Recipes & Rituals - feasts for days of death and days of life

Food historian Seren Charrington-Hollins explores the food related rituals that surround life and death.

Christmas and New Year gives cause for cheerful recollections of good times and friendships, as well as thoughts for those that have passed. In days gone by the whole Christian year was filled with religious feasts and many of these ancient festivals and ancient food rituals can be traced back to pre-Christian rituals.

Food historian Seren Charrington-Hollins explores the feasts and food related rituals that surround life and death, uncovering some of the dark histories and forgotten rituals of our ancestors’ feasts as well as looking at the origins of our modern festive day recipes. She also reflects over what the first TV chef, Philip Harben, buried in Highgate West, would make of todays ‘traditional’ festive feasts and looks at how our Christmas preparations have changed since his death in 1970.