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BBC World Service


The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.


The Food Chain

Making cocktails isn't just about flair - bottles spinning through the air as the bartender puts on a show. It's about precision, perfectionism and people skills.

Ruth Alexander meets three world-class bartenders to hear stories about their most glamorous customers, the dangerous ones, and what it takes to make the perfect drink. 

Hear about the highs and lows; from the glamour of working on a movie set to the what happens when customers turn nasty. What's it like to make this challenging job your career?

Plus of course: how to make the perfect martini! (The answer might surprise you!)

Producers: Lexy O'Connor and Izzy Greenfield
Sound Engineer: Andrew Mills

Image description:

The craft of the cocktail

Meal prepping is supposed to save us time, money and stress. It is a huge trend on social media, but how can we make it work in our own real, messy lives? 

Ruth Alexander meets Hannah, a busy working mum who wants help to make meal times easier, quicker and more varied. Could batch cooking be the answer? 

On hand to offer advice and inspiration are Jess Rice from the US website Budget Bytes and Kevin Curry, who has around two million followers across his Fit Men Cook social media accounts. 

And if you have ever wondered whether those leftovers are safe to eat, or how long you should leave hot food cooling on the kitchen counter before you freeze it, there is advice from Natalie Stanton, who trains chefs in food safety. 

If you would like to get in touch with The Food Chain team, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk 

Producer: Lexy O'Connor

Sound engineer: Hal Haines

 (Image: A food container with chicken and vegetables being opened by a woman's hands. Credit: Getty Images)

How to meal prep like a pro

Potatoes are having a moment.

Once dismissed as dull, stodgy or even unhealthy, they’re now back, appearing on restaurant menus, in food magazines and across social media feeds.

But the story of the potato goes back much further.

In this episode, Ruth Alexander traces the journey of one of the world’s most familiar foods. From its origins millions of years ago to its place in today’s global food system.

AJ Shehata, senior sous chef at Fallow restaurant in London explains why the potato forces chefs to get creative.

At the Natural History Museum, botanist Sandy Knapp explains how the potato may have been born from a chance encounter between two wild plants in the Andes, an event that made it possible for potatoes to grow underground and spread across new environments.

We explore how the potato became a global food. Potatoes USA president Blair Richardson explains how demand continues to grow worldwide, and how the industry is working to reshape the potato’s image.

We ask whether the potato’s reputation is deserved. Nutrition scientist Candida Rebello shares research suggesting potatoes may be far more beneficial, and more misunderstood, than many people think.

And at the International Potato Center in Peru, scientist Julian Soto works with farmers to conserve thousands of native potato varieties. In the Andes, potatoes are not just a crop, they are part of culture, identity and family life.

From ancient origins to modern revival, this is the story of how the potato conquered the world, fell out of favour, and is now being rediscovered, just as new challenges begin to emerge.

If you’d like to get in touch with the programme, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Producer: Izzy Greenfield
Sound engineer: Hal Haines
Picture: Getty

Rethinking the potato

Ever wondered how anyone gets a job writing about food? Ruth Alexander talks to Melissa Clark, recipe columnist and newsletter host for the New York Times; Laura Rowe food journalist and former content director of Olive and Delicious magazines in London, and Malin Turunen of MatMalin in Stockholm, formerly editor of Swedish food magazine, Allt om Mat.

They discuss their first jobs, how their work shapes our tastes and why they think columns about cake matter more than you might think.

If you would like to get in touch with The Food Chain team, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Producers: Izzy Greenfield and Lexy O'Connor

Sound engineer: Hal Haines

(Photo: Woman writes in a notebook next to an open laptop and vegetables on a kitchen counter top. Credit: Getty Images)

The food writers

It's exam season in many parts of the world and with her own daughter studying hard, Rumella Dasgupta began wondering how much food matters during this difficult and stressful time. 

Is there such a thing as a brain food and are there any foods in particular that we should be aiming to eat while studying hard? 

Rumella talks to students and experts about the role diet plays and what happens to our eating habits when we're under intense pressure. Plus are energy drinks ever a good idea before an exam, and what should we do when the junk food cravings hit? 
 
Featuring Professor Julia Rucklidge, director of Te Puna Toiora, the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and Lucy Upton, a UK based paediatric dietitian who supports her teenage clients to eat better during this stressful phase of their lives. 

Plus teenagers and university students in the US and India discuss what they like to eat and drink when studying. 

With special thanks to Zumix in Boston. 

Producer: Lexy O'Connor 

Sound engineer: Andrew Mills 
 
Image: a dark-haired teenage girl is sprawled on her bed. She has a biscuit in her mouth and is writing in an exercise book. Credit: Getty images. 

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Can we eat for exam success?

Food Chain presenter Ruth Alexander was confident that she was eating a healthy diet, in particular, a diet that included enough fibre. But it turns out, like many of us, her fibre intake has been falling short of the recommended amount. 

In fact all over the world most of us are failing to eat enough, despite the growing trend for so called "fibremaxxing" where people try to maximise their daily intake. 
 
So how can we boost our fibre intake? And does it really have to involve chia seeds? 

Ruth picks the brains of fibre expert Professor Joanne Slavin from the University of Minnesota and Fathima Abdoola, known as The Cultural Dietitian, based in Brisbane Australia. And psychologist Phillippa Lally from the University of Surrey in the UK, explains how we can make our well intentioned new habits stick. 

Producer: Lexy O’Connor 

Sound engineer: Andrew Mills 

(Image: A close up of a steaming bowl of Persian barley soup, in a blue bowl, with a woman’s hands holding it. Credit: Getty Images) 

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

How to eat more fibre and why you should!

Many people feel they can’t cook, or don’t know where to start. Studies suggest that in some countries, fewer people are preparing meals from scratch, and a lack of confidence in the kitchen can be a big part of the problem.

Ruth Alexander explores what holds people back from cooking, and how to overcome it. Drawing on her own experience of learning later in life, she asks: can anyone become a confident cook?

She’s joined by three guests who spend much of their lives in the kitchen, and who know that not everyone starts out with natural ability.

Robin Van Creveld, founder and director of Community Chef in Lewes, England, teaches people practical cooking skills through a social enterprise. Tokunbo Koiki, founder of Tokunbo’s Kitchen Catering Company and London African Food Week, joins from Lagos to share her approach to making cooking accessible and enjoyable. And Pak Wai Hung, owner of 288 Bar and Wok restaurant in Cheltenham, explains how building confidence can be just as important as learning techniques.

Together, they share simple, realistic ways to get started, from overcoming fear of failure to building basic skills and routines. Ruth asks them how beginners can gain confidence, what essential skills really matter, and how to make cooking feel less intimidating.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Producer: Izzy Greenfield
Sound Engineer: Hal Haines
Picture: Credit – Getty.

So you think you can't cook?

Is the culture of professional kitchens shifting?

In recent weeks, one of the restaurant world’s most influential figures stepped down amid allegations about his conduct at work. It’s been widely reported that former employees accused René Redzepi, founder of Copenhagen’s Noma, of creating a toxic working environment involving verbal and physical abuse. Redzepi has since apologised publicly, saying he has worked to change.

Ruth Alexander uses this moment as a starting point to explore a broader question: what is, and what should be, the culture inside professional kitchens?

For many chefs, stories of gruelling hours, intense pressure and explosive tempers have long been part of the industry. But are those conditions still the norm today, or is a different kind of kitchen culture beginning to take shape?

Ruth is joined by three chefs from different generations and parts of the world, each reflecting on their own experiences of coming up in the industry, and how those experiences have shaped the way they run their kitchens now.

Jun Tanaka, chef-owner of Michelin-starred restaurant The Ninth in London, looks back on starting out more than three decades ago. Preeti Mistry, executive chef at Silver Oak in California, shares her perspective after 25 years in the industry. And Manon Fleury, head chef at Datil in Paris and co-founder of an organisation working to prevent violence in kitchens, explains why she believes change is both necessary and possible.

They discuss whether the old hierarchies and harsh environments are being left behind, what a healthier kitchen culture could look like, and what still needs to change.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Producer: Izzy Greenfield
Sound engineer: Annie Gardiner
Image: credit - getty

Is kitchen culture changing?

Are your family meals calm and connected? 

Or have they become dominated by battles with fussy kids or awkward teens?

Mum-of-one Ruth Alexander gets advice from experts who share the secrets to taking the stress out of family dinner and how to cope with fussy eaters. She finds out how we can make the table a place everyone wants to be at, tots, teens and adults alike.

Produced by Lexy O'Connor and Rumella Dasgupta.

Image: A small angry boy with blonde hair is holding a bowl of food and threatening to tip it on the floor as his parents' hands reach out to stop him. Credit:Getty/ skynesher

How to have a stress-free family meal

What should runners should eat to train for, and complete, a marathon? 
 
With major races like the London and Boston marathons approaching, more people than ever are taking on the 26.2-mile challenge. But what should you actually eat to fuel that distance? 
 
Ruth Alexander is joined by one of the most successful marathon runners in history, Paula Radcliffe, who held the women’s world record for 16 years. She shares what it takes to fuel months of marathon training, and what it feels like when things go wrong during a race. 
 
Also on the programme is former world champion runner Steve Cram, now a coach and commentator, who explains the common nutrition mistakes he sees among recreational runners. 
 
And Performance Director of the dsm-firmenich Running Team, Valentijn Trouw tells us what it’s like to oversee the performance programmes of elite athletes including marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge. 
 
Ruth asks them what runners should fuel their training, what to eat in the crucial days before a race, and how to avoid “hitting the wall” on marathon day. 
 
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk 
 
Produced by Izzy Greenfield. 
Sound Engineer: Annie Gardiner
Picture: Credit - Getty. Paula Radcliffe competes in a marathon

How to meal prep like a pro

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