The Food Programme

Sheila Dillon invites Diana Henry to provide a guide to an Eastern Christmas. With experts Bee Wilson and Sally Butcher on hand, Diana looks at 'get ahead' treats, and finds out why certain foods from the east feature so prominently at Christmas. They also explore some of the symbolism of 'exotic' food stuffs like dates and pomegranates that have become so much part and parcel of the Christmas fea...

Food stories from across the world. Dan Saladino travels to Terra Madre 2014 in Turin. It is a global movement of farmers and food producers which attracts the attention of world leaders - from Michelle Obama to Pope Francis. Last month, 250,000 people from 160 countries gathered at a former Olympic venue in Turin to taste and celebrate diverse foods and to discuss and debate the issues affecting...

From the king oyster to the not-so-humble button, Dan Saladino discovers a world of mushrooms, grown for food - and follows the spores to reveal the secrets of mycelium, hunts for the perfect mushroom sandwich, and finds that there is one species in particular that dominates the supermarkets and our kitchens. With more types of cultivated mushroom available in the UK now than there has ever been,...

Sheila Dillon talks to the publisher, writer and restaurateur Tom Jaine about his life. From his early days at 'The Hole in the Wall' in Bath to custody of his beloved 'Prospect Books' ("every book a brick in the wall of knowledge") and beyond. With contributions from Rick Stein, Joyce Molyneux and Tim Hayward. Producer: Sarah Langan Photograph by Toby Coulson.

Sheila Dillon looks at the state of play for female chefs in the professional kitchen. She talks to Alice Waters, Sally Clarke, Margot Henderson and Mary-Ellen McTague. We also hear from Joyce Molyneux, who was one of the female exceptions in the professional kitchen in post war Britain . In light of comments from some well known male chefs, most recently Tom Kerridge, Sheila asks if the kitchen a...

Harold McGee, the man who helped explain the science of the kitchen, tells his food story. His book, published in 1984, On Food and Cooking, has influenced home cooks as well as a new generation of experimental chefs. It's seen as an important book because it made the science of food accessible and understandable to domestic cooks and chefs. It explains what happens to the protein molecules in egg...

Sheila Dillon discovers the delights of eating rabbit meat, but also why some people think it is unjustifiable. Dil Peeling from Compassion in World Farming gives details on their latest report into conditions on rabbit farms on the continent. We hear from the Knowle West Media Centre about the culture of catching wild rabbits. And Sheila hears from Peter Rigby, a young farmer near Chippenham who...

Mutton tastier than lamb - why we should all demand to eat older meat. Dan Saladino uncovers the mystery of why we no longer eat mutton, despite it being a favoured meat of the Victorians. He hears about the efforts of Bob Kennard, author of a new book, Much Ado About Mutton, who's campaigning for good quality mutton to return to our menus. Chefs Fergus Henderson and Cyrus Todiwala are both lyrica...

As bee populations fall, Sheila Dillon asks if some salvation may be found in the mean streets of our cities. With a report from New York where bee keeping was actually illegal for a long time but where the honey festival now thrives. In London a young brewer tells us how she combined her love of brewing and beekeeping to produce an award winning honey ale. In Copenhagen we hear from a project wit...

From a lesson in "guerrilla gardening" by LA's Ron Finley to Mastering the Art of Soviet cooking with food writer Anya Von Bremzen, Dan Saladino reports from an annual food symposium held in Copenhagen, called MAD (the word for food in Danish). Now in its fourth year, the event was founded by the celebrated chef of the restaurant Noma, Rene Redzepi. In his own words, it's curated by a group of "ch...

Teff has been grown in Ethiopia for Millennia. Traditionally, it's ground, milled, mixed with water and fermented for days to make the sour staple flatbread injera. Cultivation of this mysterious and tiny grain has been concentrated in Ethiopia for thousands of years. But now that's changing as the health-conscious Western world realise the nutritional secrets this crop might bestow. In this editi...

Dan Saladino revisits Yorkshire food traditions which were captured on film in 1974 by Derek Cooper, previous presenter of The Food Programme. From Yorkshire puddings to tripe, Dan discovers how the food from this region was formed by the Industrial Revolution, hard labour and fuel. Dan re-watches the original 1970s A Taste of Britain tv programme with historian Peter Brears, writer Christopher Hi...

In 1974, Derek Cooper set off on a hunt - for BBC Television - around Britain to discover what was left of its regional foods and traditional ingredients. Forty years on, Dan Saladino revisits Wales, and that series, called "A Taste of Britain" - to meet some of those involved, their descendants, and to find out what happened after these foods and skills, some of which at the time were on the wane...

In 1974, Derek Cooper set off on a hunt - for BBC Television - around Britain to discover what was left of its regional foods and traditional ingredients. Forty years on, Dan Saladino revisits that series, called "A Taste of Britain" - to meet some of those involved, their descendants, and to find out what happened after these food traditions, many of which at the time were on the wane, were recor...

Eat for Victory - Sheila Dillon meets the people who are using the techniques of WWII rationing to improve their diet today. Clare Millar likes to dress as a land girl, and eat like one too. She isn't interested in eating Woolton Pie but she finds that the mantras from the time of rationing such as Grow Your Own Food, Don't Take More Than You Can Eat and Don't Waste Good Food are still useful toda...

Growing salad leaves is changing the lives of former drug addicts in Bristol. Sheila Dillon visits The Severn Project run by Steve Glover. Steve employs ex addicts and other people who find it hard to get jobs. And he's turned it into a profitable business. Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Emma Weatherill in Bristol.

Is the poultry industry fit for purpose? As our consumption of chicken increases and UK poultry production intensifies, Dan Saladino looks at the modern poultry industry. Two recent events have brought the production of chicken into sharp focus. The first is an investigation by the Guardian's Special Correspondent Felicity Lawrence into allegations of hygiene failings at major production plants. I...

English and Welsh wines are on the up and up, as Sheila Dillon investigates. Wine production is well known as a risky investment, not least because it is so dependent on the weather. Many UK growers were hit very hard by the terrible summer of 2012. One of our most well known brands, Nyetimber, completely abandoned their harvest for that year. Establishing a vineyard also requires a big capital in...

It's boom time in the world of lettuce and salad leaves. More leafy greens were sold in the UK last year than ever before, and that upward trend looks set to continue - driven in particular by bags and bowls of pre-prepared leaves. In this edition of The Food Programme, Dan Saladino goes on a journey into this fast-changing world of leaves - from how they are grown and packaged, to the ongoing hun...

Food in Opera. Sheila Dillon hears the story of food told through 400 years of music history. Gluttonous composers, cuisine centred plotlines and singers needing nourishment. Renowned opera critic and gourmet traveller, Fred Plotkin holds an event at the Royal Opera House on food in opera. We get to listen in to stories of a sugar addicted Mozart, Pavarotti's post performance meals and find out wh...

Stefan Gates talks to teachers, kids and cooks about food and the curriculum, ahead of the changes that come into force from September. Stefan asks how well prepared schools and teachers are, what students think of it all and whether the changes will finally spark a real change in the attitudes to food that will grow for generations. Producer: Sarah Langan.

Dan Saladino meets the world authority on the food of Mexico, the British born writer Diana Kennedy. Diana Kennedy's life reads like an adventure story. Born in Loughton, Essex in 1923, after serving in the land army she set off on a journey that would take her to Canada, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. She stopped off in Haiti, met the New York Times correspondent Paul Kennedy, fell in love and they mov...

Sheila Dillon asks whether sweeteners could be the way for us to cut down sugar but to keep enjoying sweet treats. Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced in Bristol by Emma Weatherill.

Richard Johnson is in South Carolina to meet Charleston chef, Sean Brock, who is on a mission to revive ingredients and flavours not experienced for hundreds of years. It's a story that involves an intricate "food tattoo", one of America's biggest private seed collections, a hog roast and "pick picking" and bowls of delicious peas, beans, rice, grits and fried chicken. Soon after British settlers...

Tim Hayward looks at the tradition of monastic food production, with stories from Sicily, New York as well as from closer to home. Ever since the 6th century rule of St Benedict said that monastic orders should be self- sufficient, monks and nuns have taken to the land and to the kitchens to produce food and drink for sale. Tim introduces us to some specific examples of how that tradition is thriv...