Tasting History: Researching and Experiencing the Development of the Cheese Trade
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square
This interactive, experiential event will include a discussion with Ned Palmer, author of A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles, and Alasdair McNeill, a Birkbeck doctoral student researching the early modern cheese trade. It will be accompanied by a free tasting of six historic cheeses.
Ned will introduce each cheese by placing it in its historical context, and the tastings will be interspersed with a conversation between Ned and Alasdair about the development of the trade and its importance to broader histories of commercialisation, labour relations, and women’s social and economic role. They will also discuss the value, and limits, of experiential food studies. How can the history of cheese – from milking to mongering – illuminate the role of ordinary women and men in their local communities and wider society? How can producing and tasting historic foods help us understand their histories?
Booking is open only to MPhil/PhD students until 31 January 2026. It is open to all students, staff and members of the public thereafter.
The event will be hosted by Birkbeck's Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Worlds.
Contact name: Brodie Waddell
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