Podcast Episodes

The real Willy Wonkas

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…

2 years, 2 months ago

Fasting and feasting

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 Cha…

2 years, 2 months ago

Why we love dumplings

Dumplings feature prominently in cuisines around the world.

Some, like the Ghanaian kenkey, or the Irish dumpling, are balls of dough. But in many co…

2 years, 2 months ago

The fifth taste

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

Umami, meaning ‘delicious flavour’ in Japanese, was discovered by a chemi…

2 years, 2 months ago

The school cooks

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…

2 years, 3 months ago

Is this ultra processed?

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, a…

2 years, 3 months ago

Table talk

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…

2 years, 3 months ago

Detroit's urban farmers

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 …

2 years, 3 months ago

Rebuilding Turkey’s food culture

In February 2023, two earthquakes devastated parts of Turkey. The disaster claimed the lives of nearly 60,000 people in southern Turkey and northern …

2 years, 4 months ago

Is Chinese food the best in the world?

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 …

2 years, 4 months ago