Regula Ysewijn

Regula Ysewijn is a Belgian Culinary historian, writer and photographer. She focuses on food and social history of Britain and the Low countries and travels between Belgium and London for her work. She has been a Great Taste Awards judge and World Cheese Awards judge for the Guild of Fine Food for almost ten years and is also one of the two judges for the Belgian version of the Great British Bake Off TV series (Bake Off Vlaanderen) and Junior Bake Off Vlaanderen. She has also worked on TV programs with the BBC like 'The platinum pudding, 70 years in the making'. Regula is the author of: 'Pride and Pudding': The History of British Puddings, Savoury and Sweet (2016) which was shortlisted for the Andre Simon Award and the Fortnum & Mason Award. 'Belgian Café Culture' (2016) was her second book about the history and culture of Belgium's beer café culture (she is a trained beer sommelier) with evocative photographs of café life by the author herself. The book was featured on the BBC Food Program. The National Trust Book of Puddings followed in 2019, the book 'Brits Bakboek' (British Baking) in Dutch followed also in 2019. Oats in the North, Wheat from the South was published in April 2020 by Murdoch Books, chronicling the story of British baking through climate and import. It was nominated for an Andre Simon Award and named as one of the best cookbooks of 2020 by The New Yorker magazine and the BBC Radio 4's 'The Food Program'. In October 2020 'The Official Downton Abbey Christmas cookbook' was published. Her most recent book is Dark Rye and Honey cake (2023). In this book Regula Ysewijn turns her attention to the baking traditions of Belgium - the place of her birth through art and history. Regula and her work have been featured internationally on TV, radio in magazines, papers, and online in places such as the Guardian, The Times, Sunday Times, Elle magazine, Flow Magazine, Stylist magazine, Great British Food Magazine, BBC Radio 4 'The Food Program', BBC woman's hour, BBC One Breakfast, Delicious UK and NL, former Jamie Magazine, and many more. She has contributed to CAMRA's Good Beer Guide Belgium 2018 with a foreword.