The Food Chain

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, which has banned 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 thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk
Producers: Sam Clack and Izzy Greenfield
Sound engineers: Jack Wilfan and Hal Haines
(Image description: racks of fish fillets inside a smoker)

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: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

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)

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: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk
Producer: Izzy Greenfield
Sound engineer: Andy Mills
Picture: Simple Enak

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 Greenfield
Sound Engineer: Andrew Mills
Image description: