Every Bite

You say tomato, I say… bleurgh. How is it that we can have such different experiences of the same foods? Taste and flavour: What are they and how do they work? We meet some of the top flavour scientists working today, including the researcher who discovered that there are 'supertasters' among us.

What characterises Australian food? We're a nation adept at making first-rate versions of food drawn from all corners of the globe, but our palates are less familiar with the foods of our own backyard. For millennia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have cultivated and enjoyed uniquely Australian foods. So, why are these ingredients still so hard to find on supermarket shelves?

Many of us imagine that an athlete's diet consists of sports supplements providing carefully calibrated doses of carbohydrates, protein and electrolytes, but for ancient Olympians, a diet of cheese or figs was seemingly enough. In truth, whole foods are still the most important part of an athlete's diet today, as we discover on our culinary tour of the sporting world.

The egg is an extraordinary thing. In the pantheon of miraculous food chemistry, it takes on a range of essential roles. From helping cakes and soufflés to rise, to bringing disparate ingredients and flavours into a unified whole. They can also take on a starring role, whether fried, scrambled or poached. Eggs frequently appear in art, literature, design, and philosophy, too, and they are at the h...

Australians don't always see eye to eye on election day, but there is one unprepossessing foodstuff that seems to straddle divides of age, geography, ideology and class: the sausage. How did the humble sausage come to be the food that fuels election days in Australia, with its name now synonymous with the democratic act?

What is appetite? Many happily succumb to it, while others struggle against it through willpower or even pharmaceuticals. But what are the biological, cultural and psychological mechanisms that make us want to eat? These questions are increasingly complicated in this era of unprecedented abundance and ubiquitous food.

In times of war, food and nourishment can determine victory or defeat. Welcome to the world of military food. Armies once lived off the land, but now they can live off a sealed, freeze-dried pouch. Imagining, making and storing combat-ready food leads global food science, which means that each and every one of us eats a little like a soldier.

In many religions, the key moments of ritual centre around food. Whether it's Eid al-Fitr, Passover or Easter Sunday, these feasts mark the passing of time and have bounty and renewal at their heart. In this episode, we pull up a chair at Easter and Passover celebrations around Australia and abroad, and en route we learn about some of the more ancient rituals that underpin these feasts of faith.

If you were to list the world's best bakers working today, Richard Hart's name would have to be right near the top. After honing his craft at big-name bakeries in California, he teamed up with the world-famous Noma to open Hart Bageri in Copenhagen. His skills with sourdough are so well-known, he was even namechecked on The Bear. Richard recently published his first book. It's called Richard Hart...

When the bread baking craze took off during the pandemic, many of us encountered sourdough starter for the first time: a concoction of flour and water playing host to a colony of micro-organisms — most importantly: yeast. Without this single-celled fungus, we would have no leavened bread, no wine, no beer and no spirits. So, what role does it play? And how long have humans partnered with this mira...

Doctors and scientists around the world are increasingly alarmed by the impact that industrial processing is having on the food we eat and by what that food does to our bodies. Ultra-processed foods may last longer and taste good, but our guests explain, they are designed for overindulgence, and they are linked to health problems like obesity and an increased risk of some cancers.

If you took the sodium chloride out of human history, you would have a very different and strangely flavourless tale to tell. Salt has historically been one of the world's most valuable commodities. Its discovery, extraction and commodification has shaped the story of humanity. So, let's take a trip from the test tube to the kitchen, to salt tolerant plants that could revolutionise agriculture. Th...

The food we eat at school matters. Some Australian children get too much of the wrong thing, while others get not much of anything at all. In these early years, the food habits of a lifetime are being set, and study after study shows the link between nutrition, attention and learning. If almost every other high-income country in the world is providing free or subsidised lunches for school-aged chi...

Where did the word 'curry' come from? Was the word used in the pre-colonial era? Spoiler: It wasn't. So, if curry is an impostor, overshadowing India's rich culinary history and its diverse range of regional expressions, how did so much of the world come to understand Indian food in such simple terms?

Whether it is Nigella, Stephanie or Yotam on your shelf, there's a good chance that you and I are cooking from the same book. The two best-selling books in Australia in 2024 were both cookbooks — and they were both written by Nagi Maehashi, the founder of the website RecipeTin Eats. Her two books — Dinner and Tonight — have together sold one million copies worldwide. So, what is it about the flour...

The cost of living crisis is having a significant impact on the way we eat. Restaurants are struggling, and diners are changing their habits — skipping dessert or opting for water over wine. But it doesn't end there: for many Australians, affording a healthy home-cooked meal is a challenge. Yet, some fine dining restaurants are thriving — so, what's going on?

Onions and their flavourful relatives feature prominently in cuisines across the globe, with a history of cultivation that goes back thousands of years. Onion recipes have even been found on the cuneiform tablets of Ancient Babylonia. So, what is happening under the skin of this many-layered bulb to make it such a versatile and essential ingredient?

You say tomato, I say… bleurgh. How is it that we can have such different experiences of the same foods? Taste and flavour: What are they and how do they work? We meet some of the top flavour scientists working today, including the researcher who discovered that there are 'supertasters' among us.

Is there anything you take more for granted in your kitchen than the cutlery drawer? We hardly give a second thought to the humble tools that carry food from plate to mouth. But maybe we should. There's history here, and stories of changing preferences and assumptions within cultures. Fork or fingers? Cut or tear? They say you are what you eat, but it turns out how you eat matters, too.

Exploring culture through food. Each week Jonathan Green serves up a new dish or ingredient, uncovering the rich layer of stories, traditions, and innovations behind it. From the origins and cultural significance to the science and economics of food, we explore how what we eat shapes and is shaped by our world. From humble street food to gourmet delicacies, discover the fascinating narratives that...