Food and English Folklore

Food is essential to human survival. It occupies a central portion of our daily lives. In years past, its production, from seed to table, formed the labor of most of society. It is to be expected that it fills an equally central part of our folklore and culture.

A Feast of Folklore: The Bizarre Stories Behind British Food, by Ben Gazur, collects stories, superstitions, and traditions about food and its folkways. It takes readers on a visit to virtually all corners of cuisine.

The book is encyclopedic. Gazur covers everything, from soup to nuts, seasonings to main courses. There are chapters on vegetable, fruit, fish, dairy, bread, and drink lore. Pies and cakes get their own chapters, as does love magic associated with food and fairy food. The final chapter examines customs associated with free food and food doles.

Its focus is Great Britain, primarily England, Wales and Scotland. Some Irish food lore also appears as occasional references to foreign traditions. Gazur also explores American food traditions brought over from Britain. The book is filled with curiosities and oddities. It also explains where customs and beliefs arose.

Why do we throw a pinch of salt over our left shoulder if we spill salt (or simply for luck)? Gazur links this to the ancient custom of providing guests with salt – spilled salt indicates a break in the guest-host relationship, which must be appeased. Throwing salt over the left should drives away evil spirits who come to take advantage of the opportunity. They always approach from sinister (left). However, Gazur concludes his explanation should be taken with a pinch of salt, as folklore origins are rarely straightforward.

This opening tale is typical of the anecdotes filling this book. Some of the explanations are necessarily vague. A few beliefs prove to be remarkably modern. The belief that carrots promote good night vision dates to World War II. To conceal they were using airborne radar to hunt Nazi bombers in night raids, the War Ministry spread the tale they were feeding their fighter pilots carrots to help them see in the dark. And thus a new fallacy was born.

A Feast of Folklore is filled with similar anecdotes, from potatoes being considered a cure for rheumatism to cake rolls and bun tosses associated with different holidays and events. It covers many curious customs and traditions in a lively account of food’s interaction with human society.

“A Feast of Folklore: The Bizarre Stories Behind British Food,” by Ben Gazur, Unbound, November 2024, 256 pages, $22.95 (Hardcover), $11.99 (E-book)

This review was written by Mark Lardas, who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.