It shouldn’t be a big shock that The Great British Bake Off is a well-loved show around these parts. And you all know how I feel about historical cooking and social history in general.
And you should have a pretty good idea about how I feel about generalized shenanigans. (Pro. Very pro.)
Now, if you put these things together, what you get is The Supersizers Go, aka “Literal RHG bait as produced by the BBC.”
In this show, Sue Perkins, one of the hosts of the GBBO, and Giles Coren, a food writer and critic (he’s been on Gordon Ramsay’s The F Word a bunch), spend a week living and eating in a particular time period. They wear the clothes, live in a period-appropriate dwelling, engage in a smattering of period-appropriate activities, and, most importantly, eat the food, as advised by various and sundry food historians.
It’s FUCKING HILARIOUS.
There are 12 episodes on Hulu, ranging from Ancient Rome to the 1980s. (There’s also an Edwardian special episode, which I have not yet seen.)
At the beginning of each episode, Sue and Giles get a medical work up and have a blood panel taken, often focusing on things like cholesterol, or liver function and stuff like that. After the week is over, the same tests are repeated to see what’s changed.
(No, it’s not a perfect metric, but it is interesting.)
In the World War II episode, they discuss rationing and how much butter each person is allotted, and includes a packed lunch designed for eating in the Tube bomb shelters (which they eat in a Tube station, much to the amusement and bewilderment of random passersby). (Bemused random passers-by are a staple of the show – Sue is a comedienne and Giles is… kind of a dorky douche, so they’re up for regular public humiliation.) (Ooooo, the rare double parenthetical!).
Also, Sue tries to fake stockings with… gravy, basically? It’s weird and kinda gross.
The Restoration episode – set after the Restoration of the Monarchy with Charles II – introduces another fairly regular staple: Sue and Giles have a job that requires them to get shitfaced on the regular. For much of history, alcohol was much safer to drink than water, and large, over-the-top dinners require a LOT of booze, and neither of them have the tolerance to not decide that peeing in the dining room (in a bucket, thank god) is a reasonable course of action.
This was on the BBC! It’s CLASSY.
Now, they don’t stick with one social class or even one locality for each era. They begin with a specific (usually upper-ish) class and persona story, but explore others- Puritans during the Restoration, a Vestal Virgin in Ancient Rome, or Revolutionaries in 1790s France. So they do dabble in what everyone was eating.
Now, I thought that the 1980s episode would be kind of dull- after all I was alive during the 80s, even if I was mostly focused on mac and cheese and tater tot hot dish at that time (also the learning how to walk and be a person). But they started off the week as high powered stock trading somethings, but it was the 1980s in Britain, so Thatcher crashed the economy, and they had to suddenly economize. That’s not the most interesting part of the episode, though: it’s that the food historians they talked to and had dinners parties with all have the 1980s in their living memory. Some of them helped shape the trends! (Also we get to watch Giles shoot 8 espressos, and he’s like “I’m totally fine- why is my arm twitching?”)
I had some issues with the Medieval episode, because they sort of crammed 400 years of culinary history into one lump, which really doesn’t work. And I know enough about Roman cooking to be pretty sure they were using the garum wrong.
What you get out of this show is SO many ways to prepare meat (not as many veggie recipes), and SO many things to drink (1920s cocktails!) and two very watchable people bravely trying everything put in front of them – at least one bite. Also a hilarious moment of a cook trying to deal with a very, VERY fresh eel (they, uh, keep moving for a while after you kill them? Did you know? Now you know). It’s educational, entertaining, and that kind of warm fuzzy reality TV that doesn’t need to manufacture drama (Flip or Flop, I’m looking at you).
Also Sue Perkins is one of Britain’s greatest treasures. Thank you for sharing her with us.
The Supersizers Go is available for streaming on Hulu Plus.
I love this show. The sheer enthusiasm with which they fling themselves into each period and its ridiculous dinners is so infectiously charming. It’s such a sweet show that it makes you forge Giles Coren is an insufferable sexist douchebag (his sister’s the cool one).
Are there lobster patties in the Regency episode? Because as I’ve learned from my trusty Romance novels, that’s ALL they ate at parties. I’ll be so bummed if they’re not there.
I love this show. So sad they didn’t continue with more eras, but Sue is so much fun as one of the presenters in “The Great British Bake-off”.
I need this show.
MINOR quibble – the 18th century caption – that would be Louis XVI (Louis XVII was their son and he’s the king that wasn’t … he disappeared during the revolution, but the royalists still counted him).
That sounds amazing! I can’t wait to try it out.
This show is the best, and some of the descriptions Sue gives of the food still crack me up even after watching the episodes more than once.
Oh, and if you’re outside the US, you can also watch it on…er…that most popular video hosting site. At least at the moment.
Ah, this sounds amazing! 🙂
It is so good. Giles also has another show (sadly without Sue who was GBBOing) called Back in Time for Dinner which is also worth a go- family eats from the 50s to the 90s!
I. Love. This. Show. It’s become a comfort watch, for me. I know that Giles Coren is generally understood to be a douchenozzle (he apparently regularly says rude things in public places, then acts shocked and confused when people call him on it?), but he and Sue are so hilarious together.
So random to find this pop up on SBTB – I was a huge fan when it was first on TV… omg, eight years ago? Where did eight years go… Anyway, I’d given up mentioning this show to anyone because this show seems to have sort of slipped under the radar a bit. So, I’m glad more people will see it now. Mel and Sue have been my loves since the 90s but Sue has chemistry with everyone which is why she single-handedly makes Giles seem like good company. Watch it. Just do. And thanks for reminding me cos that will make my comfort TV schedule for the night.
(Random… as I write this, a show with Sue’s pal Mel came on BBC1)
Sorry for second comment but I have to second mspym’s recommendation of Back In Time For Dinner. (Also, there’s currently a series called Back In Time For The Weekend which is about lifestyle rather than food, but the family isn’t as endearing as the first.)
Yes!!!! I just discovered this last week and now only have the Roman episode left to watch. Trying to coerce hubs into watching, since he likes gladiator Roman stuff. I love the clothing (even if some isn’t very accurate) and getting to traipse through food history in a country that has a lot more of it. And I loved the episode or two where Mary Berry made an appearance!
So sad there isn’t more, so thanks for the Back In Time rec. I need to figure out how to watch more GBBO (or GBBS in the US), since there’s only one season on Netflix, and I’m not a PBS supporter to be able to watch it through their site.
I also saw that Poldark and The Crimson Field are available through Amazon Prime for free, so I’ve got TV plans for the next little while.
I *love* this show!
That is tongue in the last gif. Our fabulous Sue, never one to let a comic prop go to waste!
All the eps were also on YouTube at one point, for those of us who forwent our subscriptions in favor of economizing. (I can get like 8 shots of espresso for Hulu’s monthly fees, right?)
Gah, I heart this show so much. My favorite Sue line: “This isn’t food, this is a B movie!”
Most of the episodes are on YouTube.
Oh, this looks amazing! Thank you for the rec!
I love this show! I really enjoyed the regency episode (sue running around a ball trying to find a husband!)
They had a three episode follow up – the two of them take on the (British) sitcom the good life, which is about a couple of suburbanites trying to be self sufficient.
I love the Supersizers, and I find Giles bizarrely attractive despite the fact that he is indeed a twat (I’m sorry, I’m too English to say douche. It’s like NASA – it sounds ridiculous in an English accent but I feel stupid saying it with an American one). The Back in Time series is also excellent.
Also, have you seen the Historical Farm series? More serious, with a bunch of historians living the life of a farm from a period, including food and dress. BBC also. Starts with Tudor Monastery farm, but they did Victorian and Edwardian versions too, and a special at a castle in France being built from scratch using only medieval tools and methods.
I LOVE Supersizers. My favourite description of a dish was a “pie full of sad dead things”, closely followed by the jelly Sue described as being “the colour of sadness.” They also did a short series about the self-sufficiency movement in the 1970s inspired by the TV sitcom The Good Life, which is also hilarious.
I love GBBO so will definitely track this down.
For some historical cooking, from the genuine historic cook books in places, try Kew on a Plate. It is a gardening / cooking show, where they grow the food and a french chef showcases what can be done with it once harvested. Mixed in is also a historic dish, cooked traditionally following an accurate recipe. Unfortunately, no Sue hosting but still interesting watching and only four episodes (for each season).
@Squimbelina – Giles is strangely cute, I agree! Especially in the Reformation/Victorian/Elizabethan/Medieval episodes when he has a ridiculous little moustache and tousled hair. Very RomanceHero TM!
I watched this ages ago and it was hilarious. Sometimes a bit over the top but still full of information about historical food trends. I love shows like this because I’m interested in history but also as a kind of research for fantasy novels.
Wish they’d done more. Sue has also done a very intersting documentary about Anne Lister, a lesbian from the 19th century.
You had me at Sue Perkins 😀
ClaireC you don’t need to be a PBS supporter to watch shows on their app (Roku, tablets, Chromecast, etc), but shows rotate off pretty quickly.