The life and times of the humble potato

Call it whatever you want …. a Spud, a Tatty, a Tuber, the humble potato has been on dinner plates across the world for hundreds of years. Join us from the comfort of your own home, as we delve deep into this magical root vegetable and discover its origins and the journeys it has been on to become a dinner time favourite in many different nations and cultures.

On this special evening celebrating the potato, we will be joined by specialist speakers including chefs, food historians and potato enthusiasts from around the world.

Speakers include:

Professor Rebecca Earle

An academic and an author, Rebecca is historian of food, and of the cultural history of Spanish America and early modern Europe. She is interested in how ordinary, every-day cultural practices such as eating or dressing, or even using postage stamps, shape how we think about the world.

Her current projects grow out of her interest in the cultural significance of food. She is presently writing a global history of the potato. Rebecca’s research is interested in the potato's success as a global food, and also in its spread in eighteenth-century Europe. Her most recent book, Feeding the People: The Politics of the Potato was published in 2020.

Chef Romy Gill MBE

Chef Romy Gill MBE is a British/Indian chef, food/travel writer and broadcaster based in Southwest England. She was the owner and head chef at Romy’s Kitchen. In 2016 she was appointed an MBE in the Queen’s 90th birthday honours list. 

Romy is now one of the chefs on the BBC One new series of Ready Steady Cook  and has previously appeared on Sunday Brunch, BBC The One show,  BBC Country life, BBC Celebrity MasterChef, The Hairy Bikers’ Comfort Food, James Martin’s Saturday Morning and much more!.   

Romy regularly contributes for national and international publications including The NewYork Times and in 2019 released her debut cookbook ZAIKA , which contains amazing Vegan recipes from India. 

Romy believes that potatoes are an integral part of Indian cuisine, forming the basis of dishes from potato-based curries, through spiced potato cakes, to a flatbread dough made using mashed potato. Join us online to hear her personal relationship with the humble potato and its importance with Indian cooking and culture.

This event is part of our 2021 Heritage Open Days celebration. Each year we have a theme and this year's theme is something everyone can get their teeth into… Food.