Tonight on , viewers were treated to a special episode delving into the history of food.
The show explored various contraptions that have been used in kitchen’s gone by, including elaborate cork screws, mandolines and silver spoons.
During the roadshow that took place in Derbyshire, one guest was particularly surprised to learn the true purpose of an antique kitchen item that she had been using as a fruit bowl.
Pointing to the shiny silver contraption on the table, expert Duncan Campbell began: “I’m guessing by the emaculate shine on this that this is an object that in your house gets used virtually every day.”
The guest then explained that the object she was using as a fruit bowl had been passed down from her grandparents to her mother after they got “tired of cleaning it”.
Antiques Roadshow explored the history of food this week (Image: BBC)
As the guest admitted she “didn’t know what it was for”, the expert revealed the item had been made about 130 years ago at “a time where having a posh tea party was quite the thing”.
“This would have been full of biscuits,” he exclaimed, as the guest replied: “Well… I would not have imagined it was for biscuits.”
Campbell went on to explain that the item was a “biscuit barrel”, which might have been filled with macarons or other colourful sweet treats designed to “enchant” tea party guests.
“It would have caused woops and shrieks of delight when the biscuits went on display,” he added.
“A biscuit barrel,” the guest reiterated in astonishment, before being told that the item would fetch between £250 to £300.
“That’s great,” she replied, before revealing her vow to continue to use her biscuit barrel for another purpose.
“I’ll keep using it as a fruit bowl,” she confessed, as Campbell replied: “Good for you.”
Duncan Campbell valued the item (Image: BBC)
A History of Food saw Antiques Roadshow presenter Fiona Bruce look back on the many items that might have been used in kitchens across time.
The special episode explores a selection of objects revealing four hundred years of cooking and eating, from farmhouse fare to royal banquets.
The synopsis continues: “From ancient books and an early guide to royal cookery to quirky kitchen gadgets and Georgian cookware, this episode looks at the way Britain’s food culture has changed over the centuries.
“Special guest Dame joins Fiona Bruce to reminisce about her life in cooking, with the aid of three cherished old kitchen items – a potato ricer, a pestle and mortar and a fearsome mandoline slicer.
“Food historian Ivan Day reveals some of the treasures in his remarkable collection, including a ravioli cutter dating back to the time of Michelangelo, while author and broadcaster Dr Annie Gray explores the history of afternoon tea, recreating a selection of dishes from the books of late 19th-century cook Avis Crocombe, who worked at Audley End House in Essex.
The ‘fruit bowl’ was actually something else entirely (Image: BBC)
Antiques Roadshow is hosted by Fiona Bruce (Image: BBC)
“Ronnie Archer Morgan calls into one of the longest running Indian restaurants in Britain, Veeraswamy, which opened in 1926, and visits the Museum of London to explore the links between sugar and slavery – powerfully evoked in an early 19th-century sugar bowl with an anti-slavery message.
“Mark Smith looks at the huge dangers facing the Atlantic convoys that kept Britain supplied with food during the Second World War, while Fuchsia Voremberg celebrates one of the earliest celebrity chefs, Philip Harben, who rose to fame with his rationing recipes and TV appearances in Tudor costume.
“At the Ulster Folk Museum in Belfast, Lisa Lloyd learns about the history of soda bread and sees butter churned by hand using a turn of the century farmhouse gadget.”
Antiques Roadshow returns next Sunday at 7pm on One and iPlayer.