Lecker

This is a preview of an episode of the excellent Cursed Objects podcast, featuring me, Lucy, talking to Dan Hancox and Dr Kasia Tee about the great British institution of Meal Deals.
Listen to the full version on Cursed Objects.

I’m delighted to bring you a very short sweet taste of a conversation I had recently with the food writer Gurdeep Loyal. I’ve followed Gurdeep’s work for a few years now, and have always been in great admiration of what he does; not only in his own writing, and not even just in his platforming of other people’s work on his site and instgram page Mother Tongue, but also just in his general enthusiasm, charm and fostering of connections and community within food.
His debut cookbook, also called Mother Tongue, is published this week and celebrates his heritage as -as Gurdeep himself puts it: "a descendant of Punjabi farmers and Leicester market traders.”
This is part of a much longer interview over breakfast of crab crumpets - recipe in Mother tongue - which you can hear over on the Lecker Patreon or via Apple Podcasts subscription.
Reminder that merch is available via the Lecker Teemill site or BigCartel
Music is by Kevin McCleod at Incompetech.

Ginger and apple bircher, toast toppings, Australian pancakes; writer Bre Graham talks about being a breakfast person. Her debut cookbook, Table for Two, is out now!
This is the first episode in a new interview series all about BREAKFAST! Future episodes will be available exclusively on the Lecker Patreon. For £3 a month you can get access to all episodes. Subscribe here.
Merch is available via the Lecker website. Or you can go directly to Teemill for T-shirts and tote bags, and to bigcartel for zines and patches.
Follow Lecker on Twitter and Instagram.
Music:
"In Your Arms" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Pleasant Porridge" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

A mythical-looking beast to be found on the hills of the Isle of Man; the loaghtan is a fascinating heritage breed sheep whose story is intertwined with Manx culture and history.
Katie and Lucy meet farmer Jenny Shepherd from Ballacosnahan, who have one of the biggest loaghtan flocks on the island, make loaghtan croish cuirns with artist Rosie Wood and find out how to work with loaghtan’s unique flavour with chef and spice importer Kumar Menon of Leela’s Kitchen. Plus Annie Kissack is on hand with some folktales about the sheep.
Blasstal is a podcast series by Lecker about food and folklore on the Isle of Man, supported by Culture Vannin.
Hosted and produced by Lucy Dearlove and Katie Callin
Podcast theme music by Mera Royle
Podcast artwork by Vicky Webb
With thanks to all contributors and others who made the series possible!
Music credits:
Manx Folk Dance Music - Car ny Ferrishyn
Manx Folk Dance Music - Fathaby Jig
Caarjyn Cooidjagh - Ballakilpheric - 07 Irree Shiu
Caarjyn Cooidjagh - Ballakilpheric - 11 Berree Dhone
Manx Folk Dance Music - 08 Thobm y Thallear (Tom the Tailor)
Caarjyn Cooidjagh - Ballakilpheric - 02 Ny Kirree fo Niaghtey
Manx Folk Dance Music - 15 Car Juan Nan
With thanks to Annie Kissack
Enjoying Blasstal? You might like Lecker’s brand new merch selection, including a very Manx bonnag T-shirt!
Follow Lecker on Twitter and Instagram. Read more about Blasstal and see some behind the scenes photos at leckerpodcast.com

Katie and Lucy take a deep dive to the heart of the Manx fishing industry to meet a true Isle of Man legend: the herring (skeddan in Manx).
Blasstal is a podcast series by Lecker about food and folklore on the Isle of Man, supported by Culture Vannin.
Hosted and produced by Lucy Dearlove and Katie Callin
Podcast theme music by Mera Royle
Podcast artwork by Vicky Webb
With thanks to all contributors and others who made the series possible!
Music credits:
Manx Folk Dance Music - Yn Guilley Hesheree (The Ploughboy)
Manx Folk Dance Music - Reeaghyn dy Vannin (Dirk Dance)
Manx Folk Dance Music - Peter O'Tavy
Manx Folk Dance Music - Eunyssagh Vona
Manx Folk Dance Music - Car Juan Nan
https://culturevannin.bandcamp.com/album/daunseyn-theayagh-vannin-manx-folk-dance-music
‘Daunseyn Theayagh Vannin: Manx Folk Dance Music’
Manx trad.
Manx Folk Dance Society, 1976.
Caarjyn Cooidjagh - Arrane Y Skeddan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob9eSB5KkFA&ab_channel=CultureVannin
‘The King of the Sea’
Lyrics: J.F. Gill, Traditional melody: Yn Colbagh Breck er Sthrap, from ‘Manx National Songs’, ed. W.H. Gill (1896)
Performed by Lowenna
At the Manx Folk Awards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuKvytxDIc8&ab_channel=CultureVannin
‘King of the Sea’
Lyrics: J.F. Gill, Traditional melody: Yn Colbagh Breck er Sthrap, from ‘Manx National Songs’, ed. W.H. Gill (1896)
Performed by Ballacottier School
At the Manx Folk Awards
Conducted by Katie Lawrence
With thanks to Annie Kissack
Follow Lecker on Twitter and Instagram. Read more about Blasstal and see some behind the scenes photos at leckerpodcast.com

In episode 1 of Blasstal, Katie introduces Lucy to the vegetable at the heart of Hop-tu-Naa traditions of the Isle of Man.
They explore the island's folklore with poet and folklore expert Annie Kissack, attend a Hop-tu-Naa celebration at Cregneash, carve their own moots, and finally head out Hop-tu-Naa-ing around Peel.
Blasstal is a podcast series by Lecker about food and folklore on the Isle of Man, supported by Culture Vannin.
Hosted and produced by Lucy Dearlove and Katie Callin
Podcast theme music by Mera Royle
Podcast artwork by Vicky Webb
With thanks to all contributors and others who made the series possible!
Music credits:
Manx Folk Dance Music - Guilley Hesheree (The Ploughboy)
Manx Folk Dance Music - Eunyssagh Vona
Manx Folk Dance Music - Hop-tu-Naa
https://culturevannin.bandcamp.com/album/daunseyn-theayagh-vannin-manx-folk-dance-music
‘Daunseyn Theayagh Vannin: Manx Folk Dance Music’
Manx trad.
Manx Folk Dance Society, 1976.
Caarjyn Cooidjagh - Manannan Beg Ballad
Caarjyn Cooidjagh - Mannin veg veen
With thanks to Annie Kissack
Follow Lecker on Twitter and Instagram. Read more about Blasstal and see some behind the scenes photos at leckerpodcast.com

Welcome to Blasstal! A podcast series by Lecker about food and folklore on the Isle of Man, supported by Culture Vannin.
Launching 31st October.
Hosted and produced by Lucy Dearlove and Katie Callin
Podcast theme music by Mera Royle
Podcast artwork by Vicky Webb

The writer and cook Melissa Thompson talks about her book Motherland; a very personal history of Jamaica.
Melissa weaves the history of the country so elegantly with her own story in a way that makes it impossible to ignore that the violent history of colonialism in Jamaica is to do with all of us in Britain. As you’ll hear us talk about, she uses the physical walls of the Drax Estate in Dorset, where she grew up, to demonstrate how ingrained Britain’s colonial legacy is in the very fabric of our life here - and it’s mostly been buried.
I also asked Melissa how she approaches translating recipes which are very personal to her into a format which can be comprehensible and replicable by anyone who buys her book. Is anything lost or compromised in this process of translation?
Motherland is out now, published by Bloomsbury.
This is the third of three episodes this month about contemporary personal food writing and memoir. The first can be found here and the second here.
Ben McDonald creates original illustrations for Lecker - find them on the Lecker Twitter and Instagram.
If you’re in a position to, please considering supporting Lecker. Buy merch here and become a Patron at patreon.com/leckerpodcast. This month's exclusive episode will include more from this conversation with Melissa!
You can find out more about how to support Lecker (including one-off donations) at leckerpodcast.com/support.
Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.
Full transcript on the Lecker website.

The writer and editor Thea Lenarduzzi talks about her book Dandelions; a family history of migration, cooking, living.
So much of personal writing in food focuses on heritage and family - and rightly so! But - down, no doubt to the very white, middle class status quo - there can be a tendency towards simplification - of dishes, or even a narrative, a family’s history. What Dandelions does so well is capture how much of people’s lives rests in the spaces between, resisting categorisation and definition, and even slipping between fact and fiction, but in a way that remains always true and always significant, even in the so-called mundanity of everyday life.
Dandelions is out now, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions.
This is the second of three episodes this month about contemporary personal food writing and memoir. The first can be found here.
Ben McDonald creates original illustrations for Lecker - find them on the Lecker Twitter and Instagram.
If you’re in a position to, please considering supporting Lecker. Buy merch here and become a Patron at patreon.com/leckerpodcast. This month's exclusive episode will include more from this conversation with Thea!
You can find out more about how to support Lecker (including one-off donations) at leckerpodcast.com/support.
Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.
Full transcript on the Lecker website.

A conversation between Angela Hui and Rebecca May Johnson, recorded just after their respective debut non-fiction books had been published. An exploration of the importance of valuing and demonstrating labour within cooking, of novelty versus repetition, and of the idea of rejecting food writing as a category.
You can find Takeaway by Angela Hui and Small Fires by Rebecca May Johnson at all good bookshops now.
Mentions:
Cathy Park Hong's part poetry part memoir (Angela)
Audre Lorde - Zami (Rebecca)
Luce Giard and Michel de Certeau -The Practice of Everyday Life (Rebecca)
Ocean Vuong - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (Angela)
Nuar Alsadir on how to be your own freaky clown (Rebecca)
You can listen back to Rebecca on a very early episode of Lecker here...
This is the first of three episodes this month about contemporary personal food writing and memoir - stay tuned for more!
Ben McDonald creates original illustrations for Lecker - find them on the Lecker Twitter and Instagram.
If you’re in a position to, please considering supporting Lecker. Buy merch here and become a Patron at patreon.com/leckerpodcast. This month's exclusive episode will include more from this conversation between Angela and Rebecca!
You can find out more about how to support Lecker (including one-off donations) at leckerpodcast.com/support.
Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.
Full transcript on the Lecker website.