What did Samuel Pepys have for dinner, which fish did Alice B Toklas cook for Picasso and how did Victorian cooks get their cakes to rise? We sample recipes preserved in historic food books and talk to the editor of a new series of books featuring 20 historic food writers. We're joined by Mrs Beeton's biographer Kathryn Hughes in a discussion of changing food fashions and what it is that makes today's chefs bestsellers.

We also discuss literary responses to the 10th anniversary of 9/11. John Freeman, editor of Granta, joins us down the line from New York to explain his latest edition featuring fiction, reportage and poetry from around the world, while Richard Lea talks about the short stories that have been running throughout the week on guardian.co.uk/books.

Reading list
Penguin's Great Food series
Granta 116: Ten Years Later