Pen Vogler

Pen Vogler is a critically acclaimed food historian. She edited the Penguin’s Great Food series and writes and reviews on food history for a wide range of national newspapers. She has recreated recipes from the past for BBC Television, and writes about it on her blog, Pen’s Great Food Club.

Dinner with Darcy (CICO, 2013) takes authentic recipes from the Regency period, inspired by the food from Austen's novels and letters and updates them for contemporary cooks.

Christmas with Dickens (CICO, 2018) shares seasonal recipes inspired by the life and work of Charles Dickens.

Scoff (Atlantic, 2020) was The Times and Sunday Times History Book of the Year, and is fascinating social food history of Britain. Bringing together evidence from cookbooks, literature, artworks and social records from 1066 to the present, Vogler traces the changing fortunes of the food we encounter today, and unpicks the aspirations and prejudices of the people who have shaped our cuisine for better or worse. The paperback, published in 2021, went on to be a Waterstones Book of the Month 2021.

Her new book, Stuffed (Atlantic, 2023) is a tale of feast and famine, and of the traditions, the ideas and the laws which have fed - or starved - the nation, but also of the yeasty magic of bread and ale, the thrill of sugary treats, the pies and puddings that punctuate the year, and why the British would give anything - even North America - for a nice cup of tea. It was a Waterstones Best Food & Drink Book of 2023 and Sunday Times Book of the Year 2023.