What the Normans Did for Our Diet

On BBC Radio 4 we’re marking the arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in London by exploring the impact of the Norman invasion. In this programme, food historian Dr Annie Gray travels to Normandy to investigate how the Norman Conquest changed what we eat and drink.

The Normans crossed the English Channel with new cheeses, different varieties of apple to make cider and introduced rabbits to our table. Annie samples the “Fantastic Four” of Norman soft cheeses – Livarot, Camembert, Neufchâtel and Pont-l'Évêque – and learns about their history with cheese expert David Raguet. She visits cider-makers Christian Drouin and Jean Olivier Petrich to understand why Normandy excels in the drink and finds out about the production of calvados and pommeau.

Back in England, Annie also goes on the hunt for rabbits in Thetford Forest where you can still see evidence of the extensive Norman warrens. Dr Millie Horton-Insch from the British Museum explains how food is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry and Professor Ben Jervis considers what archaeology can teach us about the way our diets changed after 1066.

Produced by Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol.