Welcome to Ancestral Kitchen

Bringing the wisdom of ancestral food to modern kitchens in a joyful and practical way so that you can learn without overwhelm and make traditional foods part of your own life.

I’m Alison – a food writer, teacher and podcaster. Welcome to my online home. Please browse some of my articles below on ancestral eating or sign up to my regular newsletter using the form above.

Oats

Why Our Scottish Ancestors Didn’t Eat Rolled Oats

Oats have an almost mythological connection with the Scottish. Maybe, as you stand in the kitchen making your breakfast oatmeal – pouring in rolled oats, adding water/milk and stirring – you imagine that you are doing just what your Scottish … Read More

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Three Reasons to Roll Your Own Oats (& How To Do It!)

As conscious eaters, we often think about how the meat on our plate was raised or what condition the chickens who laid our breakfast eggs were kept in. But how often do we stop and consider what happened to the grains that accompany our meals before they got to our kitchens?… Read More

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Sourdough Porridge

Fermenting oats into sourdough oatmeal or porridge is easy and has so many benefits: The oats will be softer, cook more quickly and be easier to digest. The resulting oatmeal will be more nutrient-dense thanks to reduction of the mineral-leaching … Read More

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The Fascinating History of Jannock: The Giant Oat Bread That Defined Authenticity!

“Jannock is scarcely ever seen in south east Lancashire now; but it used to be highly esteemed. The common expression “That’s noan jannock” applied to anything which is not what it ought to be, and commemorates the fame of this … Read More

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The Best Way to Soak Oats

Oatmeal, or porridge, is a wonderful way to start the day. And soaking your oats the night before you cook them can make the breakfast you consume tastier, easier to digest and more nutritious. Soaking oats potentially, depending on how … Read More

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The Low Down on Oats and Phytic Acid

If you eat grains and follow an ancestral diet, you’ll probably have heard that we should soak our grains (or flour) in water and an acidic medium before cooking. This process not only softens and hydrates the grain, but it … Read More

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Why Didn’t The Scottish Routinely Ferment Their Oats?

If a grain stands still for too long in my kitchen, I ferment it. It’s been like that ever since Nourishing Traditions introduced me to the ancestral way of eating.  And, as you know if you’ve watched my sourdough porridge … Read More

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Sourdough Oatcakes

Oatcakes were the one of the staple foods of the Scottish, Welsh, Irish and nothern English populations long before the advent of the more modern grain, wheat. The ‘cake’ in their name may make our modern minds think that they … Read More

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Traditional Scottish Oatcakes

Are you with me in your love of oats? Creamy, golden, comforting, filling…what is there not to like?! Enjoying oats is not just about porridge; oats are far more flexible than mainstream food would have us believe. The British have … Read More

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Naturally-Fermented Staffordshire Oatcakes

These oatcakes have been a staple way to start the day in the north of England for centuries and are traditionally made thin and pliable, like pancakes, and then stuffed with breakfast foods such as eggs, bacon and sausages. When … Read More

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Fermented Oat Bake

Want a delicious, creative way to use fermented oats? This is tasty, easy and it keeps really well in the fridge or freezer. Eat slices hot and fresh, cut a chunk off from the leftovers as a quick snack, and … Read More

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Sourdough

Sourdough Polenta Bread

Once you’ve made sourdough polenta (learn how in my video here) you can use the leftovers to make this sourdough polenta ‘loaf’. It’s easy, tasty and so handy – you can pop in the fridge (it’ll last at least five … Read More

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Sourdough Polenta

Polenta doesn’t have to be all about corn, *and* you can ferment it making a tangy, pre-digested, filling dish. Watch the video below to see how easy it is! (Download written instructions here). I have another video that’ll show you … Read More

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Sourdough Porridge

Fermenting oats into sourdough oatmeal or porridge is easy and has so many benefits: The oats will be softer, cook more quickly and be easier to digest. The resulting oatmeal will be more nutrient-dense thanks to reduction of the mineral-leaching … Read More

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My Sourdough Spelt eCookbook!

Want to bring sourdough spelt breads, pancakes, pizzas and cakes to life in your kitchen? My new book, Sourdough Spelt Everyday will help you do just that. I’ve been baking with spelt for a decade and LOVE it’s versatility and … Read More

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Want to Freshly-Grind Grains for Bread?

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the links and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you and helps me to continue … Read More

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Pane con Ciccioli – Lard Crackling Sourdough Bread

There’s a wealth of fat-enriched breads in many cuisines because we’ve known, for a very long time, that fat and bread are so good together. The Italian recipe litany, where this bread originates, is no exception! Fat-enriched breads were particularly … Read More

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Sourdough Discard Soup

This sourdough soup is so good, I literally make discard for it when I don’t have any. And I’m not alone in believing it’s worth the effort. Traditionally, all over Slavic and Baltic regions, cereals have been purposely fermented into … Read More

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Sourdough Wholegrain Spelt Pizza

It’s time to cook up some pizza! And not just any pizza… Sourdough Wholegrain Spelt Pizza: One that is not only incredibly tasty, but gives you all of the ancient grain’s nutrients and is good for your tummy. That’s gotta … Read More

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How to Create a Sourdough Starter

There are a lot of articles out there telling you how to create a sourdough starter. Despite this, as a sourdough baker, the most questions I get asked are about sourdough starters. I’ve birthed a lot of starters over my … Read More

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How To Keep Your Sourdough Starter Warm

It’s not easy creating a sourdough starter. In fact, I think it’s the hardest thing about baking sourdough bread. Especially if it’s your first time. Sometimes, you follow the instructions meticulously, yet it doesn’t work. In my experience, this is … Read More

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Drinks

Becoming a Brewster – How I Make Medieval English Ale in my Kitchen

This post outlines how I make unhopped ale of the kind my female English ancestors did in their own kitchens until just a few hundred years ago. Because, yes, ale was women’s work. For most of history, the realm of … Read More

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Medieval Ale In A Modern Kitchen

If I say the word beer, what do you think of? For me, it’s that men drink it, and it tastes bitter. Because of these two things, for most of my life I’ve thought beer wasn’t for me. Beer’s a … Read More

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How to Make Tibicos (Water Kefir)

Tibicos is more popularly known as water kefir, and that’s what I called it for a decade…until I interviewed fermentation King Sandor Katz for Ancestral Kitchen Podcast and he sternly reprimanded my co-host and me for not using water kefir’s … Read More

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Russian Bread Kvass

Russian Bread Kvass is a favourite in our house. It’s sweet, it’s sour, it’s bubbly, it’s rich. And that’s before you’ve flavoured it – which you can do with fruit, herbs, spice and roots. Kvass is a less-well-known cousin to … Read More

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Traditional Fats

7 Ways to Use Lard (Including a Lard Crackling Spread Recipe)

Lard is hands down my favourite fat. It’s delicious, local, versatile, I can make it at home and, as Andrea and I talked about on the recent 50 Ways to Save Money on an Ancestral Diet, it is so economical! … Read More

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How to Render Lard (in a Slow Cooker)

Good quality saturated fat is one of the cornerstones of eating ancestrally. Our ancestors have been using it in their kitchens for centuries. Yet it’s not always easy to access in our modern world and, when you can find it, … Read More

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How To Make Lardo – Italian Cured Pig Fat – At Home

Lardo, the traditional Italian way of dry curing pork fat, is a delicious. It is best sliced very thinly and can be eaten in many ways. Here are some favourite ways to enjoy it: Lay lardo on top of warm … Read More

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Pane con Ciccioli – Lard Crackling Sourdough Bread

There’s a wealth of fat-enriched breads in many cuisines because we’ve known, for a very long time, that fat and bread are so good together. The Italian recipe litany, where this bread originates, is no exception! Fat-enriched breads were particularly … Read More

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The Myth of Olive Oil Use in Italy

What ingredients do you associate with Italian cooking? If I ask you this question, I’m guessing a list starts forming in your mind. And I’d lay money on olive oil being close to the top. Italians have been cooking with … Read More

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Ancestral Health

14 Tips For Changing Your Food Habits

Changing food habits can be daunting. We may have tried before and not achieved what we wanted. We may have very little support. We may have what seems like a mountain to climb. I’ve made a lot of changes in … Read More

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7 Ways to Stay on Track with Your Gut Healing

As ancestral foodies, gut healing is something that, if it didn’t bring us to this way of eating in the first place, plays a very large part in our consciousness. I first became aware of the concept of healing the … Read More

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High Protein Breakfast Ideas

Have you heard that you should be ‘eating more protein’, but not had the time to figure out how much more or how exactly to get it into your meals, especially that all-important breakfast? This article will explain protein recommendations, … Read More

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Improve Your Sleep With Ancestral Wisdom

Do you (or does anyone you know) struggle with sleep? If so, this post (and its sister post Improve Your Sleep Using Ancestral Food) is for you! Sleep is, and always has been, my Achilles heel. If you, like me, … Read More

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Are Whole Grains Healthy?

If you’d have asked me this question 6 months ago, I’d have said a resounding, “Yes!”. I have been a whole grain poster-girl for many years. In my early bread-making days, back when I used a machine and yeast, I’d … Read More

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