The Food Chain

Latest Episodes:

Eat with your hands May 08, 2024

Show notes

Why eat with your hands?

Many food cultures around the world eat using hands, and most of us use our hands some of the time. Do we really need cutlery or chopsticks to eat a salad, peas or rice? And if you were to tackle soup or stew with your hands, how would you go about it?

Michael Kaloki reports from Nairobi, Kenya, where the staple dish ugali, made from maize flour, is traditionally eaten by hand. Michael has observed that people increasingly use cutlery to eat the dish, and he speaks to restaurateurs and customers about why that might be, and what might be lost.

Ruth Alexander learns about the etiquette of eating by hand with food writer and consultant Karen Anand in India. And Ruth explores whether food might be more enjoyable, and even taste better, when eaten by hand. Psychologist Professor Charles Spence from Oxford University, and chef Jozef Youssef of Kitchen Theory in the UK share their research.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

Reporting by Michael Kaloki in Nairobi, Kenya.

(Image: a man’s hands, pulling apart a sweet cake wrapped in dough, with sauce on his hands. Credit: Getty Images/ BBC)

Can I eat this flower? May 01, 2024

Show notes

Stunning cakes, colourful salads and intricate garnishes use flowers to entice customers, but there’s more to this trend than just beautiful social media pictures.

Many cultures around the world have eaten flowers for centuries, and some of them pack a serious punch.

Devina Gupta explores the history of edible flowers and visits a site in the UK where they’re grown all year round. She gets quite a shock when trying one particular variety.

We find out why flowers are used on food nowadays, and how generations of knowledge about their use and properties were lost when they were brought to Western countries.

If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.

Presented by Devina Gupta

Produced by Julia Paul and Beatrice Pickup

(Image: A nasturtium flower growing. Credit: BBC)

To salt or not to salt? Apr 24, 2024

Show notes

Do you know how much salt you should be eating?

And if I tell you it’s less than 5 grams a day, do you know how much that is?

Ruth Alexander explores the wonder of salt and why chefs think their job would be pointless without it and why the impact it’s having on the food might surprise you.

Professor Paul Breslin tells us about the “magical” chemical reaction happening on your tongue when you eat salt, and why your brain responds to that.

We hear about what eating too much salt can do to you from an expert in Australia, as well as a mother in Kazakhstan who cut out salt almost completely – in a country which has one of the highest consumptions in the world.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Presented by Ruth Alexander

Produced by Hannah Bewley

(Image: A chef sprinkles salt on a pan of food. Credit: BBC)

Hungry at sea Apr 17, 2024

Show notes

Over two million people work in the international shipping trade, and they are often at sea for months at a time.

That’s a lot of meals being made by the cook on board, and their work is crucial for keeping the crew happy.

Ruth Alexander hears from seafarers about why that makes “cookie” the most important person on board a ship and why, in some cases, crew members are going hungry.

A former captain of merchant vessels tells us how food is used for so-called “facilitation payments” to corrupt officials, and why crews can sometimes be powerless to stop port officials filling up suitcases with food from the ship’s stores.

We also hear about international efforts to try to tackle corruption in ports and increase welfare standards for seafarers.

If you would like to share your own experience, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Ruth Alexander

Producers: Izzy Greenfield and Hannah Bewley

(Image: A container ship at sea. Credit: Getty Images)

Food double-acts: TV chefs Apr 10, 2024

Show notes

What’s the secret behind the on-screen chemistry shared by some TV chef duos?

The recent death of Dave Myers, one half of ‘The Hairy Bikers’ with Si King, has prompted this programme celebrating successful food friendships. Dave and Si made food shows and cookbooks that took their fans all over the world, and off-screen they were close friends.

In this programme Ruth Alexander speaks to two chefs who have found success in food with a good friend.

Ruth Rogers, co-founder of The River Cafe restaurant in London, talks about her partnership with the late Rose Gray, who died in 2010. Together they presented ‘The Italian Kitchen’ for Channel 4 in the UK in 1998.

Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo talks about his long friendship and work with the late chef Antonio Carluccio, and the TV series they made together for the BBC, ‘Two Greedy Italians’ in 2011 and 2012. Gennaro also talks about his friendship with the chef Jamie Oliver to whom he’s been a mentor.

Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

(Image: Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray plating dishes at The River Cafe restaurant in London. Credit: Maurice ROUGEMONT/Getty Images/ BBC)

How to run a restaurant Apr 03, 2024

Show notes

These are tough times for restaurants. If the pandemic's rolling lockdowns were not bad enough, independent eateries now find themselves caught on a conveyor belt of crises: inflation, labour shortages and high rents. That is without mentioning the post-Covid agoraphobic “hermit consumer", who prefers to hunker down indoors than splash the cash on going out.

If the stats are to be believed 60% of restaurants fail in the first year, 80% after five. And yet despite the long odds many are still seduced by TV dramas like The Bear into turning their passion for cooking into a business. We hear from some of the best in the business for a steer on how to keep this labour of love alive.

David Reid speaks to leading restaurant critic Jay Rayner, culinary specialist Ashley Godfrey, top chef Joseph Otway and restaurant operations manager, Sam Wheatley as they lift the lid on the trade secrets they have accumulated from years on the restaurant front-line. The programme also asks what a world without independent restaurants would be like and what we as strapped consumers can do to save the flagging middle of the restaurant market from going under.

Presenter/producer: David Reid

(Image: A waitress lays a table in a restaurant. Credit: Getty Images)

The real Willy Wonkas Mar 28, 2024

Show notes

Step inside the chocolate factory to hear the secrets of what it’s like to invent sweet treats for a living.

Find out why chocolatiers think the raw material is like a “needy child”, but can also bring great joy to people’s lives.

And hear the family story of the invention of one of the best-known British chocolate bars, with a trip to an archive of hidden stories from the confectionary industry – and some well-preserved sweets.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Ruth Alexander

Producer: Hannah Bewley

(Image: Chocolate bars on a colourful background. Credit: Getty)

Fasting and feasting Mar 21, 2024

Show notes

Fasting has been a religious and cultural practice for thousands of years, why do people do it? What happens to your body when you fast? The Food Chain speaks to a British family breaking their fast during Ramadan, a woman in India completing a day long fast for Mahashivratri and explores why the practices around Lent have changed over the years. An expert on intermittent fasting talks us through what is happening to our bodies, and why it might have hidden benefits.

In this programme, Rumella Dasgupta explores the tradition of religious fasting with what to eat and what not to eat in three major faiths.

If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.

Presented by Rumella Dasgupta.

(Image: a family in Manchester breaks their fast together with dishes spread out on a cloth on the floor. Credit: BBC)

Why we love dumplings Mar 14, 2024

Show notes

Dumplings feature prominently in cuisines around the world.

Some, like the Ghanaian kenkey, or the Irish dumpling, are balls of dough. But in many countries they’re filled with other ingredients.

From the Russian pelmeni, to the Japanese gyoza, for centuries we’ve been putting meat, vegetables or cheese in small pouches of pastry, and making delicious snacks.

So where did this idea originate? And are all these differently named dumplings connected?

Ruth Alexander explores the history of this humble comfort food and hears how different dumplings are made.

If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.

Presenter: Ruth Alexander. Producers: Julia Paul and Rumella Dasgupta (Image: Dumplings and bowls of dipping sauce. Credit: BBC)

The fifth taste Mar 07, 2024

Show notes

Sweet, sour, salty, bitter and... umami. Have you heard of the fifth taste?

Umami, meaning ‘delicious flavour’ in Japanese, was discovered by a chemist in Japan in 1908 but it took nearly 100 years for it to be recognised as a fifth distinct taste. It is described by many as a savoury or meaty taste.

In this programme Ruth Alexander learns about the chemist who first discovered umami, and the industrially produced version he created – monosodium glutamate, or MSG. It’s a food additive that’s been the subject of health scares, but today it’s one of the most tested additives in our food and considered to be safe for consumption.

Yukari Sakamoto, trained chef and food tour leader in Tokyo explains how umami features in Japanese cuisine; she says miso soup is one of the best examples of maximum umami flavour. Professor Barry Smith, Director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses in the UK, explains the science behind umami and MSG. Calvin Eng, chef and owner of Bonnie’s restaurant in Brooklyn New York, is one of a number of chefs trying to rehabilitate MSG’s reputation – he uses it not just in savoury dishes, but also desserts and drinks.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

(Image: a bowl of miso soup, containing tofu and spring onions. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

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