Hello, I'm Lucy Worsley, chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces.

You're listening to our podcast that explores the history and stories of our six palaces.

These talks are a collection of some of our best live events.

I really hope you enjoy listening.

In this series compiled from our archives, we explore the history of food and dining across our

palaces. For this episode, join food historian Dr Annie Gray as she delves into the delights

of the Georgian dinner table. Judgment, respectability and comfort is a quote from an 18th century

cookbook and it sums up 18th century dining. When we dine today, especially when we just have

dinner with our families or with our children or whatever we're doing, whether it's in front of

the telly or whether it's at a dining table, for us dinner is something where perhaps we come together, perhaps we think about it.

We might stress about it for a few minutes, perhaps even think about it for a couple of hours before we go to the supermarket.

But we don't tend to spend all week thinking about dinner.

Perhaps if you have an invited dinner party, you might do.

But by and large, dinner for us is something where we eat it. It's very nice. The microwave

pings, the dishwasher runs. Job done. Dinner in the 18th century, however, it wasn't quite as much

of a warfare aspect as it would become in the Victorian period, but it was very, very

important. This is a period where women play in a special role in the planning and execution

of dinner. So whereas in the Tudor period and in the medieval period, all professional cooks

were men. By the 17th century, women have entered the kitchen for the very first time as professional

cooks.

Meanwhile, in terms of the house structure, the planning of menus and the planning of dinner

is very much the mistress's province.

...