Episode Details

Do you know who’s washing your dishes?

Emily Thomas talks to pot washers from around the world, about what they love and loathe about life at the sink.

A kitchen can’t survive without the pot washer, yet we rarely give them a second thought, lavishing all our attention instead on the chefs. But maybe we should. Being a pot washer, dishwasher or kitchen porter as it’s variably known, can be the first rung on the restaurant ladder, and many a great chef started out with a scourer in hand. But the job also attracts those who have very limited opportunities in life, and this means they may be more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

(Photo: Man scrubbing a kitchen sink. Credit: BBC/ Getty Images)