June 2026

Jun 1

Georgian London & What’s My Line

Dear Tastorians,

I wanted to use this month's newsletter to share a new book with you. It's called Insatiable Appetites: Eating Out In Georgian London by Peter Ross. It comes out tomorrow, but I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy several weeks ago, and I've been enjoying it too much to keep to myself.

The book is filled with fascinating glimpses into the culinary world of 18th- and early 19th-century London, and I have no doubt that several chapters will inspire future episodes of Tasting History.

As a taste of the sort of history Ross includes, here's a quote about saloop—a drink that became popular in London during the latter half of the 18th century and was derived from the salep enjoyed throughout the Ottoman Empire:

“I taste its unaccustomed and exquisite flavour. Tea is great, coffee greater, chocolate, properly made, is for epicures; but these are thin and characterless compared with the salop [sic] swallowed in 1826. That was nectar, and the Hebe who poured it out was not a bleareyed old woman, though to vulgar vision she may have presented some such aspect.”

— Cornhill Magazine

I was fortunate enough to try salep myself during a layover in Istanbul earlier this year, and it was unlike anything I've ever tasted. Thick, fragrant, and wonderfully comforting.

The drink will be getting a full Tasting History episode this fall, but until then, you can read all about it, and its association with venereal disease, in Peter Ross's Insatiable Appetites - https://amzn.to/4fLwLOS

And now a few videos which I found particularly charming this month:

The Oldest Inn - Acharming look at a centuries old English Inn in 1958.
What's My Line? - Eleanor Roosevelt - While googling Gene Autry for tomorrow's video, I ended up watching him on What's My Line from the 1950s. Then I proceeded to watch 6 episodes -- this was my favorite.
A Civil War veteran - A 90-year-old veteran dances and charms these young ladies in 1930.

Signed Copies of the Tasting History Cookbook

With Father's Day around the corner, the Tasting History Cookbook makes an excellent gift. Signed copies are now available to deliver worldwide from Diesel Bookstore in Santa Monica.

Order a copy here!