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On this episode: stories from the food growers and edible gardeners of Hastings and St Leonards. Town Grown is a Hastings-based food growers network and in June they organised an ‘Edible Open Gardens’ weekend, where food growing sites all over Hastings and St Leonards opened their gates to the public.  I took my recorder along with me and spent some time getting to know what it’s like to get your hands dirty in the soil of this part of East Sussex. We have an heirloom county orchard, a former Victorian private garden finding a new lease of life in the community, a very special plot on the site of a former secondary school cricket enclosure, and we’re beginning on Helgi’s plot in Marina Allotments, in West St Leonards. You can download a free one-page zine about each story on the Lecker website!Marina Allotments is a sea-facing allotment site in West St Leonards. Locals interested can join the waiting list here. St Matthews Gardens is a community garden with membership open to a catchment area in St Leonards. Find out more on Facebook. Small Meadow Farm is a permaculture smallholding and orchard with wild camping and wwoofing opportunities. Read more on Anna’s website. Future Growth is a food forest and regenerative allotment at Mulberry Academy St Leonards. You can find out more on Instagram and sign up to support the project on Patreon. *** Lecker is a podcast about how food shapes our lives. Recorded mostly in kitchens, each episode explores personal stories to examine our relationships with food – and each other. Looking for something else to read? Find all of the Lecker Book Club reads on my Bookshop.org list. [aff link] Support Lecker:Patreon: patreon.com/leckerpodcastSubstack: leckerpodcast.substack.comApple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lecker/id1158028729Merch:  leckerpodcast.com/merchListen everywhere: leckerpodcast.comInstagram: @leckerpodcastMusic by Blue Dot SessionsFind the transcript on the Lecker website.

A visit to the Ideal Home Show, with author Eli Davies. Eli's book The Spinster Cookbook: Culture, Politics and Pleasure in the Single Woman's Kitchen is out now! [aff link] Find Eli online:Instagram: @elidaviesssSubstack: elidavies.substack.com Related episodes:Trophy Cabinets (Kitchens episode 1) [LINK]Moving House, Moving Kitchen [LINK] ---Lecker is a podcast about how food shapes our lives. Recorded mostly in kitchens, each episode explores personal stories to examine our relationships with food – and each other. Looking for something else to read? Find all of the Lecker Book Club reads on my Bookshop.org list. [aff link] Support Lecker:Patreon: patreon.com/leckerpodcastSubstack: leckerpodcast.substack.comApple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lecker/id1158028729Merch:  leckerpodcast.com/merchListen everywhere: leckerpodcast.comInstagram: @leckerpodcastFull transcript available at leckerpodcast.comMusic by Blue Dot Sessions

Hello! Thanks for reading, and for bearing with me this month - a busy one, hence no main feed podcast episode. A good chance for you to catch up with the episodes I have released this year though: Alice Hewitt’s tiny kitchen tables, and considering food on canvas (or screen!) in still life. This isn’t strictly food related, though I always have a keen eye for food details in both fiction and non fiction books that I’m reading. I thought it would be enjoyable (to me at least) to start documenting the books I’m reading as we go through the year. I’m making a deliberate, concentrated effort to read more this year and this has involved some serious self-talk and an impenetrable social media blocker (I’ve been using AppBlock in Strict Mode since the start of the year – yes I paid for it – and as a result have largely kicked my addiction to infinite scroll short form video….which is nice and I feel like I’ve reclaimed some brain cells, honestly). Hope you enjoy listening!

How still life reflects - and defines - the food of an era, featuring artist Ben McDonald and author Katie Goh. Find Ben online:Instagram: @ben___mcKo-Fi store: ko-fi.com/benmc/shop Find Katie online:Instagram: @katie_goh_Website: katiegoh.co.uk You can find a list of books referenced and artworks mentioned at leckerpodcast.com Related episodes:A Personal History of the Orange with Katie Goh [LINK]Oranges and Lemons [LINK] ---Lecker is a podcast about how food shapes our lives. Recorded mostly in kitchens, each episode explores personal stories to examine our relationships with food – and each other. Looking for something to read? Find all of the Lecker Book Club reads on my Bookshop.org list. [aff link] Support Lecker:Patreon: patreon.com/leckerpodcastSubstack: leckerpodcast.substack.comApple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lecker/id1158028729Merch:  leckerpodcast.com/merchListen everywhere: leckerpodcast.comInstagram: @leckerpodcastFull transcript available at leckerpodcast.comMusic by Blue Dot Sessions

Sculptor and miniaturist Alice Hewitt explains the secrets of her tiny kitchen tables. There's also a lo-fi video version of this episode with images of the tables discussed on YouTube. You can also buy the book from the exhibition, with images of each table and their accompanying texts HERE. Find Alice online:Instagram: @alicemakesathingTikTok: @alicemakesathingYouTube: @alicemakesathingWebsite: alicemakesathing.co.uk ---Lecker is a podcast about how food shapes our lives. Recorded mostly in kitchens, each episode explores personal stories to examine our relationships with food – and each other. Looking for something to read? Find all of the Lecker Book Club reads on my Bookshop.org list. [aff link] Support Lecker:Patreon: patreon.com/leckerpodcastSubstack: leckerpodcast.substack.comApple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lecker/id1158028729 Merch:  leckerpodcast.com/merch Listen everywhere: leckerpodcast.comInstagram: @leckerpodcast Full transcript available at leckerpodcast.com Music by Blue Dot Sessions

A subscriber essay about the architect Frank Gehry and his famous kitchen - and not so famous kitchen.

Have you ever thought about what you might put on your gravestone? A quote, a poem....a recipe? Rosie Grant, the world's leading expert on gravestone recipes, explains all. NOTE: this episode was edited on 31/08/26 as it previously included incorrect information about Julia Child's burial site. Rosie stated that Julia is buried at the Neptune Memorial Reef, which is false. Julia’s ashes were spread in a few of her favorite places, including California, France and New England; this is information from her family. The Neptune Memorial Reef posted on Facebook in May that Julia is not buried there or associated with the reef in any way. About Rosie Grant:Rosie Grant is a writer, researcher, and archivist whose work explores the intersections of archives, folklore, and family storytelling. She is the creator of @GhostlyArchive, where her exploration of gravestone recipes and the histories behind them has reached hundreds of thousands of followers across social media. TO DIE FOR: A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes is her first book. Find her: Instagram: @ghostly.archiveTikTok: @ghostlyarchive Find all of the Lecker Book Club reads on my Bookshop.org list. [aff link] Further Listening:Sunday Roast Rites: on death and cookingMoots: on the food related traditions of Hop-tu-Naa, the Manx celebration of Samhain ---Lecker is a podcast about how food shapes our lives. Recorded mostly in kitchens, each episode explores personal stories to examine our relationships with food – and each other. Support Lecker:Patreon: patreon.com/leckerpodcastSubstack: leckerpodcast.substack.comApple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lecker/id1158028729 Merch:  leckerpodcast.com/merch Listen everywhere: leckerpodcast.comInstagram: @leckerpodcast Full transcript available at leckerpodcast.com Lecker is part of Heritage Radio Network - heritageradionetwork.org Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Joké Bakare on Nigerian Food, Michelin Stars and West African Hospitality Chef Joké Bakare joins Lecker for a live recording at the Festival of Encounters in Brixton - the same neighbourhood where she first emerged from the tube in 1999 to encounter the bright lights of Brixton. From selling 300-400 meat pies every Sunday outside her church to becoming the first Black female Michelin-starred chef in the UK, Joké's journey is one of persistence, community, and staying true to the food she grew up with. We talk about growing up in a multi-ethnic Nigerian household where food was a celebration of Yoruba and Igbo cultures, the specific ripeness of plantain that matters more than most people realise, and why she refuses to call her cooking "elevated."Many thanks to Van Gogh House for including Lecker in the 2025 Festival of Encounters programme! Special thanks to Anna Bromwich and Elysia Krishnadasan Torrens for all their work putting it together. And thanks to everyone who came to the event.  About Joké Bakare: Joké Bakare is a Nigerian chef and founder of Chishuru Restaurant in Fitzrovia, London. She started her business with a food van outside her church in Southeast London, won a competition for a popup residency in Brixton Village, and in 2024 became the first Black female Michelin-starred chef in the UK. Find her: Instagram @jokebakare / @chishuru / chishuru.com Related Lecker episodes: Permission to Write with Melissa Thompson - on navigating a violent colonial legacy in the food of your heritage Matooke Goes With Everything - on the significance and specificity of sourcing ingredients ---Lecker is a podcast about how food shapes our lives. Recorded mostly in kitchens, each episode explores personal stories to examine our relationships with food – and each other.Support Lecker:Patreon: patreon.com/leckerpodcastSubstack: leckerpodcast.substack.comApple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lecker/id1158028729Merch:  leckerpodcast.com/merchListen everywhere: leckerpodcast.comInstagram: @leckerpodcastFull transcript available at leckerpodcast.comLecker is part of Heritage Radio Network - heritageradionetwork.orgMusic by Blue Dot Sessions

Anna Ansari on Silk Roads: Tracing Food, Migration and Identity Across Asia Iranian-American writer Anna Ansari joins Lecker to discuss her debut cookbook Silk Roads: A Flavour Odyssey with recipes from Baku to Beijing. Cooking Risotto alla Bukhara in her East London kitchen, we explore how ingredients, people, and culinary traditions have moved along ancient trade routes - and how Anna's own journey from suburban Detroit to China to Scotland connects to these stories of migration and belonging. We cover:  The movement of ingredients across the Silk Roads (melons from Uzbekistan, spinach from Iran, apples from Kazakhstan)  How Anna's Turkic heritage connects to Central Asian and Chinese cuisines  Experiencing Uyghur food in Beijing as a teenager and recognising familiar flavours  Adapting traditional recipes like bakhash into dishes recognisable in different contexts  The immigrant experience: giving up a legal career to move countries and start over  Cooking rice as a constant across homes and continents  Authenticity, authority, and whose food stories get told  About Anna Ansari: Anna Ansari is an Iranian-American writer with a background in Asian Studies. A former trade attorney, she now writes at the intersection of food, family and history. Her debut book Silk Roads: A Flavour Odyssey is out now. Find her: Substack - Where in the World is Anna Ansari? / Instagram @thisplacetastesdeliciousFind all of the Lecker Book Club reads on my Bookshop.org list. [aff link]Further Listening: What is a National Dish? with Anya von BremzenGastro-Spirituality with Jenny Lau--- Lecker is a podcast about how food shapes our lives. Recorded mostly in kitchens, each episode explores personal stories to examine our relationships with food – and each other. Support Lecker: Patreon: patreon.com/leckerpodcast Substack: leckerpodcast.substack.com Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lecker/id1158028729 Merch:  leckerpodcast.com/merchListen everywhere: leckerpodcast.com Instagram: @leckerpodcast Full transcript available at leckerpodcast.com Lecker is part of Heritage Radio Network - heritageradionetwork.org Music by Blue Dot Sessions

On this month's Lecker Book Club – a regular interview series with authors writing in or adjacent to food culture – All Consuming by Ruby Tandoh.Ruby’s new book, All Consuming, is really a natural progression in her work: taking the unique position she occupies as both a professional cook and baker but also something of a commentator and observer in order to deeply and thoroughly investigate the culinary landscape we find ourselves in. From Dubai chocolate to Nara Smith, there's no-one else I would rather read on decoding and digesting contemporary food culture.Lecker is now part of Heritage Radio Network! Find out more about this independent podcast network dedicated to food, beverages and the culinary world and discover their many fantastic shows at heritageradionetwork.org.You can find a transcript for this episode at leckerpodcast.com.All Consuming is out now. Find all of the Lecker Book Club reads on my Bookshop.org list. [aff link]Support Lecker by becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon, Apple Podcasts and now on Substack.Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

​​This month Lecker is re-releasing some older episodes: here’s Kitchens, a six part series from 2021 about the most important room in the home.How can the practice of eating together secure a sustainable future for our kitchens?In the final episode of the series, Joanne MacInnes and Betul Piyade from the community centre West London Welcome describe what it's like for refugees and asylum seekers to live indefinitely in hotel rooms without kitchens. And academic and "food crisis responder" Marsha Smith explains why social eating is so important for us as a society, and explains how it's the key to future proofing our eating habits.Lecker is written and produced by Lucy DearloveThanks to my contributors on this episode Betul Piyade and Joanne MacInnes at West London Welcome, and Marsha Smith.West London Welcome is an amazing place. You can donate to support their work via LocalGiving here.The transcript of the episode is here.Buy the Kitchens print zine featuring original essays and illustrations!Original music was composed for the series by Jeremy Warmsley, with additional music by Blue Dot SessionsResearch and production assistance from Nadia Mehdi.Editorial feedback by Rory DearloveCover collage by Stephanie HartmanSupport Lecker by becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon, Apple Podcasts and now on Substack.Find Lecker on instagram.

​​This month Lecker is re-releasing some older episodes: here’s Kitchens, a six part series from 2021 about the most important room in the home.Does it matter what fuels our fire in the kitchen? Javon Bennett explains how his family adapted their cooking when they moved from Jamaica to England, and Carwyn Graves explores open fire cooking and other Welsh kitchen traditions.A full transcript is available on the Lecker website.Lecker is written and produced by Lucy DearloveThanks to the contributors on this episode, Javon Bennett and Carwyn Graves. And also thanks to Naomi Oppenheim who put me in touch with Javon via the British Library Caribbean Foodways project and also to my friend and previous Lecker guest Sian Stacey for telling me about Carwyn’s work.Buy the Kitchens print zine featuring original essays and illustrations!Original music was composed for the series by Jeremy Warmsley, with additional music by Blue Dot SessionsResearch and production assistance from Nadia Mehdi.Extractor fan recording by Victoria FerranCover collage by Stephanie HartmanSupport Lecker by becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon, Apple Podcasts and now on Substack.

​​This month Lecker is re-releasing some older episodes: here’s Kitchens, a six part series from 2021 about the most important room in the home.Prefabs – built to help counter the post war housing shortage - were actually some of the earliest examples of fitted kitchens in the UK, and came with built-in fridges at a time when this technology was unaffordable to most people. Jennie Thomas reflects on growing up in a post war prefab in Hackney, and Alice Wilson, whose academic work examines tiny houses, reflects on the movement as a reaction to the housing situation in contemporary Britain.Lecker is written and produced by Lucy Dearlove.Thanks to the contributors on this episode, Jennie Thomas and Alice Wilson. Find out more about the OpHouse project.A full transcript is available on the Lecker website.Buy the Kitchens print zine featuring original essays and illustrations!Original music was composed for the series by Jeremy Warmsley, with additional music also by Jeremy, and by Blue Dot SessionsResearch and production assistance from Nadia Mehdi.Additional guest research by Sarah Woolley.Cover collage by Stephanie HartmanSupport Lecker by becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon, Apple Podcasts and now on Substack.

This month Lecker is re-releasing some older episodes: here’s Kitchens, a six part series from 2021 about the most important room in the home.Why are so many of our kitchens so unsociable? Lucy meets Johnny Grey, a kitchen designer who’s been fighting for decades to make kitchens a place for leisure not work, and Katie Pennick, a disability campaigner whose work has changed the face of London transport – but who still can’t cook in her own kitchen. Plus Sean Warmington-Wan reflects on the unsociable kitchen in his shared London house.Lecker is written and produced by Lucy Dearlove.Thanks to the contributors on this episode: Sean Warmington-Wan, Katie Pennick and Johnny Grey.You can find a full transcript for this episode on the Lecker website.Buy the Kitchens print zine featuring original essays and illustrations!Original music was composed for the series by Jeremy Warmsley, with additional music also by Jeremy, and by Blue Dot SessionsResearch and production assistance from Nadia Mehdi.Cover collage by Stephanie HartmanSupport Lecker by becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon, Apple Podcasts and now on Substack.

​​This month Lecker is re-releasing some older episodes: here’s Kitchens, a six part series from 2021 about the most important room in the home.Kitchens are inextricably linked with the woman of the house. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that the fitted kitchen was literally designed as a workspace to fit around a woman’s body. But what does this mean for women - and men - now? How are traditional gender roles built up and broken down by the kitchen itself? Michael Etheridge reflects on the distribution of domestic labour in his own home, and food writer Gemma Croffie talks about the narrow definition of accepted womanhood when it comes to domestic work.A full transcript for this episode is available on the Lecker website.The title Meal Machine comes from the companion guide to the 2011 MoMA exhibition Counter Space: Design + The Modern Kitchen: “Meal machine, experimental laboratory, status symbol, domestic prison, or the creative and spiritual heart of the home?”Lecker is written and produced by Lucy Dearlove.Thanks to my contributors on this episode: Michael Etheridge and Gemma Croffie. You can read Gemma’s piece Kitchens on the Path, which inspired this episode, in the print zine released alongside this audio series. Buy a copy now at leckerpodcast.com/kitchens.Original music was composed for the series by Jeremy Warmsley, with additional music also by Jeremy, and by Blue Dot Sessions.Research and production assistance from Nadia Mehdi.Cover collage by Stephanie Hartman.Support Lecker by becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon, Apple Podcasts and now on Substack.