The Food Programme

BBC

4.6 (111)
Food
Updated Weekly

Investigating every aspect of the food we eat

28 Aug • Subscriber Early Access

Fork and Knife

"One day we will eat with a knife and fork." As they were growing up, it's a phrase Ify Adenuga repeated to her children, including the grime artists Skepta and JME. The saying would later inspire the title of Skepta's 2026 album Fork & Knife, which he has described as being rooted in the immigrant mindset, aspiration and the belief that hard work might one day deliver a better life. In this edition of The Food Programme, Jimi Famurewa takes that phrase as a starting point to explore how the way we eat shapes ideas of identity, belonging and culture. From the arrival of the fork in Europe to the Nigerian tradition of eating with your hands, and from Cantonese chopstick culture to the formal rituals of the British dinner table, he uncovers surprising stories about the many different ways in which we consume our food. Part social history, part personal journey, this is a story about the rules we inherit, the traditions we hold on to, and what something as simple as a knife, fork, pair of chopsticks or even our own hands can reveal about who we are. Produced by Ishmael Soriano for BBC Audio Bristol
4 days ago

Taste the World: The Origins of Our Food

Dan Saladino meets this year's collection of musicians from around the world who are cooking as they perform at the WOMAD festival. What do their dishes reveal about global food history? Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.
14 Aug

The Dark Arts of Affinage

There are many ways to age a cheese so how best to refine its flavours over time? Welcome to the art of affinage - a French term that translates as "refining" a cheese - and a practice that is starting to take off in the UK. Sheila Dillon attends a competition to find the Affineur of the Year and discovers that the way you age a cheese can dramatically change its taste and texture. A cheddar can become more like a comté by changing the temperature, humidity and length of the ripening process. She hears from practitioners who regularly wash and turn their cheeses. Some have buried cheeses in coal holes, encased them in clay pots or even played them music to find new ways of making traditional cheeses taste differently. Experimentation with these techniques has led to new cheeses entering the market. In this programme the dark arts of affinage will be revealed. Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Robin Markwell
7 Aug

Eating Octopus

Since January 2025, thousands of tonnes of common octopus, usually found in the Mediterranean, have been landed by fisherman off the south coast of England. But it’s still not a regular feature on UK menus. In this episode of the Food Programme, Jaega Wise heads to Brixham fish market to find out more about what’s happening, and visits seafood restaurants taking alternative approaches to the challenge. Rockfish owner and chef Mitch Tonks talks her through the difficulties of cooking octopus, and marine ecologist Bryce Stewart at Plymouth University explains why the creature could be here to stay. Jaega also explores what puts people off eating octopus - from tentacles to extreme intelligence. And we head to Guernsey to meet a fisherman whose business has been severely impacted, and try some “Octodog”. Produced by Tory Pope.
31 July

What Happened Next?

Leyla Kazim revisits some of The Food Programme's most memorable stories to ask: what happened next? From 500kg of eels stranded in a holding tank in Gloucestershire and English olive oil being pressed in Lincolnshire, to the future of halloumi in Cyprus following an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, and the impact of global politics on vegetables grown in Africa for UK consumers. Leyla returns to the people behind these stories to hear what happened after the programmes were broadcast. Listen to the original programmes: English Olive Oil https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002f00z Why Is Africa Feeding Us? https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002m1mz Halloumi and hellim: The story of an island and its cheese https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jsc7 Eels and Elvers https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002lfhd Consider the Eel: Part 2 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002t2kh Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan
24 July

Inside the Chocolate Crisis

Cacao prices broke all records and then crashed, Dan Saladino explores the fallout for farmers and the chocolate industry with Jack Thompson reporting from the Ivory Coast. Produced and presented by Dan Saladino
17 July

How Pistachios Took Over

They’re in your chocolate, your gelato, even your coffee - pistachios seem to be everywhere at the moment - bolstered by the craze for Dubai Chocolate. In this episode Leyla Kazim asks what happens when the world seems to fall in love with one ingredient. She explores how the United States came to overtake traditional producers in the Middle East to become the world's largest pistachio grower, and hears about the nut's long history in countries such as Iran from Iranian-American food writer Anna Ansari. Meanwhile, Honey & Co.'s Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich demonstrate how versatile pistachios can be, creating both sweet and savoury dishes. Nick Moss, nuts market reporter at Expana, explains what's happening to pistachio prices and why forecasts for this year's harvest are lower than usual. Leyla also visits Green Lanes in Haringey, home to many Turkish and Middle Eastern businesses, to discover how pistachios have long been central to traditional desserts - and hears how rising prices are changing that. Finally, she meets Charlie Tebbutt, whose south London company Food & Forest imports nuts, including pistachios, from farms that are either avoiding irrigation or using agroforestry methods, as an alternative to the vast monocrops that supply most of the world's pistachios. Produced by Natalie Donovan for BBC Audio in Bristol
10 July

Howzat? The Story of the Cricket Tea

Chef and broadcaster Romy Gill heads to the pavilion to explore cricket's relationship with food. She discovers that the supposedly British institution of the cricket tea was in fact a tradition imported from Australia in the 1880s. She visits Lord's - the Home of Cricket - and is given access to the kitchens to watch tea being prepared as well as receiving a tour of the Lord's museum to look through their culinary archives. She's made to feel welcome by the BBC Test Match Special team and reminisces over her own childhood cricket teas growing up in West Bengal in India. Romy explores the health of the cricket tea at a club level and heads to Stainland Cricket Club near Halifax in West Yorkshire to meet the inspirational Trish Wood who has helped bring cricket teas back to her club and John Fuller of Cricket Yorkshire who devised a competition to find the best cricket tea in the county. Robin Markwell reports from Stoke Gifford in South Gloucestershire on a decision by cricket clubs around Bristol who voted to no longer make cricket teas compulsory in their league after the pandemic. Presented by Romy Gill and produced by Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol with thanks to the BBC Test Match Special team.

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Comedy

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Sheila Dillon

Host
Dan Saladino

Host
Mitch Tonks

Guest
Dr. Bryce Stewart

Guest
Anna Ansari

Guest
Sarit Packer

Guest
Itamar Srulovich

Guest
Nick Moss

Guest
Charlie Tebbutt

Guest
Susan Jebb

Guest

4.6

out of 5

111 Ratings

One major problem with this show:

26/01/2023

YolandaMP

It’s not long enough! I want the episodes to be at least twice as long - I love them! Keep it up!
Continuous Learning Journey

02/09/2022

Allysha Murray

This poddy is a non stop learning journey. The more you listen (even when repeating previous episodes) the more you learn and hear new things. Highly recommend for anyone involved or interested in food in one way or another. You won’t regret it.
A Down Under listener

20/04/2021

AncientGrains63

I’ve been listening to the Food Prog for 2 years. What a wonderful discussion and insight into current food thoughts and practices.
Inspiring and Entertaining

11/06/2019

Australian Tracey

Listening in the car on my way to and from work the BBC Radio 4 podcast gets me thinking, smiling and feeling happy. The food industry is forever evolving, there will never be ‘nothing to discover’ and boredom doesn’t get a look-in. Inspiring people, exciting ideas, fascinating science and above all the best food conversations - thank you, thank you Sheila and team xx