This culinary journey through history examines how the growing Empire allowed Britain to harness the globe's edible resources; from cod fish and salt beef to sugar, spices and opium. Historian Lizzie Collingham brings a fresh perspective to the making of the realm, uncovering its decisive role in the shaping of the modern diet and revealing how almost every meal we eat still contains a taste of empire.

There are compromises to be made as the Puritan settlers struggle to recreate the perfect English diet in their New England colonial farmsteads.

Written by Lizzie Collingham
Read by Melody Grove
Abridged by Siân Preece
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie. Show less