The Food Programme

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**The Food Programme**

Investigating every aspect of the food we eat

Latest Episodes:

Butter, a delicious story of decline and revival Jun 30, 2013

Show notes

Sheila Dillon meets a new generation of producers making butter special again.

Food, game changers and career movers Jun 23, 2013

Show notes

Sheila Dillon looks at the award winners who are leaving high flying careers to follow their passions and dreams in food production

Producer: Maggie Ayre.

The chocolate world of Mott Green Jun 16, 2013

Show notes

The story of Mott Green, cocoa farmer and chocolate maker, who was changing the industry one bar at a time.

Born in New York, this gifted engineer and mathematician left Manhattan in his twenties to explore the Caribbean. He ended up in Grenada, fell in love with cocoa and with a local drink, "cocoa tea".

Despite this chocolate tradition and Grenada having some of the finest cocoa trees in the world, farmers were leaving the land and abandoning their crop because of low prices. Mott Green took it upon himself to change that.

By using hand built machines and creating a co-operative, Mott managed to build a chocolate factory in a tropical climate, the first time this had been done. Sales of his quality bars grew and cocoa farming on the island once again became profitable.

His success was documented in a film, Nothing Like Chocolate, and he was celebrated in Grenada as someone who had not only made a big impact on the island's economy but also changed thinking about chocolate around the world.

Tragically, shortly after the Food Programme recorded with Mott Green he was killed in an accident as he was repairing some equipment. The programme follows him through the chocolate making process and as he embarked on a three month voyage transporting his bars across the Atlantic using only wind and solar power.

Producer: Dan Saladino.

Bereavement and Food Jun 09, 2013

Show notes

In the throes of bereavement food can seem unimportant. People lose both their appetite and their sense of taste. But food and cooking can also play a positive and healing role in helping individuals come to term with their loss. Sheila Dillon explores the healing power of food and how it can help to remember and recapture memories of those who have died.

Sheila visited the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted which runs cookery courses for those who've been bereaved. Some of those taking part had lost the will to cook - especially the prospect of making meals for one rather than two. Others found they'd lost the partner or parent who'd made all the meals and found themselves not only grieving but without the knowledge and skills to cook for themselves. They explained how a simple course has given them far more than just a collection of recipes.

The programme also looks at the legacy of recipes which can be a way to remember loved ones and connect with them after they have passed on. Over the years Bridget Blair has gathered together the recipes of relatives, friends and neighbours for posterity and while the book is covered in spatters and finger marks her children are keen to inherit the secrets of those recipes and the memories. Meanwhile Rob Tizzard is trying to replicate his late mother's bread pudding recipe from memory which somehow never seems to come out exactly the way she made it but brings him joy trying.

Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.

Michael Pollan: Why Cooking Matters Jun 04, 2013

Show notes

Sheila Dillon speaks to the writer Michael Pollan on the craft, science and pleasures of cooking.

In his new book, Cooked, "a love letter to cooking", Pollan who is one of the world's most popular thinkers on food reflects on the value of being a cook and preparing our own food.

From understanding the physics and culture of the barbecue to the art of fermentation, Pollan has spent the last two years researching cooking techniques around the world to help explain how transforming food has influenced our evolution and development over millions of years.

Cooking, says Pollan, is "baked into our DNA", we are "the cooking animal". For that reason he examines what we've lost as rates of domestic cooking have declined since the 1960's and what it will take for more of us to make a meaningful return to the kitchen.

Producer: Dan Saladino.

Sugar: Pure, White and Deadly? May 28, 2013

Show notes

Sheila Dillon finds out why the debate about the role of sugar in our lives is hotting up. Recent books and news stories have re-awoken a forty year debate about what makes us fat.

Robert H. Lustig is a paediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco. A lecture he gave on sugar has attracted more than three million hits. He makes a case that sugar is problematic, not just because it contains calories, but because the fructose component of sucrose interacts with our bodies in a very specific way.

His claim that sugar not only causes obesity but a wide range of other conditions including type 2 diabetes, is disputed, but he's succeeded in capturing public attention. Sheila Dillon speaks to Robert Lustig about his research, and she explores other reasons why sugar is back in the headlines.

Food, Cancer and Well-Being May 19, 2013

Show notes

Sheila Dillon asks if food and nutrition should have a bigger role in treating cancer. Is the medical profession too reluctant to see food as an essential component in improving the well-being of cancer patients

Producer: Maggie Ayre.

A Life Through Wine: Jancis Robinson May 16, 2013

Show notes

Jancis Robinson remembers the specific bottle of wine which ignited her passion for both drinking wine and writing about it. She began reviewing for the University paper 40 years ago and has grown to become a world renowned author and critic on the subject.

Sheila Dillon explores some of the big trends that have taken place during her career, from the growth of English wines, to the rise of supermarkets as the wine sellers to the nation.

She talks about those who influenced her in the early years of tasting and writing and what she makes of other reviewers like Robert Parker who can decide the fate of a wine around the world.

Produced in Bristol by Dan Saladino.

Digital Dishes - life stories through recipes May 05, 2013

Show notes

Inside one kitchen in Bristol, thirteen strangers from all over Europe gathered to share food and stories about food. The Food Programme was there to capture it all as the cooking got under way.

As well as resulting in one of the most diverse menus ever assembled it was an event that explained why cous-cous can spark conversation, how a special Bulgarian dish can help tell your fortune and why a hippy commune in 1970's Exeter was ahead of its time in how we think about food.

This unique event was the result of a project run by the Watershed arts centre in Bristol. The thirteen Europeans were taking part in a workshop to learn more about digital technology, food however, was the subject they would use to make this happen.

In one day, participants from Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Turkey, France and the UK would come up with a dish that would help them tell their life stories. In Bristol they'd shop, cook, share their food and their stories. The progamme captured this special food event and a restaurant and menu that would exist for one night only.

Hear the wonders of Bulgarian Banitsa, the pleasures of a Turkish Karnıyarık and the delights of a two hour meal over Algerian cous-cous.

Producers: Dan Saladino and Hannah Briggs.

Black Pudding v Boudin Noir Apr 30, 2013

Show notes

Charles Campion reports from Normandy in France as he helps judge the world black pudding championships, which features entries from Japanese, Austrian and Irish butchers.

Each year the "knights of the black pudding", a long established organisation of food lovers, hold the annual Foire au Boudin. Nearly six hundred butchers from around the world enter the competition to help celebrate the ancient dish.

As Charles discovers most of the world's great food cultures have some form of blood sausage and they vary in size, shape, texture and flavour.

Although we've been making this dish since the arrival of the Romans, many parts of Britain have fallen out of love with the black pudding. The simple recipe of blood, barley, fat, onions and spices is affordable, delicious and a complete meal, and there are signs of a chef led revival.

The competition, and the work on display of some extremely creative butchers provides many delicious reasons why this humble food really is worthy of a revival. Young chef and rising star James Winter based in Gloucestshire, also provides some tips on how to cook black pudding.

Producer: Dan Saladino.

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