Book of the Month – "Stuffed" by Pen Vogler

My first introduction to ‘Stuffed’ was trying to read my own book, with my girlfriend rudely interrupting my flow to say, ‘Omg, this is so interesting ….’ or ‘You’re going to love this’. So, obviously, I had to give it a read. 

It’s a playful title for the book, with ‘Stuffed’ appropriate in both senses of the word. On the one hand, the content or perhaps even uncomfortable feeling after a huge meal, and on the other, ‘stuffed’ when you are down and out, broke or in trouble. This book takes us through the ‘History of Good Food and Hard Times in Britain’. 

With each chapter discussing a staple food item, Vogler takes us to the roots of food that we take for granted, perceive as ‘British’, or that society has decided is in or out of fashion. It provides insights into how French chef Auguste Escoffier shaped modern-day chef culture with methods borne out of his work feeding British soldiers fighting in Crimea, why our cheese has been much more ‘chunk of cheddar’ than the softer farmhouse varieties on the continent, and how Dickensian gruel, a mainstay of the cruel workhouse diet, is perhaps not so dissimilar from today’s oat milk.  

In relation to Best Food Forward's school work, there is a brilliant chapter on ‘Scotch Barley Broth and Rhubarb tart’, which provides a timeline for the dawn of school meals. It begins at the start of the 20th Century with the scandal over poor youngsters too malnourished to fight in the Anglo-Boer war, with Booth and Rowntree's surveys showing swathes of the population unable to afford nutritious food. It introduces how the progressive ‘Bradford Feeding Experiment’, which unsurprisingly showed the positive benefits of feeding youngsters a nutritious meal during school time, paved the way for our national school meals programme. The chapter continues up to Jamie Oliver's School Dinners, Marcus Rashford's campaigning and our friends at Chefs In Schools – whose chefs are likely knocking up fantastic rhubarb desserts and barley in their school lunches now. 

There are recipes at the end of chapters, with references and mentions of old quotes, recipes, and historical events. It’s a perfect book to balance between rigorously researched, and educational, which provides answers to things you just thought ‘were’, whilst also being a page-turner that makes you laugh, nostalgic and hungry all at once. 

Jake Barwood,

Joint strategic lead for

mapping secondary

school food education

Best Food Forward