The Guardian’s food podcast returns

The Guardian has announced that its popular food podcast, Comfort Eating with Grace Dent has returned and is releasing its first book, titled Comfort Eating: What We Eat When Nobody's Looking. Podcast host and Guardian restaurant critic Grace Dent will also be honouring the stage with two very special live events in London and Manchester and is back with new weekly episodes of the podcast, added the publisher.

The Guardian says, celebrating the food we eat when no one is looking, the Comfort Eating book is available now for pre-order at the Guardian Bookshop and all good bookstores, and is set for release on Thursday 5 October.

Following Comfort Eating’s growing success in audio after launching in June 2021, the publisher says the book is perfect for food lovers everywhere. Authored by Grace herself, readers will be taken on a culinary journey, exploring the golden rules of comfort eating and the foods that feel like a digestible cuddle.

Much like the podcast, the Guardian says the book features the secret snacks of Grace’s famous friends - from Jo Brand's fried bread sandwich and Russell T. Davies' 'butterpepperrice' to Scarlett Moffat's crushed-Wotsits-topped beans on toast and much more. Reader’s are invited to tuck in with the recipes provided for these comforting concoctions.

In the book Grace also shares her own go-to comfort foods and reflects on the personal memories they uncover as she pays tribute to her parents, the people who taught her what comfort eating truly means.

Following the release of the Comfort Eating book, foodies with an appetite for a little more can also join Grace in-person for two very special live events, continued the publisher. Grace will be in conversation with actress and writer Katy Wix, in London on Monday 9 October and journalist and fellow food critic Jimi Famurewa, in Manchester on Wednesday 11 October.

Grace and her special guests will share joyous memories of their comforting eats, discussing what it is that makes them so delicious - is it the distinct flavours or the large pinch of nostalgia? The audience will also have the opportunity to get involved in the chat, share tales of their own comfort foods and ask questions.

Tickets for Comfort Eating with Grace Dent live in London and Manchester are available here now and if food lovers can’t make it to one of the shows in-person, the Guardian says the London show will also be live streamed worldwide. Tickets to the live stream are available here.

The Guardian says Grace has returned with 12 new weekly episodes of the Comfort Eating podcast. This time round venturing down delicious memory lanes with famous faces including Nadiya Hussain, Jon Ronson and Shirley Ballas, as they throw the cupboard doors wide open and chat about life through food.

Since its launch, the publisher says Comfort Eating has combined humour, warmth and emotion, appealing to informed foodies and cooking novices worldwide. Named Podcast of the Year at the 2022 British Media Awards, Comfort Eating has steadily grown in popularity with listens increasing by almost 20% between the last two seasons. Grace’s celebrity guests that have featured previously include names such as Graham Norton, Stephen Fry, James Norton and Malorie Blackman.

The first new episode is available for listening now featuring Nadiya Hussain up first. Listeners can dig in on theguardian.com/audio or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes of the Comfort Eating podcast are sponsored by Uber Eats.

Grace Dent, Guardian restaurant critic and TV personality, says: “I couldn’t be happier to be back with new episodes of Comfort Eating, the fact that there is also a book and tour is just the icing on the cake! I’m so excited to be visiting London and Manchester talking about comfort food. I have packed my trousers with the elasticated waist and can’t wait to hear about the snacks that the audience eat when no one is looking. Come and join me!”

Nicole Jackson, head of audio, Guardian News & Media, says: “Over the last couple of years, millions of people have tuned in to Comfort Eating for the much needed humour and warmth that Grace and her special guests evoke and I’m so excited it’s back with new episodes. Comfort eating truly does come in many forms - and so both the book and the live events are such brilliant extra treats. I hope lots of people will join Grace to celebrate the joy of comfort eating!”

The publisher says to look out for the Feast supplement free, as always, with the Guardian print edition on Saturday 30 September. Comfort Eating takes over with a Feast special dedicated to comfort foods. Regular star cooks and guests will be sharing recipes for the quick, easy and sometimes quirky snacks and treats that they enjoy eating when home alone. Expect Marmite spaghetti, late night toasties and frozen gummy bears with Greek yoghurt, as well as Grace sharing the foods she finds comforting at her favourite chain restaurant.

Comfort Eating with Grace Dent is hosted by Grace Dent, with production by Gabriela Jackson and Ruth Abrahams, the series producer is Danielle Stephens and the executive producer is Lucy Greenwell. Music is by Axel Kacoutié and sound design is by Solomon King. The series is overseen by Nicole Jackson, the Guardian’s head of audio.