The banh mi is a staple street food in Vietnam and increasingly popular around the world. But how did it come to be a global sensation?  In this edition of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander discovers how the signature sandwich - invented during the French occupation of Vietnam in the 1950s - went on to become popular around the world after the end of the Vietnam war.  Ruth explores the traces of French history and politics found in the sandwich ingredients with former French diplomat to Vietnam Dr Bertrand Hartingh; and she discovers how it’s made at Manchester restaurant, Pho Cue.  And as Dr Quan Tran of Yale University explains, it's a tale of ingenuity, adaptation and family love.  If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk  (Picture: A banh mi sandwich) Presenter: Ruth Alexander 
Producers: Sam Clack and Rumella Dasgupta

Banh mi: A sandwich with a story

The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Stunning cakes, colourful salads and intricate garnishes use flowers to entice customers, but there’s more to this trend than just beautiful social media pictures.   Many cultures around the world have eaten flowers for centuries, and some of them pack a serious punch.   Devina Gupta explores the history of edible flowers and visits a site in the UK where they’re grown all year round. She gets quite a shock when trying one particular variety.   We find out why flowers are used on food nowadays, and how generations of knowledge about their use and properties were lost when they were brought to Western countries.   If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.    Presented by Devina Gupta  Produced by Julia Paul and Beatrice Pickup  (Image: A nasturtium flower growing. Credit: BBC)

Can I eat this flower?

Do you know how much salt you should be eating?   And if I tell you it’s less than 5 grams a day, do you know how much that is?  Ruth Alexander explores the wonder of salt and why chefs think their job would be pointless without it and why the impact it’s having on the food might surprise you.   Professor Paul Breslin tells us about the “magical” chemical reaction happening on your tongue when you eat salt, and why your brain responds to that.   We hear about what eating too much salt can do to you from an expert in Australia, as well as a mother in Kazakhstan who cut out salt almost completely – in a country which has one of the highest consumptions in the world.   If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk  Presented by Ruth Alexander Produced by Hannah Bewley    (Image: A chef sprinkles salt on a pan of food. Credit: BBC)

To salt or not to salt?

Over two million people work in the international shipping trade, and they are often at sea for months at a time.   That’s a lot of meals being made by the cook on board, and their work is crucial for keeping the crew happy.  Ruth Alexander hears from seafarers about why that makes “cookie” the most important person on board a ship and why, in some cases, crew members are going hungry.    A former captain of merchant vessels tells us how food is used for so-called “facilitation payments” to corrupt officials, and why crews can sometimes be powerless to stop port officials filling up suitcases with food from the ship’s stores.  We also hear about international efforts to try to tackle corruption in ports and increase welfare standards for seafarers.  If you would like to share your own experience, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk  Presenter: Ruth Alexander  Producers: Izzy Greenfield and Hannah Bewley  (Image: A container ship at sea. Credit: Getty Images)

Hungry at sea

What’s the secret behind the on-screen chemistry shared by some TV chef duos?  The recent death of Dave Myers, one half of ‘The Hairy Bikers’ with Si King, has prompted this programme celebrating successful food friendships. Dave and Si made food shows and cookbooks that took their fans all over the world, and off-screen they were close friends.   In this programme Ruth Alexander speaks to two chefs who have found success in food with a good friend.  Ruth Rogers, co-founder of The River Cafe restaurant in London, talks about her partnership with the late Rose Gray, who died in 2010. Together they presented ‘The Italian Kitchen’ for Channel 4 in the UK in 1998.   Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo talks about his long friendship and work with the late chef Antonio Carluccio, and the TV series they made together for the BBC, ‘Two Greedy Italians’ in 2011 and 2012. Gennaro also talks about his friendship with the chef Jamie Oliver to whom he’s been a mentor.   Presented by Ruth Alexander.   Produced by Beatrice Pickup.  (Image: Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray plating dishes at The River Cafe restaurant in London. Credit: Maurice ROUGEMONT/Getty Images/ BBC)

Food double-acts: TV chefs

These are tough times for restaurants. If the pandemic's rolling lockdowns were not bad enough, independent eateries now find themselves caught on a conveyor belt of crises: inflation, labour shortages and high rents. That is without mentioning the post-Covid agoraphobic “hermit consumer", who prefers to hunker down indoors than splash the cash on going out.   If the stats are to be believed 60% of restaurants fail in the first year, 80% after five. And yet despite the long odds many are still seduced by TV dramas like The Bear into turning their passion for cooking into a business. We hear from some of the best in the business for a steer on how to keep this labour of love alive.  David Reid speaks to leading restaurant critic Jay Rayner, culinary specialist Ashley Godfrey, top chef Joseph Otway and restaurant operations manager, Sam Wheatley as they lift the lid on the trade secrets they have accumulated from years on the restaurant front-line. The programme also asks what a world without independent restaurants would be like and what we as strapped consumers can do to save the flagging middle of the restaurant market from going under.  Presenter/producer: David Reid   (Image: A waitress lays a table in a restaurant. Credit: Getty Images)

Banh mi: A sandwich with a story

Download our free app to listen on your phone