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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-Pierre St-Onge, Director of the Center of Excellence for Sleep & Circadian Research at Columbia University, explains what decades of research have revealed about the links between diet and sleep quality. She discusses why poor sleep can change our food choices, how certain dietary patterns are associated with better sleep, and why scientists are increasingly interested in nutrients such as fibre and tryptophan.
Sleep physician Dr Allie Hare, President of the British Sleep Society, brings the perspective of the clinic. She explains the questions patients ask most often, from caffeine and alcohol to herbal remedies and sleep supplements, and discusses some of the biggest misconceptions people have about improving their sleep.
Together, they explore whether there really are "sleep foods", what role meal timing might play, and whether social media trends and expensive supplements are distracting us from the basics.
Along the way, they answer listeners' questions and share practical, evidence-based advice on the changes people can make today to improve their chances of a good night's sleep tonight.
If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, please email: [email protected].uk
Producer: Izzy GreenfieldSound engineer: Hal Haines
(Image: A woman with brown hair holding an orange cushion stands next to an open fridge full of food and yawns. Credit: Getty Images)
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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-west England, where he explains the techniques used to flavour a variety of fish, as well as some of the more unusual demands he’s received from chefs. We learn about the science behind smoked flavours from Professor Heather Smyth, a flavour chemist and sensory scientist at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. And food historian, Professor Ken Albala, walks us through thousands of years of history via a meal prepared using his own home smoker in Stockton, California. We also investigate the impact of EU legislation with the European Food Safety Authority, following a European ban on several smoke flavour additives, and ask what this might mean for the future of smoked foods.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected].uk
Producers: Sam Clack and Izzy GreenfieldSound engineers: Jack Wilfan and Hal Haines
(Image description: racks of fish fillets inside a smoker)
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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 become an ingredient in its own right.
Chef Gaggan Anand explains why music sits at the centre of his restaurant in Bangkok, where sound, lighting and food are carefully choreographed into a single experience. Cognitive neuroscientist Ophelia Deroy shares research showing how music can influence our perception of sweetness, bitterness and texture, and explains why flavour is far more than what happens on the tongue.
We also hear from Ola Sars, founder of the business music platform Soundtrack, whose company helps restaurants, cafés and hotels tailor the music they play. He shares research suggesting that the right soundtrack can influence customer behaviour and even affect sales.
But not everyone is convinced. Dan Keeling, co-owner of London's Noble Rot restaurants and a former music industry executive who signed artists including Coldplay and Lily Allen, explains why he has chosen not to play music in his dining rooms at all.
From silent restaurants to carefully curated playlists, from neuroscience labs to commercial dining rooms, we explore the increasingly important role sound plays in the way we eat.
If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, please email: [email protected].uk
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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 views.
But is a viral video going to be enough to turn a failing business into a success? Lisa's got to fix the sprawling menu, digitise the paper ordering system and cut costs.
Lisa and Rumella meet restaurant turnaround expert David Hopkins from the Fifteen Group in Canada, who's on hand to give advice and to explain why restaurants are such difficult businesses to run.
Meanwhile the Mand family in Sydney Australia know only too well what Lisa and Sophie are going through. Last year, son Bhav documented his fight to save his dad's failing restaurant. So how's it doing now?
And, in such a difficult industry, when is the right time to walk away? Rumella hears from Carleigh Bond, who made the tough decision to close her vegan fast-food restaurant Forked Up in October 2025.
Producers: Lexy O'Connor and Beatrice Pickup.
Sound Engineer: Andrew Mills
Image description: Lisa He and mum Sophie in their restaurant, The China Star. Lisa is looking at mum and smiling. (Credit: BBC)
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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 food spots, explaining how successful tours combine local history, storytelling and carefully paced eating experiences designed to leave visitors with lasting memories.
Eric Wolf, founder and executive director of the World Food Travel Association in Valencia, Spain, explains how food tourism has expanded worldwide into a multi-billion-dollar industry, as travellers increasingly seek authentic and immersive culinary experiences.
We also hear from Judith von Prockel, who began creating holidays centred around food experiences more than two decades ago, long before culinary tourism became mainstream. She reflects on how attitudes towards food travel have changed and why people are increasingly planning trips around what they want to eat.
And in Malaysia, Pauline Lee from Simply Enak describes the work involved in creating memorable food tours in a growing and increasingly competitive market, where guides must balance logistics, hospitality and cultural storytelling alongside the food itself.
From hidden local gems to global tourism trends, we explore why food tours have become big business — and what travellers are really looking for when they book them.
If you’d like to get in touch with the programme, please email: [email protected].uk
Producer: Izzy GreenfieldSound engineer: Andy MillsPicture: Simple Enak
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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 movie set to the what happens when customers turn nasty. What's it like to make this challenging job your career?
Plus of course: how to make the perfect martini! (The answer might surprise you!)
Producers: Lexy O'Connor and Izzy GreenfieldSound Engineer: Andrew Mills
Image description:
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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 Kevin Curry, who has around two million followers across his Fit Men Cook social media accounts.
And if you have ever wondered whether those leftovers are safe to eat, or how long you should leave hot food cooling on the kitchen counter before you freeze it, there is advice from Natalie Stanton, who trains chefs in food safety.
If you would like to get in touch with The Food Chain team, please email [email protected].uk
Producer: Lexy O'Connor
Sound engineer: Hal Haines
(Image: A food container with chicken and vegetables being opened by a woman's hands. Credit: Getty Images)
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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 system.
AJ Shehata, senior sous chef at Fallow restaurant in London explains why the potato forces chefs to get creative.
At the Natural History Museum, botanist Sandy Knapp explains how the potato may have been born from a chance encounter between two wild plants in the Andes, an event that made it possible for potatoes to grow underground and spread across new environments.
We explore how the potato became a global food. Potatoes USA president Blair Richardson explains how demand continues to grow worldwide, and how the industry is working to reshape the potato’s image.
We ask whether the potato’s reputation is deserved. Nutrition scientist Candida Rebello shares research suggesting potatoes may be far more beneficial, and more misunderstood, than many people think.
And at the International Potato Center in Peru, scientist Julian Soto works with farmers to conserve thousands of native potato varieties. In the Andes, potatoes are not just a crop, they are part of culture, identity and family life.
From ancient origins to modern revival, this is the story of how the potato conquered the world, fell out of favour, and is now being rediscovered, just as new challenges begin to emerge.
If you’d like to get in touch with the programme, please email: [email protected].uk
Producer: Izzy GreenfieldSound engineer: Hal HainesPicture: Getty
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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 shapes our tastes and why they think columns about cake matter more than you might think.
If you would like to get in touch with The Food Chain team, please email [email protected].uk
Producers: Izzy Greenfield and Lexy O'Connor
Sound engineer: Hal Haines
(Photo: Woman writes in a notebook next to an open laptop and vegetables on a kitchen counter top. Credit: Getty Images)
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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 eating habits when we're under intense pressure. Plus are energy drinks ever a good idea before an exam, and what should we do when the junk food cravings hit? Featuring Professor Julia Rucklidge, director of Te Puna Toiora, the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and Lucy Upton, a UK based paediatric dietitian who supports her teenage clients to eat better during this stressful phase of their lives.
Plus teenagers and university students in the US and India discuss what they like to eat and drink when studying.
With special thanks to Zumix in Boston.
Producer: Lexy O'Connor
Sound engineer: Andrew Mills Image: a dark-haired teenage girl is sprawled on her bed. She has a biscuit in her mouth and is writing in an exercise book. Credit: Getty images.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected].uk
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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 intake. So how can we boost our fibre intake? And does it really have to involve chia seeds?
Ruth picks the brains of fibre expert Professor Joanne Slavin from the University of Minnesota and Fathima Abdoola, known as The Cultural Dietitian, based in Brisbane Australia. And psychologist Phillippa Lally from the University of Surrey in the UK, explains how we can make our well intentioned new habits stick.
Producer: Lexy O’Connor
Sound engineer: Andrew Mills
(Image: A close up of a steaming bowl of Persian barley soup, in a blue bowl, with a woman’s hands holding it. Credit: Getty Images)
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected].uk
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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 confident cook?
She’s joined by three guests who spend much of their lives in the kitchen, and who know that not everyone starts out with natural ability.
Robin Van Creveld, founder and director of Community Chef in Lewes, England, teaches people practical cooking skills through a social enterprise. Tokunbo Koiki, founder of Tokunbo’s Kitchen Catering Company and London African Food Week, joins from Lagos to share her approach to making cooking accessible and enjoyable. And Pak Wai Hung, owner of 288 Bar and Wok restaurant in Cheltenham, explains how building confidence can be just as important as learning techniques.
Together, they share simple, realistic ways to get started, from overcoming fear of failure to building basic skills and routines. Ruth asks them how beginners can gain confidence, what essential skills really matter, and how to make cooking feel less intimidating.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected].uk
Producer: Izzy GreenfieldSound Engineer: Hal HainesPicture: Credit – Getty.
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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, saying he has worked to change.
Ruth Alexander uses this moment as a starting point to explore a broader question: what is, and what should be, the culture inside professional kitchens?
For many chefs, stories of gruelling hours, intense pressure and explosive tempers have long been part of the industry. But are those conditions still the norm today, or is a different kind of kitchen culture beginning to take shape?
Ruth is joined by three chefs from different generations and parts of the world, each reflecting on their own experiences of coming up in the industry, and how those experiences have shaped the way they run their kitchens now.
Jun Tanaka, chef-owner of Michelin-starred restaurant The Ninth in London, looks back on starting out more than three decades ago. Preeti Mistry, executive chef at Silver Oak in California, shares her perspective after 25 years in the industry. And Manon Fleury, head chef at Datil in Paris and co-founder of an organisation working to prevent violence in kitchens, explains why she believes change is both necessary and possible.
They discuss whether the old hierarchies and harsh environments are being left behind, what a healthier kitchen culture could look like, and what still needs to change.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected].uk
Producer: Izzy GreenfieldSound engineer: Annie GardinerImage: credit - getty
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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 Rumella Dasgupta.
Image: A small angry boy with blonde hair is holding a bowl of food and threatening to tip it on the floor as his parents' hands reach out to stop him. Credit:Getty/ skynesher
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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 years. She shares what it takes to fuel months of marathon training, and what it feels like when things go wrong during a race. Also on the programme is former world champion runner Steve Cram, now a coach and commentator, who explains the common nutrition mistakes he sees among recreational runners. And Performance Director of the dsm-firmenich Running Team, Valentijn Trouw tells us what it’s like to oversee the performance programmes of elite athletes including marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge. Ruth asks them what runners should fuel their training, what to eat in the crucial days before a race, and how to avoid “hitting the wall” on marathon day. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected].uk Produced by Izzy Greenfield. Sound Engineer: Annie GardinerPicture: Credit - Getty. Paula Radcliffe competes in a marathon
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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 starting at the bottom in various restaurant kitchens she founded the Korean restaurant chain Seoul Bird, which has outlets in the UK and the US.
Duc Ngo was an engineer who felt he lacked purpose and joy. So he left his job to start a sandwich shop in Helsinki. But it wasn’t easy. He took to Tiktok to document its rise, fall and rebirth as a bistro, The Alley.
So did they all make the right decision and would they change anything? Ruth finds out...
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected].uk
Produced by Lexy O'Connor.
Sound Engineer: Annie Gardiner
Image: A smiling woman is behind a cafe door. She is turning the “closed” sign to “open”. Credit MoMo Productions/Getty images.
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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 credited with coming up with the idea of putting a tasty filling between two slices of bread; food historian Dr Annie Gray reveals the facts of the matter.
Masterchef Australia finalist and food writer Samira el Khafir talks about some of her favourite Middle Eastern wraps, enduring staples in the region and far beyond.
Ruth discusses the changing fashions for fillings with Barry Enderwick, the California-based creator of the social media channel, Sandwiches of History.
And Ozoz Sokoh, author of Chop Chop: Cooking the Food of Nigeria, reflects on how the sandwiches of her childhood were shaped by a long history of enslavement and British colonial rule.
Producers: Julia Paul & Lexy O’Connor Sound engineer: Hal HainesEditor: Sara Wadeson
(Phoro: A smiling dark haired woman holds up a sandwich with a bite taken out of it. Credit: Farkot Architect/Getty Images)
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected].uk
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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 the tinest of professional kitchens in Northern England.
Plus Leah and her daughter Janice explain how they cook family meals in an informal settlement in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and AJ Forget describes what it's like to give up a big kitchen for a new life on the road, living and cooking in a converted bus.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected].uk
Produced by Izzy Greenfield, Rumella Dasgupta and Lexy O'Connor
Image Description: Gina Lai is cooking in her tiny Hong Kong flat. (Credit Gina Lai/BBC)
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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 in a challenging market. Adonis Norouznia, who runs Nomas Gastrobar in Macclesfield in North-West England, on the risks of deciding to serve meat at his vegan restaurant, and Keith Bearden, CEO and co-owner of Alta Eco Foods in Houston, Texas, about scaling a food business in a competitive industry.
They describe the compromises that cost them dearly, the moments they wondered whether it was all worth it, and what kept them going. Produced by Izzy Greenfield
Image description: A foot comes down amidst a cartoon landscape of bright yellow banana skins. Credit Getty.
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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 process into a list of instructions anyone can follow? How much detail is too much, and what are the essential elements no recipe is complete without? Ruth talks to a well-known cook who describes her love-hate relationship with recipe writing and a cookbook editor reveals how she’s built recipes from chefs’ doodles or even notes scrawled on a napkin. Find out what it’s like to work in the world of recipe testing and how the art of writing recipes has changed over hundreds of years.
Producer: Lexy O’Connor
Sound engineer: Hal Haines
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected].uk
- Visa fler
