Ivan is a food historian, broadcaster and curator who specialises in the reconstruction ofperiod kitchens and historic table displays. My work has been exhibited in many institutions in Britain, Europe and the US, including the Museum of London,Metropolitan Museum in NYC and Getty Research Institute in LA. I am the author of many books and papers and also work in TV and radio. Recipes are of course essential for an understanding of how our ancestors cooked and dined – they are culinary musical scores. However my approach to food history places just as much emphasis on what we can learn from objects, both from the kitchen and the dining table. If recipes are the musical notation of the kitchen, culinary utensils are the equivalent of instruments upon which the music is performed. In order to get closer to an understanding the food of the past, my approach is to cook using appropriate technologies and equipment. The results are often a revelation.