The English Table

Reviews / Votes

Winner: Best Book Published in English * The Roca Awards 2025 * Shortlisted: Food Book of the Year * Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards 2025 * Reading The English Table gives a vivid and fascinating idea of what people ate, but not necessarily of how most of it tasted. Although full of colour, Norman's book is mostly the story not of English food but of good English food (despite our culinary fame having long rested on our cooking being barely edible) . . . Her book is excellent, but it left me wanting more - which, in a book about food, is never a bad thing. * Literary Review * Jill Norman's latest book The English Table looks at the evolution of English cuisine expertly condensing thousands of years of history into 250 or so pages. * Petits Propos Culinaires * Covering the evolutionary journey of the nation's meals from the first mammoth morsels - literally - in the Bronze Age to the dawn of the microwave dinner and beyond, The English Table guides the reader through centuries of the "often overlooked" - and let's face it, frequently derided - national cuisine. Jill Norman interrogates the topic from multiple angles: scientific, cultural and downright tragicomic. It's an easy-reading cross between academic text and popular non-fiction, which resurfaces old ingredients and period cookery books to unveil untold food stories . . . Enriched with glossy photographs and actual recipes readers can attempt to recreate at home, it's an ideal gift for any foodie or history buff. * The Grocer Magazine * The English Table is an account of the continuity and change in the English diet over centuries that includes a brilliant assembly of carefully chosen recipes. Jill Norman navigates both the history of food and the practical and sensory qualities of recipes with equal flair and authority. * Bee Wilson, author of The Secret of Cooking: Recipes for an Easier Life in the Kitchen * This story that spans centuries and is yet intimate is a delightful and fascinating way of learning about this country and understanding our eclectic tastes today. * Claudia Roden, cookbook writer and cultural anthropologist * A beautifully brisk and no-nonsense trot through the entirety of British food history - ambitious and highly readable. * Annie Gray, author of At Christmas We Feast: Festive Food through the Ages * Packed with delicious details and expertly sourced examples, The English Table takes the reader on a rich culinary journey to tell the story of Britain through the lens of food. * Polly Russell, food historian and curator at the British Library *