for duck that uses ingredients found in his tomb

The curious tradition of sin eaters and gingerbread cookies that could have been used as funeral biscuits in Victorian England