The Food Programme

Christmas Necessary Pleasures - Sheila Dillon hears from leading chefs and writers on their favourite Christmas foods. Jamie Oliver, Angela Hartnett and Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood are among the top chefs who create an imaginary banquet of Christmas delicacies. Food writers Tom Jaine and Kirsten Rodgers discuss these foods, and hear about past Christmas traditions from food histori...

Cheap veg - the surprising stories behind humble British vegetables. Sheila Dillon enlists three experts to uncover the hidden side of our veggies. Ethno-botanist James Wong argues that rhubarb is the only uniquely British indigenous vegetable. Agricultural expert Dr Oliver Moore discovers the work that a seed bank in Ireland is doing to increase variety in our potatoes. And food writer Andrew Web...

Sheila Dillon looks at the role food plays in different faiths and how increasingly churches, temples and mosques are being tasked with feeding people who have fallen victim to recession. Producer: Maggie Ayre.

A Winning Meal - the menu behind the Food and Farming Awards. Chef, Arthur Potts-Dawson tells the story behind a celebratory meal created using ingredients from UK food producers who were nominated for the BBC Food and Farming Awards. Presented by Sheila Dillon. Produced by Emma Weatherill.

Originally the street food of German immigrants to the United States, the hot dog was the original artisan sausage in the late nineteenth century before going 'downscale' and becoming the cheap food for the masses. Now not just a watery, synthetic thing from a can, a new breed of pedigree frankfurter is on the rise. Tom Parker Bowles reports. Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Sheila Dillon meets finalists in the BBC Food & Farming Awards offering ideas for our food future, from making more local food available online to redistributing spare food. Joining Sheila to explore these ideas are Kath Dalmeny, research director of Sustain, and Christine Tacon, former CEO of the Coop's farms. Under discussion are Growing Communities in East London, Riverford Organics in Devo...

From Moroccan food to traditional British puddings. Valentine Warner and Charles Campion taste their way through the BBC Food & Farming Awards "Best street food or takeaway" category. The judges had the challenge of travelling and eating their way around the three finalists very different stories in what turned out to be something of a "food road trip" . Charles and Valentine, find out about n...

Loving lard - Tim Hayward delves into the guilty pleasure of eating animal fat. Lard is so unfashionable that the word is used as an insult. But Tim goes on a mission to reclaim lard and argue that it can be enjoyed as part of a healthy diet. Science journalist Gary Taubes is researching saturated animal fats and says that eating lard is healthy. Food writer Oliver Thring visits restaurant Quo Vad...

John Inverdale looks at innovations in the food offerings at football grounds that aim to give fans and players alike a better eating experience than the traditional burger and pie. He visits League Champions Manchester City who are leading the way in the food revolution. Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Tim Hayward glimpses the future of the domestic oven. After decades of remaining relatively unchanged, ovens will soon be intelligent , with probes, steam and user interfaces. Mary Berry gives Tim some tips on how best to use your oven, and food historian Bee Wilson explains how ovens used to be so cutting edge that people were afraid of them. Presenter: Tim Hayward. Producer: Emma Weatherill.

Tristram Stuart reports on the latest ideas to tackle our growing mountains of food waste by thinking creatively and producing good food from surplus produce Producer: Maggie Ayre.

British blue cheese is aspiring to move from niche to mass market. Blue cheese has been made on the continent since Roman times. But in the UK, blue in cheese was historically viewed as "white cheese gone wrong". Now, British blue cheese producers are trying to make creamy, sweet, salty cheeses in a European style to compete with the continental imports of Gorgonzola, Cambozola and Danish Blue. Sh...

Cook and food writer Valentine Warner reveals this year's line up of finalists in the BBC Food & Farming Awards. For the past four months the team of judges including chef Angela Hartnett, drinks writers Pete Brown and Victoria Moore as well as Valentine have all been sifting through nominations and selecting the potential winners of awards. Who they've chosen and why is all in this special ed...

Tom Parker Bowles looks at the cinema eating experience: from popcorn and nachos to three course meals, there's now every kind of food available to nibble on whilst at the movies. But is it right that we should eat in such a distracted way? Isn't it a ticket to obesity? Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Sheila Dillon finds out why sourdough bread is undergoing a major revival. It is the world's oldest leaven bread dating back to Ancient Egypt and it is now experiencing a renaissance. Baker Dan de Gustibus explains how the bread is made from a sourdough starter, a mixture of flour and water which is left to ferment until wild yeasts and bacteria start breeding. But there are many myths around this...

Sheila Dillon finds out how Australia, a nation founded on the bulk export of cheese and meat, became one of the world's most exciting gastronomic destinations. The food story of the early settlers is told by Michael Symons, former restaurateur, academic and author of One Continuous Picnic: A Gastronomic History of Australia. In 1788, convicts and peasants arrived to an uncultivated land and farmi...

Sheila Dillon explores a food story of decline and revival, British mustard.

Do you know how vanilla beans are hand pollinated? Do you know why harvested vanilla pods are wrapped in hot blankets? Sheila Dillon reveals all as she continues her exploration of the modern spice world by looking at vanilla. Reporter Vanessa Kimbell travels to Uganda to meet Lulu Sturdy, a British furniture designer who inherited a run down estate in Uganda, and within a decade has turned it int...

Sheila Dillon embarks on a journey through the world of spice, starting with the clove. She follows the story of the clove from a harvest in Africa to sauce making with chef Jeremy Lee. A culinary prize since the 3rd century BC, cloves have been a source of conflict and competition for centuries. They're still one of the most popular spices in our kitchen cupboards. Reporter Nick Maes travels to Z...

Can changing our dining utensils change the flavour of food? Simon Parkes investigates.

For most people, the idea of camping food is not an appetising one. You'll not find food-loving Tim Hayward under canvas unless it's in the big tent of a food festival. Tim has got wind of a man who is throwing all of his energy into changing forever how people see (and taste) camping food. Setting off on an arduous voyage to meet Josh Sutton - aka The Guyrope Gourmet - our intrepid presenter lear...

Simon Parkes hears from some of the listeners who've sent in their nominations for this year's Food and Farming Awards. Their stories cover a variety of foods, places and people, from the Glasgow curry cart, to the man so obsessed with the local jam he discovered that he finds himself making jam sandwiches at 10 o' clock at night 'grinning like a five year old.' Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Can Health Secretary Andrew Lansley change Britain's bad eating habits? Sheila Dillon hears how the debate is shaping up on the "responsibility deals" aimed at changing our diet. With over 60 per cent of the British population now overweight or obese everyone agrees that change is needed in how we eat and what we eat. One part of the government's strategy involve so called responsibility deals, ag...

What began as a writing project for school has, in two short months, become an internet phenomenon that is changing the way people are looking at the food children eat. "NeverSeconds" is the food blog of nine year old Martha Payne (AKA 'VEG'), from Lochgilpead in the West of Scotland. Inspired by a family friend who is a journalist, Martha started to photograph and rate her school dinners. A few w...

Sheila Dillon asks if food is the key to reviving the Britain' declining high streets. Food expert, Henrietta Green visits Croydon town centre which has just been awarded a grant by retail guru,Mary Portas to see if a radical food future is possible and asks what are the barriers to bringing quality food back to our high streets. Producer: Maggie Ayre.