A cup of coffee and a slice of cake, cooking for friends, Sunday lunch with the family at the local pub – most of us take these simple everyday pleasures for granted. But how did we learn to cook and what inspired us to get better at it?

Today’s food-obsessed culture has its roots in the Georgian period. Kay explores how, as a consequence of wider trade and travel, people living in Georgian Britain witnessed the emergence of new and exotic ingredients.

Discover the real histories of our domestic and commercial kitchens, how Britain fell in love with food and how progress and invention in the culinary arts is largely attributed to the Georgians.

• Food history is incredibly popular at the moment, with

  TV shows such as The Great British Bake Off (which attracted

  an average of 8.4 million viewers per episode last year) having integrated

  clips on food history

• The first in food history series dealing with

  individual periods of history

• Georgian era experiencing a boost in popularity, with

  Lucy Worsley’s Courtiers: A Secret History of the Georgian Court a

  bestseller

• Reviews in the national press to include The Times and

  the Guardian

• Reviews by popular TV chefs and food historians
• The perfect book for any food lover with an interest

  in history