January 2026

Jan 5

A Scottish New Year & Cook Book Photography

Dear Tastorians,

Happy New Year! Last week, I spent a few days in Edinburgh where they celebrate Hogmanay. I have wanted to witness the festivities for myself ever since I discussed it in the video on Shortbread back in 2021. Until recently, Hogmanay (New Year's Eve), New Year's Day and January 2nd had outshone Christmas as the holiday of the season because, until 1958, Christmas was not recognized as a public holiday in Scotland. Back in 1640, the Scottish parliament passed the Yule Vacance Act, which abolished the celebration of all things Yuletide, and as late as 1879 it was written that:

The ministers of Scotland, in contempt of the holy-day observed in England, cause their wives and servants to spin in open sight of the people upon Yule day, and their affectionate auditors constrain their servants to yoke their plough on Yule day, in contempt of Christ's nativity. — James Napier (Folk Lore Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within This Century)

This long lasting ban on Christmas gave rise to a much larger festivity around the New Year which would last for days and included the tradition of "first footing" where people would go from house to house throughout the 1st and 2nd of January to greet their neighbors, make amends, and exchange gifts of whiskey and food like black buns and shortbread. Sadly, as Christmas has made a comeback in Scotland, it's led to a lessening of the Hogmanay traditions and the new year is now celebrated much the same way as it is everywhere else, especially amongst the young people of the country. That said, I still wanted to enjoy the celebration for myself and I'm very glad I did. I heard lots of wonderful bagpipe music, watched the fireworks over Edinburgh Castle, and was able to meet up with Bruce Fummey of the YouTube channel Scotland History Tours. You may remember him from the episodes I made on MacBeth and Haggis. While we didn't do any filming while I was there, Bruce regaled me with some wonderful stories of Scottish history, which will be turned into episodes in the near future.

Now, back at home from my travels, I take another big step forward (one of the final steps) in the creation of the next Tasting History cookbook as it is photography week! It's fun to watch a team of cooks, designers, and photographers bring these dishes to life with far more style than I could ever hope to achieve. I'll post some pictures in next month's newsletter, but if you want to get day-by-day updates on the process, follow me on instagram: @tastinghistorywithmaxmiller.

Also, in researching last month's video on meat in the Roman military and how to feed a Centurion, I came across two fascinating videos about the supply lines and logistics of the Roman military. I've linked those below as well as a bit of the bagpiping I enjoyed while I celebrated Hogmanay last week.