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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

Three school chefs tell Ruth Alexander what it’s like serving up canteen food every day. Find out how they manage hundreds of hungry child customers, what pro tips they have for making vegetables seem delicious, and why they all find the job so satisfying. We hear from the USA, Liverpool in the UK and a school chef in the far north of Finland about the challenges of cooking mountains of meatballs, how to cope when the vegetable biriyani goes all over the ceiling, and why it’s one of the...

Have you heard of ultra processed food? In 2010 a group of Brazilian scientists said we should be focusing less on the nutritional content of food, and more on the form of processing it undergoes. They created the Nova system, a way of categorising foods based on how processed they are. It identifies ultra processed foods as generally industrially manufactured, containing ingredients such as emulsifiers, stabilisers and other additives that would not be found in an average home kitchen. A...

What do you and your family chat about at dinner? We eavesdrop on conversations over food all over the world, hearing about poetry, politics, what is on TV and how Morag’s leg is recovering. Whether you gossip or have more philosophical debates find out how integral good communication is while we are eating, often marking the only point in the day or week when a family gathers together. We learn why a matchmaker thinks a dinner date might not be such a good idea after all if you want the...

The city of Detroit in the United States has a lot of vacant space – as much as a quarter of residential, commercial and industrial sites lie unused today. In this programme Ruth Alexander meets the people who are growing food in their neighbourhoods, creating urban farms and community gardens where houses once stood. Mark Covington is the founder of Georgia Street Community Collective, and Tyson Gersh is the co-founder of the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative. Ruth learns why so much...

In February 2023, two earthquakes devastated parts of Turkey. The disaster claimed the lives of nearly 60,000 people in southern Turkey and northern Syria. In this programme Victoria Craig travels to the city of Antakya, part of Hatay Province, close to the border with Syria. It’s a region long famed for its cuisine, and even has special UNESCO recognition for its gastronomy. Since the earthquake a year ago much of the local population has left the badly damaged area, and food businesses in...

Chinese food is popular and successful around the world. But is it afforded the respect it deserves? In some countries Chinese food has been seen as something tasty, but ultimately cheap and not very healthy, despite it being a cuisine with a focus on health, seasonality and gastronomic skill for centuries. In this programme Ruth Alexander meets Fuchsia Dunlop, a British food writer who has spent a career studying Chinese cuisine. She argues that the food has long been undervalued in the...

Have you ever wondered why the apple you bite in to is so crisp and juicy? And why it’s available all year round? Apples originated in the mountains of Central Asia, and made their way along trade routes to Europe and then on to the rest of the world. They are now one of the most widely consumed fruit worldwide. An apple seed will produce a completely different fruit to the tree it came from – so new varieties have to be bred and cultivated. In this week’s episode Ruth Alexander finds...

Humans have preserved food to make it last longer for thousands of years. In this programme Ruth Alexander learns about different methods of food preservation used around the world, including pickling, dehydrating and canning. Food historian and writer Darra Goldstein in the US explains the history of this art. Yukari Sakamoto is a trained chef and sommelier who leads food tours in Tokyo, she explains why people in Japan take the idea of a well stocked pantry seriously. And Usha Prabakaran...

Ruth Alexander talks to two families displaced by the war in Ukraine, as they reflect on their second year away from home. They discuss the difficulties of being away from loved ones and the solace home cooking can provide. Ruth speaks to Natalia Lomonosova, who’d had to flee her home in Kyiv with her teenage daughter and has set up a new life in Berlin, Germany; and she visits Mariya Dmytrenko and her family, who are living with their hosts Brian and Julie Lamb, in Blackburn, England. If...

We take a trip around the world with BBC World Service presenters and listeners, finding out which are their favourite foods when a celebration is in order. A porridge which is hidden around the house to ward off spirits, sweet and delicious pilau shared with neighbours and an ornate box filled with as many as 50 types of food in Japan – we hear about what’s on the menu at this time of year. Ruth Alexander has help from her enthusiastic three-year-old son to make a traditional Christmas...

Our brains require 20% of our body’s energy intake, despite making up, on average, only 2% of our body weight. There are nutrients that are needed for brain health and development, yet many of us don’t think about specifically eating for our brains. In this programme Ruth Alexander learns about the relationship between our gut and our brain, and the impact food can have on your alertness, mood and memory. And just why oily fish, and other foods containing omega 3 fatty acids are so good...

It’s estimated that more than 2 billion people use polluting stoves - with severe consequences for their health. The World Health Organisation says 3.2 million people die each year as a result of the household air pollution they cause. Ruth Alexander finds out why this problem – which also harms the environment – is so difficult to solve. She speaks to Dr Fatih Birol of the International Energy Agency in Paris; Sophie Odupoy from Koko Networks in Kenya; Naramath Lucas Kariongi from the...

Many countries allow the manufacture and export of pesticides that are banned for use in their own countries. Recently France and Belgium have introduced laws preventing the export of such agrochemicals if their use is banned in the European Union. The European Commission is currently considering whether to introduce similar laws. Grace Livingstone reports from Paraguay where some small farmers living near soya plantations say heavy pesticide spraying is affecting their health and...

Seaweed soup, aniseed sprinkles on toast, pig trotter soup and fried chicken. In this episode Ruth Alexander learns about what your body needs postpartum, and hears different food traditions for that time, from around the world. Chinese-American author Heng Ou tells us about her differing experiences after the birth of her three children, and how an auntie making dumplings non-stop helped her. Allison Oman Lawi from the World Food Programme explains the nutritional needs for the body in...

The European Union wants to introduce one system for scoring the sustainability of food products. The new requirements are likely to be introduced in 2024. Currently there are a number of different labels and symbols used on food packaging across Europe, and there is concern that this can lead to confusion for consumers and can be open to exploitation. Russell Padmore travels across Ireland, hearing about the pros and cons from farmers, food producers, restaurants and consumers. If you’d...

Pan fried, artisanal, gourmet: there's a fashion for foodie words. Why? In this episode, Ruth Alexander finds out how restaurants use language, psychology and behavioural economics to whet your appetite and increase their profits. Linguist Dr Keri Matwick of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore explains the research that shows the longer the description of a dish, the more expensive on average it is. Chef Caroline Martins of Sampa at Blossom Street Social Wine Bar in Manchester,...