A Food Historian's Diary

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 05:00:00 GMT

A lot of people often ask me what kind of a job is a food historian? What do you actually do and how do you earn your living from it? Well I reckon I have one of the best jobs of anybody in the country, because I get paid for what I really love doing the most. The work also has tremendous variety. I am very busy and usually have more than one major job on at any one time. For instance, this summer my most important project was acting as historical advisor to a museum near Brussels, where we set up a major exhibition on the history of the dessert course. I made many items of the ornamental confectionery myself from moulds over 200 years old and lent many items from my own collection for the displays. You can see what I did by clicking here.

As well as this, I was involved in a number of TV and Radio programmes, including Radio 4’s Christmas edition of the Food Programme on the subject of Geese, which was recorded here in my home in Cumbria. I also contributed to four episodes of BBC1’s ‘Have You Ever Wondered about Food’ and spent a crazy day making elaborate Victorian jellies in the gardens of Buckingham Palace for Channel 4’s ‘Time Team’.

At the moment, I am preparing for this year’s Christmas gig, which is to set up Queen Victoria’s dining room at Osborne House to show how she dined at Christmas in her twilight years. Last year I created a very similar display at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. My work gets me into some wonderful period houses and I get to use the most spectacular original period tableware. Next year my major project is working in New York on an exhibition on dining in 18th century Imperial Russia.

As well as all these activities, I run about a dozen or more weekend residential courses at my home in Cumbria on a variety of food skills, though of course they are all historical in nature. Many of my students are from overseas, particularly from the USA, Canada, Japan and Ireland. This past year, Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck in Bray, voted in 2005 as the World’s Best Restaurant, has been sending some of his chefs to me for training courses. A few week’s ago, he came for a couple of days himself and he has now appointed me as a consultant to his two restaurants. I will be busy working with him over the next year on the development of new dishes based on old recipes. Earlier this year, the food writer Natacha du Pont de Bie attended one of my courses on Ham Making and kindly described my courses in Food and Travel magazine ‘as the most unique cookery school in Europe’.

I am proud to operate from Shap, a village that is no stranger to good food and hospitality. Nick Bellas the local butcher makes some of the best Cumberland sausage in the region and you can get the most spectacular bacon sandwich in the Universe at the Walker’s Café a few doors down. Chefs Derek and Keith have also established a great reputation for their food at the Greyhound Hotel, which is a favourite haunt of mine. If you are interested in booking on one of my courses have a look by clicking here.

Historic Food - Ivan Day

A Food Historian's Diary