The Food Chain

Elite footballers are among the world's most finely tuned athletes. Every meal is carefully planned to fuel training, maximise recovery and prepare for the next match. But it wasn't always this way. In this episode of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander explores how football's relationship with food has changed, from the days of steak and beef before a game to today's highly personalised nutrition plan...

With dining out becoming an increasingly expensive luxury, we find out how to order the perfect restaurant meal with top tips from a panel of seasoned pros. The Irish Times food critic, Corinna Hardgrave, veteran server and podcast host Brittany Felton and chef and hospitality advisor James Knight-Pacheco join Ruth Alexander to discuss how to make the most of a well-deserved meal from your hard-ea...

Many of us have our own theories about sleep. Perhaps it's avoiding coffee after lunch, drinking chamomile tea before bed, or having a warm glass of milk. But what does the science actually say? In this episode of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander explores the relationship between food and sleep, asking whether changing what we eat and drink can help us get a better night's rest. Professor Marie-Pier...

The history of smoking foods stretches back many years, but when did what began purely for preservation become a highly sought-after flavour? In this episode of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander explores the origins of smoked foods and finds out why their flavours are so appealing to so many people around the world. She visits a smokehouse run by Michael Price in the port city of Lancaster in north-w...

Music is part of the backdrop to millions of meals every day. But what if it is doing more than simply creating atmosphere? In this episode of The Food Chain, Rumella Dasgupta explores the growing evidence that sound can shape the way we experience food and drink. From scientists studying how the brain combines hearing and taste, to chefs designing dishes around playlists, we ask whether music has...

Running a restaurant is hard. Long hours, tight margins and constant stress. In this week's programme Rumella Dasgupta travels to Edinburgh, Scotland, to meet Lisa He and her mum Sophie. Lisa has just put her life and acting career on hold, to try and help her mum save the family's restaurant, the China Star. A video she made documenting her attempt has gone viral, with more than fifteen million v...

Food tours are becoming one of the fastest-growing parts of the travel industry, with tourists increasingly choosing to explore cities and cultures through what they eat. In this episode, Ruth Alexander explores the global rise of guided food experiences and the people building businesses around them. In Manchester, food tour guide Julia Fairburn takes Ruth through some of the city’s best-known fo...

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 movi...

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 Kevi...

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 s...

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...

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 e...

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 i...

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 con...

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, sayin...

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...

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 yea...

Ruth Alexander meets three people who gave up well-paid, high-flying careers to start all over again in the world of food. Nisha Katona left a career as a child protection barrister behind to start Mowgli, a chain of Indian restaurants in the UK, physically building her first restaurants herself. Judy Joo worked in finance on Wall Street but decided to give it up to go to culinary school. After st...

Shattering the myth of its aristocratic origins and exploring some of the boldest creations; Ruth Alexander finds out about the history, culture and family ties wrapped up in the sandwich. Josh Veasey, co-owner of Rack in North West England talks about his menu’s hits and misses and what it’s like to make a living out of making sandwiches. The fourth Earl of Sandwich John Montagu is popularly cred...

From Michelin starred kitchens to Hong Kong’s high rise tower blocks, via informal settlements in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Ruth Alexander hears from people making the best out of the cramped and tiny spaces they’re cooking in. Gina Lai shows her around the kitchen in her cramped Hong Kong high rise flat and Ruth visits chef Ryan Blackburn who has retained a Michelin star whilst cooking out of t...

Every food company starts with a gamble - and not all of them pay off. In this episode Ruth Alexander speaks to business owners about the risks they’ve taken to get where they are today, from financial leaps to personal sacrifices, and the painful decisions that have shaped their journeys. Ruth hears from Kim Kiarie, chef-owner of Five Senses Nairobi in Kenya, about building a high-end restaurant...

We all have recipes we turn to again and again, perhaps from the stained pages of our favourite cookbooks, or handed down through families. But have you ever wondered about the work that’s gone into writing that set of instructions? In this edition of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander looks at the art and science of recipe writing. How does a cook turn what is often an instinctive and creative proces...

Most of us have foods we refuse to eat - think coriander, or maybe olives. But where do those strong dislikes come from, and is it possible to change them? In this episode of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander sets out to find out whether you really can learn to love the foods you hate. From first encounters that go wrong to memories that linger, she explores why food preferences can feel so fixed, an...

Fermented foods are fashionable – kimchi, kefir, kombucha – they're all having a moment, many thousands of years on from where they were first produced. But how much do you know about how they're made? Do you know your SCOBY from your kefir grain? In this episode, fermenting novice Ruth Alexander goes on a quest to find out more about this ancient way of preserving food; how to do it yourself, why...

Meal kits have become a familiar part of food shopping in many countries, offering pre-portioned ingredients and recipes delivered to the door. But how widespread are they, and what do they reveal about how people are eating today? Ruth Alexander hears from Philip Doran, CEO of HelloFresh UK and Ireland, and Sarah Hewitt, CEO of South African meal kit company UCOOK, about how these services operat...