A Dark History of Chocolate

Folklore, Food & Fairytales

In this bonus episode I talk with Emma Kay about her new book The Dark History of Chocolate.

Firstly, may I say that this is a fantastic book. I constantly alternated between being ashamed of ever eating chocolate to being seduced by the idea of this rich, darkly magical substance. I was left at the end not sure whether I could ever look a chocolate digestive in the face again and equally wanting to rush off and make intensely dark chocolate truffles with smoky whisky & sea salt and indulge in every one!

Emma Kay is a museum professional who has worked in major institutions including The National Maritime Museum, The British Museum and the University of Bath. She is qualified in History and Conservation and numerous areas of Heritage Management and Archaeology.

She is now a food historian, author and prolific collector of Kitchenalia and lives in the Cotswolds with her husband and young son. Her articles have appeared in publications including BBC History Magazine, The Daily Express, Daily Mail and Times Literary Supplement. She has contributed historic food research for a number of television production companies and featured several times on Talk Radio Europe, BBC Hereford and Worcester, BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, BBC Humberside, BBC Gloucestershire and LifeFM.

In 2018 she appeared in a ten-part series for the BBC and Hungry Gap Productions, ‘ The Best Christmas Food Ever’ and on BBC Countryfile, co-presenting a feature exploring the heritage of the black pear.

At the end of 2019 Emma was filmed for a new Channel 5 series, exploring the food from some of Britain’s greatest battles. She is also the author of 9 published books.

You can order this book direct from the publishers Pen and Sword, Bookshop.org or other good booksellers. You can find out more about Emma at her website or on Twitter @museumofkitchen or Instagram @museumofkitchenalia . Emma also has a Youtube channel .

You can also find out more about Folklore, Food and Fairytales at Hestia's Kitchen which has all past episodes and the connected recipes on the blog. If you'd like to get in touch about the podcast you can find me on Twitter or Instagram at @FairyTalesFood.