Pen Vogler

Pen Vogler is an English critically acclaimed food historian, author and bibliophile. She edited Penguin's Great Food series and wrote and reviewed food history for several national newspapers. She recreates recipes from the past for BBC Television and writes about it on her blog, Pen's Great Food Club.

Pen Vogler graduated from University College, Oxford. She is the author of Dinner with Mr Darcy, Dinner with Dickens, Scoff and Stuffed. In addition, Vogler curated the exhibition Food Glorious Food at the Charles Dickens Museum.

In Dinner with Darcy (2013), original Regency recipes are adapted for contemporary cookers, inspired by the food of Austen's novels and letters.

Christmas with Dickens (2018) shares seasonal recipes inspired by the life and work of Charles Dickens.

A fascinating social food history of Britain, Scoff (2020) won The Times and Sunday Times History Book of the Year award. Bringing together evidence from cookbooks, literature, artworks and social records from 1066 to the present, Vogler traces the changing fortunes of the food we encounter today and unpicks the aspirations and prejudices of the people who have shaped our cuisine for better or worse.

Her latest book, Stuffed: A History of Good Food and Hard Times in Britain, is a story of feast, famine, and traditions, ideas, and laws that have fed — or starved — the nation. It was a Waterstones Best Food & Drink Book of 2023.

Pen Vogler lives in London.

Photo credit: Katy Riddell.