Show Notes
THE FOLLOWING EPISODE FOCUSES ON THE MEDICINAL USES OF CANNABIS WITH OCCASIONAL REFERENCES TO RECREATIONAL USE. In the early days of chocolate, before we started stuffing it full of sugar, it was hailed as something of a health food. Chocolate was recognised as a suitable vehicle for all manner of medicines such as laxatives and vermifuges. In the twentieth century chocolate confections like brownies were adapted to convey cannabis as an alternative to smoking it. In this episode I’m joined by Dr. Bradley Borougerdi Professor of History from Tarrant County College in Arlington, Texas and drug historian Emily Dufton. We will be exploring the history of hash or weed brownies and how they have been used to alleviate the symptoms of critical diseases like AIDS. In particular we discuss Meridy Volz and Mary Jane Rathbun who achieved notoriety by selling these chocolate delicacies in the 1980s. Potpourri a la Liberté Mix, in a big country, a magic herb, a blend of people (do not separate), and lots of chutzpah. Pour off prohibition, strain out and discard unjust laws. Use no DEA. Whip media into a frenzy. Smoke remainder for several decades. Serve. (Brownie Mary's marijuana cookbook, Dennis Peron's recipe for social change) Useful Links Commodifying Cannabis: A Cultural History of a Complex Plant in the Atlantic World by Dr Bradley Borougerdi (2020). Reaktion Books will be publishing a Global History of Cannabis by Bradley in 2025. Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America by Emily Dufton (2017). Her new book, tentatively titled Addiction, Inc: Medication-Assisted Treatment and America’s Forgotten War on Drugs will be published by the University of Chicago Press in 2025. You can find out more about Emily on her website or follow her on Instagram or Twitter/X. You can find Meridy Volz on Instagram and Facebook where you can see examples of her artwork. The recipe for Brian Gysen’s Haschich (sic) Fudge originally published in the UK edition of the Alice B Toklas Cookbook (1954) can be found online in a collection of Alice’s writing called Murder in the Kitchen (2011) Ann Arbor Hash Bash Shanti Project Suggested Reading/Viewing ‘Go Ask Alice: The History of Toklas’ Legendary Hashish Fudge’ by Layla Eplett, Scientific American, 20 April 2015 ‘Activist Preserves Legacy Of Husband Who Won Right To Medical Marijuana Grown By The Feds 45 Years Ago’ by Kyle Jaeger on the Marijuana Moment website, 8 May 2023 Brownie Mary's Marijuana Cookbook, Dennis Peron's Recipe For Social Change by Mary Jane Rathbun and Denis Peron (1996) Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco by Alia Volz (2020) ‘My Mom Secretly Made Pot Brownies For AIDS Patients And It Changed My Life’ by Alia Volz on the Huffington Post website, 5 August 2020 ‘Activist Robert C. Randall Dies’ by Graeme Zielinski in the Washington Post, 7 June 2001 ‘Brownie Mary’ Robert Dunes Video on YouTube ‘I love you Alice B Toklas - Best Brownie Recipe’ (clip from Peter Sellers’ movie via YouTube) Bong Appetit on YouTube '
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit comfortablyhungry.substack.com/subscribe
More from Comfortably Hungry
Ahead of my discussion with Jennie Hood and Professor Giles Gasper at the Serve It Forth Food History Festival about how the Normans changed the way we eat, I had a chat with Kevin Booth, English Heritage’s Head Curator of Collections, about what the skeleton of ‘Conquest Man’ can tell us about the diet and health of the English at the time of the Norman invasion. Facial depiction by Face Lab, Liverpool John Moore’s University. Credit: English Heritage
In this extra helping of the Comfortably Hungry podcast I chat to chef Jago Rackham and author of To Entertain: Instructions for a Dinner Party about the complexities (or not) of hosting a dinner party. We chat about stuffy Victorian etiquette manuals (which Jago’s book most definitely isn’t), his Grandmother’s account book and why plating up à la Russe is overrated. If you enjoyed the podcast you can become a paid subscriber to the Comfortably Hungry Substack (which means you’ll receive additional content) or show your appreciation by leaving a small, one off tip here. Useful Links To Entertain: Instructions for a Dinner Party is available now from lots of great independent booksellers (and the other usual suspects). You can find Jago on Substack and Instagram. I will be appearing at the Ludlow Food Festival (as will Jago) and the Gloucester History Festival later this month and will be one of the hosts of the Serve It Forth Food History Festival on 17 October 2026. Suggested Reading There are lots of Victorian etiquette manuals available online at Internet Archive if you want to see examples of the advice that used to be dished out, such as: * The Habits of Good Society (1859) * Host And Guest : A Book About Dinners, Dinner-Giving, Wines, And Desserts by A. V. Kirwan (1864) * Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens (1864) - not an etiquette book but his characters Mr & Mrs Veneering are perfect examples of the sort of people that these books were aimed at.
In this bonus episode I plunge into the history of the anchovy - the little fish with a big flavour with food writer Sudi Pigott. We discuss how Sudi became an anchovy evangelist, explore the lives of the women (sobadoras) who are vital to the anchovy industry and lots more. If you enjoyed the podcast you can become a paid subscriber to the Comfortably Hungry Substack (which means you’ll receive additional content) or show your appreciation by leaving a small, one off tip here. Useful Links Consider the Anchovy is available from all good independent bookshops (and the usual big book suppliers but they don’t need a plug here). Don’t forget to visit Sudi’s website for more details on her work and events plus follow her anchovy travels on Instagram and Substack. You’ll find Sudi at festivals in Abergevenny, Chiswick and Folkestone later this year. And I will be appearing at the Ludlow Food Festival and the Gloucester History Festival. You can find out more about the Serve It Forth Food History Festival on 17 October 2026 here. * Consider the Anchovy Dinner at Caldesi Restaurant in London * Anchovy Festival and the Anchovy Tapa Trail in L’Escala (Spain) * Museo Dell’acciuga in Aspra (Sicily) * Anchoas Hazas Don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram or Bluesky @mrssbilton or find out more about my work on sambilton.com. A huge thank you to Thomas Ntinas of The Delicious Legacy for doing the sound mixing on this season of the podcast. Sound effects and music provided by Zapsplat and Pond5. Comfortably Hungry is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
In Part 2 of my deep dive into the history of macaroni and cheese with culinary historian Karima Moyer-Nocchi, author of The Epic History of Mac and Cheese, we chat about colonial FOMO, the macaroni fashion craze and debunk a stubborn gastro myth concerning Mac ‘n’ cheese’s popularity in the US. You can catch me at the Ludlow Food Festival on Friday 11 September where I’ll be discussing what foods were served in castles over the centuries in a live A is for Apple podcast with my co-hosts Alessandra Pino of A Curious Appetite and Neil Buttery of the British Food History podcast. If you enjoyed the podcast you can become a paid subscriber to the Comfortably Hungry Substack (which means you’ll receive additional content) or show your appreciation by leaving a small, one off tip here. Useful Links You can find Karima on Instagram and don’t forget to check out her website, The Eternal Table. Karima’s books include: * The Epic History of Mac and Cheese (2026) * The Eternal Table: A Cultural History of Food in Rome (Big City Food Biographies) with Giancarlo Rolandi (2019) * Chewing the Fat: An Oral History of Italian Foodways from Fascism to Dolce Vita (2015) Suggested Reading * A complete system of cookery by William Verrall (1759) - the White Hart inn in Lewes where he served as chef is still open today! * La cuisiniere bourgeoise by Joseph Menon (1771) - you can find a later English translation here. Don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram or Bluesky @mrssbilton or find out more about my work on sambilton.com. A huge thank you to Thomas Ntinas of The Delicious Legacy for doing the sound mixing on this season of the podcast. Sound effects and music provided by Zapsplat and Pond5. Comfortably Hungry is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
July 14 is National Macaroni and Cheese day! To mark the occasion I thought it would be fun to delve into the history of Mac ‘n’ Cheese with culinary historian Karima Moyer-Nocchi, author of The Epic History of Mac and Cheese. In Part 1, Karima and I explore the antecedents of this iconic pasta dish and how it found its way to England to develop into a recipe fit for medieval kings complete with a liberal sprinkling of spices. Part 2 will follow soon! If you enjoyed the podcast you can become a paid subscriber to the Comfortably Hungry Substack (which means you’ll receive additional content) or show your appreciation by leaving a small, one off tip here. Useful Links You can find Karima on Instagram and don’t forget to check out her website, The Eternal Table. Karima’s books include: * The Epic History of Mac and Cheese (2026) * The Eternal Table: A Cultural History of Food in Rome (Big City Food Biographies) with Giancarlo Rolandi (2019) * Chewing the Fat: An Oral History of Italian Foodways from Fascism to Dolce Vita (2015)