Charles Dickens work contains rhapsodic descriptions of good meals and disgusting details of bad ones. What foods did the Victorian English enjoy, and how was it different from the meals today? Did it change during Dickens’ lifetime? How did Dickens use food to show the class distinctions, personal character, and other details about his characters.

Richard Foss has been writing professionally since 1986, when he started reviewing restaurants for a Los Angeles newspaper. He has contributed to over forty different publications, including the Encyclopedia of World Food Cultures and Oxford Companion to Sweets. He has taught culinary history in extension programs, and is on the board of the Culinary Historians of Southern California. His book on the history of rum was published in 2012. Food in the Air and Space was released in December 2014. He is the Executive Director of Collage: A Place for Art and Culture, located in San Pedro.