The Food Chain

Bonnie Garmus, author of the bestselling novel Lessons in Chemistry, shares the story of her life through five dishes. Ruth Alexander meets Bonnie in her London home, to talk about the food influences in her debut novel about a female chemist turned TV cookery show host in the 1950s and 60s. She’ll hear about Bonnie’s childhood growing up in California, her own personal experiences of sexism in the workplace, the adoption of her Chinese daughters and her relationship with her husband David. Bonnie will bake a dish that features in her novel, ‘desperation brownies’. 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: Bonnie Garmus in her London home with a brownie that she has baked. Credit: BBC)

Many dishes have become famous national symbols both at home and abroad, for example Italian pizza, or British fish and chips. Whilst such dishes can create a sense of unity and identity, they can also be used to fuel nationalism, or to push a political agenda. In this edition of The Food Chain, Izzy Greenfield hears the stories behind some of the most famous national foods, some based more on myth or marketing than historical fact. She speaks to Anya Von Bremzen, author of 'National Dish', in which Anya investigates the origins of foods such as Italian pizza, Japanese noodles, Spanish tapas and Mexican tortillas. The Secretary of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage at UNESCO, Tim Curtis, explains why some dishes are recognised for the community practices that surround them. Andrew Crook, President of the National Federation of Fish Fryers in the UK, and food historian Professor Panikos Panayi from DeMontfort University in Leicester, England, explain the complex history behind

Consumers have the buying power but how much are they considered when a brand decides to make a change? In this edition of The Food Chain Ruth Alexander takes a look at what goes into developing some of the products we know and love. We travel to the northwest of England to a consumer taste testing facility, Wirral Sensory Services. Such businesses would have been few and far between just decades ago but now they’re a big part of the research process when brands look to launch new products or make changes to existing ones. Consumer expert Dr Sara Jaeger tells us about the benefits and the limitations of these tests and business consultant Samuel West talks us through some of the most well know failures in food. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Hannah Mullane (Image: a woman blindfolded, sat in front of a pizza. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

As India welcomes the world’s biggest economies for the G20 meeting this September, we look at the role that food might play in top level discussions. Food diplomacy is increasingly seen as a form of ‘soft power’ that can help build bridges and find common ground. In this programme Devina Gupta speaks to chef Arun Sundaraj, who is leading the catering teams at the Taj Palace Hotel in Delhi which is hosting many of the G20 delegates. She visits the Colombian embassy in London to hear from the country’s ambassador about the role food played during vital peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC. Devina also travels to Glasgow in Scotland to share a plate of haggis with Scotland’s national chef, Gary Maclean and Lauren Bernstein, founder and CEO of The Culinary Diplomacy Project in the United States, explains why governments are looking to hire culinary experts to aid in diplomacy. Presented by Devina Gupta. Produced by Rumella Dasgupta.

Weaning refers to the process of introducing your baby to solid foods, alongside breast milk or formula. In the UK, the NHS suggests this normally happens at around six months old. In this programme Rick Kelsey starts the weaning journey with his baby boy Albie, and finds out about some of the different approaches including ‘spoon fed’ and ‘baby led’ weaning. He also gets advice on how to deal with allergies and choking. Rick Kelsey is joined by Katie Shelton from ‘Scrummy Tummies’, Dr Sarika Kapoor who posts online as ‘The Weaning GP’, and Rachel Childs, nutritionist at First Steps Nutrition Trust, a public health charity in the UK. Produced and presented by Rick Kelsey. You can contact the programme by emailing thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Image: a baby being spoon fed, with food around its mouth. Credit: Getty Images/ BBC)This edition was updated on 02/10/2023.

Imagine not being able to sit and eat at the dinner table with your family without feeling furious. The little-known condition of Misophonia, often called “sound rage”, is a lower tolerance to certain sounds. Although sufferers can react to several types of repetitive noises, many are particularly triggered by eating sounds. Misophonia has not been classified as a clinical disorder, and there have only been a few studies into it, which means many doctors have never heard of the condition. In this programme, Ruth Alexander meets three people with Misophonia who are trying to raise awareness: Dr Jane Gregory, a doctoral research fellow at Oxford University; Adeel Ahmad, the host of a misophonia-themed podcast in the US, and Olana Tansley-Hancock, a clinical researcher based in the UK.If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Image: Young man and woman next to each other, woman biting into apple. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Produced by Julia Paul

The banh mi is a staple street food in Vietnam and increasingly popular around the world. But how did it come to be a global sensation? In this edition of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander discovers how the signature sandwich - invented during the French occupation of Vietnam in the 1950s - went on to become popular around the world after the end of the Vietnam war. Ruth explores the traces of French history and politics found in the sandwich ingredients with former French diplomat to Vietnam Dr Bertrand Hartingh; and she discovers how it’s made at Manchester restaurant, Pho Cue. And as Dr Quan Tran of Yale University explains, it's a tale of ingenuity, adaptation and family love. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: A banh mi sandwich)Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producers: Sam Clack and Rumella Dasgupta

Italian food is one of the most popular cuisines in the world, but how did it first make its way out of Italy? In this edition of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander uncovers stories of migration, food culture and legacy in the Italian diaspora. Academic Donna Gabaccia explains why millions of Italians left their home country in the 1800s, creating new communities around the world that came to be known as ‘Little Italy’. Ruth visits one of them, in London’s Clerkenwell, to discover its history and how a delicatessen founded in the late 1800s – still busy today – sparked a love for Italian cuisine. We hear from an Italian restaurant owner in Buenos Aires, whose Genoese ancestors put their stamp on the local food scene more than 90 years ago.And reporter Kizzy Cox takes a trip around some eateries in the world-famous Little Italy in New York City to see how the local community is moving with the times. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Five contributors

At what age should you start teaching children to cook, and why should you? In this programme, Ruth Alexander meets children and young people who are talented in the kitchen, making the case for why it might be worth the time and the mess to trust them to make dinner. We travel to the north-west of England to Sefton Carers Centre to meet Paige Jones, aged nine, who cares and cooks for her mum, Rachel, who has a health condition. Food writer Jenny Chandler, who has authored two cookbooks for children, gives Ruth some tips about how she can get her three-year-old son engaged in the kitchen. And Ruth meets the young cooking enthusiasts sharing their skills with others: Keffa Liona in Nairobi, Kenya, makes cooking videos with his younger brother, Kisali, which they post online; and Julian Frederick in Texas, United States, is - aged 15 - the CEO of Stepstool Chef, which provides video tutorials presented by children for children. Presented by Ruth Alexander Produced by Beatrice Pickup(Image: Child stood on a s

Immersive dining has become something of a culinary craze in recent years. As well as serving food, restaurants are providing multi-sensory experiences for customers; transforming their dining spaces into places where people can escape. In this edition of The Food Chain, we take a look at immersive dining establishments around the world, exploring why customers are increasingly choosing to be entertained while they eat, and asking – is this dining trend a bit of a fad, or is it the future of eating out? If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Diners eating at tables surrounded by flowing water, at Labassin Waterfall restaurant in the Philippines) Presenter: Izzy Greenfield Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

The African continent is seeing one of the fastest rates of urbanisation in the world. As people move to cities, and lifestyles change, so do diets. Many indigenous ingredients and dishes become hard to source and prepare. Others become associated with rural or village ways of life and are no longer seen as sufficiently aspirational. In this programme, Michael Kaloki finds out about traditional dishes at risk of being forgotten. He cooks with his Aunty Naomi to learn about dishes from his own Kamba tribe in Kenya. He also visits Dr Kathleen Anangwe, Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Social Work and African Women Studies at the University of Nairobi, as she prepares a traditional dish from her own tribe, the Luhya in Western Kenya. He speaks to chef Selassie Atadika, who is showcasing indigenous ingredients and methods of cooking in her pop-up nomadic dinners in Accra, Ghana. If you'd like to contact the programme email - thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Michael Kaloki. Produced by Beatrice Pickup

Going to a wedding this year? Spare a thought for the caterers - expected to put on ever-more elaborate feasts in ever-more challenging conditions. In this episode, three wedding caterers - in India, the US and the UK - share anecdotes about demanding guests, make-shift hillside kitchens and emergency trips to hospital. Warning: if you’re a bride- or groom-to-be, this programme might just give you a case of the jitters. You can share your tales of wedding banquet triumphs and disasters by emailing thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Bride and groom blowing out a candle on a cake. Credit: Getty Images/BBC) Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Out of necessity, in adversity, or for the fun of it - how, and why did you learn to cook? Ruth Alexander hears the stories behind people’s kitchen skills - the highs, the lows, the challenges overcome, and the connections made – and discovers there’s often more than just dinner at stake. Growing up in Germany to Japanese parents, chef Nina Matsunaga remembers having to step up to the stove when her mother was taken ill; the eldest of three boys in Cameroon, Timah Julius Nyambod made breakfast and dinner for his brothers while his mother worked as a food vendor; Janet Pollock describes teaching herself to cook as a young child inspired by cookery shows in Nashville, USA; and Rahul Raina is holding on to his Kashmiri heritage in Oxford, England, thanks to the recipes and know-how of his mother and grandmother. You can contact the programme by emailing – thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander Produced by Beatrice Pickup and Rumella Dasgupta (Image: Rahul Raina cooking chicken yakhni, a Kashmiri di

Salt has been a staple ingredient in cooking and preserving food for thousands of years. It adds flavour to food, preserves it, and keeps our bodies functioning. In recent years, gourmet brands have emerged and some consumers have been willing to pay higher prices for rock and sea salts. Ruth Alexander finds out how this trend started and asks whether there’s anything special about speciality salts. She speaks to Jess Lea-Wilson, Ronan Burns and Rob Jardine about how Halen Mon seasalt is made in Anglesey, Wales; Craig Cormack, ‘The Salt Chef’, about the salt tasting sessions he runs in South Africa; and Rajesh Shah of Vikas Center for Development about how technology is improving conditions and profits for salt workers in the Indian state of Gujarat.If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Julia Paul.(Image: a spoonful of salt. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Could our office, apartment and public buildings also be farms? In this programme, Ruth Alexander meets the pioneers of rooftop farming, turning concrete into green spaces where fruit and vegetables are grown. We find out about the logistics, the challenges, and whether it has the potential to feed city populations. In Barcelona, Spain, she meets Joan Carulla, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday. Joan has been tending his private rooftop vegetable garden for fifty years with the help of his son, Toni. They’re joined by friend and fellow rooftop gardener, Robert Strauss. Ruth speaks to Kotchakorn Voraakhom, a landscape architect in Bangkok, Thailand. She designed a farm on the roof of a university in 2019, the largest in Asia at that time. And Mohamed Hage, co-founder and CEO of Lufa Farms in Montreal, Canada explains how they are farming rooftops on a commercial scale. To date the company has four rooftop greenhouses and an indoor farm, which produces enough food to feed about 2 per cent of the cit

Tabasco sauce, Lea and Perrins, Angostura Bitters. Those are a few of a very select number of sauces, condiments and tipples that have weathered changing tastes and trends over the years, even outliving their founders.How do some brands manage to survive for 100, 150 or 200 years?In this programme, David Reid lifts the lid on some of these store cupboard stalwarts to reveal the secrets of their longevity, heritage appeal, and what happens when a company tries to ‘tweak’ a winning recipe.If you’d like to contact the programme you can email – thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: Tabasco sauce bottles) Presented and produced by David Reid

Television cookery competitions are big business – drawing audiences in their millions over multiple series. How did they become such a successful format? In this programme we go behind the scenes with competitors and judges. Ruth Alexander speaks to chef Simon Wood, who won the BBC’s 'Masterchef' in 2015 and today runs two restaurants of his own in the United Kingdom; New York based chef Marcus Samuelsson, who has both competed in and appeared as a judge in multiple different shows including 'Top Chef', 'Iron Chef' and 'Chopped'; and food writer Gail Simmons, judge on 'Top Chef' in the United States for all twenty seasons to date. Tasha Oren is Associate Professor and Director of the Film and Media Studies Programe at Tufts University in Massachusetts, United States. She describes how food television has evolved over decades. And Ruth speaks to World Service listeners Mutinkhe Kaunda in Zambia and Andrew Laverghetta in the US about what they look for in a TV cooking competition. Clips from 'Iron Chef Jap

A lunch break can tell you quite a lot about a country’s work culture; ranging from two-hour, luxuriant pauses in some parts of the world, to a couple of minutes, snack-in-hand at a desk, in others. For decades, people have built up camaraderie by meeting informally and in person, but technology and the pandemic have changed that. In this programme, Ruth Alexander goes in search of the meaning and purpose of the lunch break; from power lunches in the heady world of international finance, to a simple snack and a chat with a colleague, and asks, what do we stand to lose if we don’t take a proper break? If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Two female colleagues, laughing over a meal. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Why go to culinary school when you could learn on the job? Three trained chefs-turned teachers make the case for learning the basics and getting a qualification that could open doors in a competitive world. In this programme Ruth Alexander hears what it takes to be a great culinary teacher. She speaks to Gary Maclean, Executive Chef at City of Glasgow College in the UK, he’s Scotland’s national chef and won the BBC’s Masterchef the Professionals in 2016; Suzanne Storms, Assistant Professor at the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong where she manages the culinary arts and management degree; and Alexandra Didier, Chef Instructor at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. If you’d like to contact the programme you can email us – thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: a chef instructs a student in a kitchen classroom. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

How can you be sure you’re eating what you think you’re eating? In most cases, food fraud won’t make you ill, but you won’t be getting quite what you’re paying for. In this programme, Ruth Alexander hears why high food prices and the war in Ukraine mean food fraud is more likely to happen. She visits a laboratory in Belfast in Northern Ireland, where food products are analysed to sort what’s real and what’s fake, and she speaks to a food fraud investigator who tells us just how difficult it is to stop the criminals. And we hear from a spice market in Delhi where vendors and shoppers tell us how they try to avoid fake products. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Producer: Elisabeth Mahy(Image: A row of jars of spices, but the one in the middle is highlighted. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)