It’s comedian Suzi Ruffell in the hot seat this week, and she’s brought Andi a baked treat that’s been in her family for decades - bread pudding.

It’s important to note early on, as Suzi does, that this is very different to bread and butter pudding, though it does also provide a great opportunity for using up stale bread. Employing working class thriftiness to make the most out of ingredients past their best, bread pudding is a dish that Suzi associates with her beloved late nan Joan, who’d always have one on the go.

Its origins go back much further than a couple of generations though. Suzi and Andi discover the unexpectedly historic roots of the dish, and that it’s not always even been sweet. Find out what cleaned animal intestine has in common with a supermarket bag of mixed fruit as they discuss bread puddings through the ages.

And Kimberley Wilson has some interesting scientific insight into why bread goes stale in the first place.

Food Scientist: Kimberley Wilson
Food Historian: Neil Buttery
Producer: Lucy Dearlove
Executive Producer: Hannah Marshall
Sound Design: Charlie Brandon-King
Assistant Producer: Bukky Fadipe

A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4 Show less