Go to work on an egg

tony-hancock
"Go to work on an egg",  the 1957  advertising campaign featuring Tony Hancock.  The eight ads were banned from being shown again for the 50th anniversary in 2007 as 'they did not suggest a varied diet'. Enjoy them here.

 


 

 
Antonio Carluccio

antonio_carluccio_1

The charismatic and much loved  Antonio Carluccio cannot easily be pigeon-holed.  Not a chef, yet so much more than a cook; not a businessman by his own admission,  yet he is the originator of the highly successful Carluccio's brand.

His passion for good, simple and flavoursome cooking, not to mention a great love of mushrooms, has inspired countless millions who have seen his television series and read his books on Italian food and life.

In this interview he talks about his earliest memories of food and shares anecdotes of his family and childhood in war-time Italy as well as the birth of Carluccio's.   And by the way, there are even some English dishes he loves!

 
Loch Fyne

lochfyne_11

In the late 1970s Johnny Noble, laird of Ardkinglas, and marine biologist Andy Lane succeeded in growing oysters in the waters of Loch Fyne.  From the humble beginning of a roadside stall by the shore, the venture grew and grew. Although smoked salmon has overtaken oyster production, Loch Fyne oysters are  eaten in restaurants throughout the land and even as far afield as Hong Kong. A group of businesses has developed based on the principles of good food, sustainably sourced and simply presented by people who care.  Andy Lynes interviewed Virginia Sumsion, Marketing Manager for Loch Fyne and niece of founder Johnny Noble.

 
Fenghuang Toffee

fenghuang_ginger_toffee

Fenghuang — Phoenix Town — is a town in the west of Hunan Province, 6 hours by bus from the provincial capital of Changsha. It is built on the banks of a river, and the old town is very largely preserved or has been restored keeping its original style.

Fenghuang has a number of sweet specialities, the most common of which can be seen being made in small shops all over the old town: ginger toffee.

 

fenghuang_river-front_150fenghaung_wine_shopfenghuang_street_150

 
Soho Landmarks - Pizza Express

pizza_express

Peter Boizot, MBE, is a Soho legend.  In 1965 he introduced the pizza to Londoners when he imported an Italian oven into the first ever Pizza Express in Wardour Street.  The popularity of the jazz club below his Dean Street pizzeria lead to the founding of the Soho Jazz Festival.  He fought the very successful Save Piccadilly campaign, was a founder member of the Soho Society and the Soho Restaurateurs Association and supported in no small measure Soho Housing Association.

We interviewed him about those pioneering days at his home in Peterborough.

 
A Cantonese Wedding Banquet

cantonese_wedding_lily


The Year of the Tiger is not considered auspicious  for marriage, so in the last days of the Year of the Ox there was a rush of weddings.  Lily and Wan Li held their wedding banquet in Guangzhou on 31st January - a magnificent event with a 13 course meal.  The dishes are almost always the same and there are hidden, lucky meanings in most of them.
 
Zabar's - A New York Institution

Zabar's Coffee Sacks

 

Zabar's is not a building that really stands out, perhaps the mock tudor looks a bit odd on 81st and Broadway but that's about it. Yet any self-respecting New Yorker knows it...

 
Life on the Ocean Wave

navigator-of-the-seas-01

Ever wondered how over 5,000 people are fed at sea?

Chef Henrique Sparrow on "Navigator Of The Seas" tells us how 230 galley staff produce 106 tons of food every 4 days.

The detail and military precision of feeding such numbers is fascinating...


 

 
Oodles of Noodles

Oodles of Noodles

 

Originally from the north of China, hand-made noodles can be found on street corners across the whole country.  Watch the awesome skill of this noodle-puller as he makes two of the most popular types, Lamian (pulled noodles) and Daoxiao Mian (knife-cut noodles).

 
Reza's Roots

reza_mahammad
REZA MAHAMMAD, owner of the famed Star Of India in Kensington, TV celebrity and much loved personality, talks about his father’s early struggles when he arrived as a stowaway in 1937. He and a handful of friends attempted to establish Indian cuisine in England and eventually succeeded in changing the eating habits of a nation.

 
Food Scavengers

food_scavengers.jpg


Ever wished that you could cut down on your food bills? Artist and activist Spring Exprit (Eugenia Beirer) may have the answer. Call it Dumpster Diving, Skipping or even Freeganism - on the face of it “food salvage” is simply the practice of retrieving and eating food that others have thrown away. But it goes much deeper than that, calling in to question the workings of the entire capitalist economy. Oh, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun too.

Hattie Garlick visited New Covent Garden Market with a group of novice scavengers to learn the tricks of the dumpster diving trade. Click More below to watch her video.

 
Richard's Wine Challenge
Richard Wine ChallengeRichard Craig, Master of Wine student, will attempt to identify a series of mystery wines against the clock.

Part One - How to go about it

Part Two - Against the clock

Part Three - Win some, lose some

Part Four - Close but no cigar

 

 
Chocolatier

Phil Neal - Chocolatier
A man with a dark passion. At Phil Neal's Theobroma Cacao in London's Turnham Green can be found some of the best chocolate in town. His ambition is to change people's habits, to get them to understand what great chocolate tastes like and eventually to open the best chocolate lounge in the country. He explains both his passion and his dreams.

 
Kriegie
Kriegie

Geoff Rothwell joined the RAF in 1939 at the age of 19. He miraculously survived 71 operations as a bomber pilot, but in September 1944 his plane crashed on the Dutch island of Texel and he spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft 1 in Germany.

He talks about the food experiences of the 'kriegies' (prisoners of war) while looking at the illustrated diary kept by his room-mate, Bohdan Arct , later published as Prisoner of war: my secret journal.


Part One - Oberürsel Interrogation Centre 

Part Two - Stalag Luft 1 - Red Cross Parcels

Part Three - "Belt Up" - German Rations

Part Four - Kriegie Recipes and Spam

 

 
Tieguanyin Tea
Tieguanyin Tea
A visit to Liu Shunli's teashop in Xiamen is a leisurely affair as he makes tea for tasting - not drinking - explaining the process and customs involved.  He talks about the properties of Tieguanyin Tea, one of China's most famous teas, grown in the plantations of Anxi.
 
Valencia Market
Valencia Central Market




Valencia market in Spain. One of the great indoor markets in Europe, its enormous area houses virtually every type of food available.

 
La Dolce Vita 2007
La Dolce Vita Girls




La Dolce Vita 2007. The Italian-themed food exhibition at Olympia and we loved it!

 
Soho Landmarks - Maison Bertaux

Maison Bertaux 300.jpg
Started in 1871, Maison Bertaux still survives in its original premises.  Such is the devotion to this wonderful pastisserie that one ex-Soho resident has been going there for over 60 years - even though he moved out of London 25 years ago.

 
Soho Landmarks - Bar Italia

Bar Italia
The original London coffee bar. Opened in the middle of the last century initially to provide workers in the Soho area a place to eat after they finished work in the local restaurants, it went on to became a beloved institution.
Still family owned, it is now run by the grandsons of the original owner. Tony tells the story.

 
Ace Cafe
ace_cafe.jpg

Ace Cafe on London's North Circular Road has been serving bikers since 1938.  Hattie Garlick visited recently and learnt how, after being destroyed in an air-raid in 1940,  it became the world famous haunt it is today getting through an astonishing 7 tons of sausages a year.

But how does a vegan survive in this world of leathers and bacon sandwiches?  Hattie tracked down Vegan Biker Boy for some answers.

 
A Prisoner of War's Christmas

holly_200

Kriegie Part Two

 

 

 

 

Germany 1944. Christmas Day in Stalag Luft 1 PoW Camp where Potage Churchill is on the menu... and a home-brewed cocktail of dubious origins...

 
Christmas Past

rose_bignall

holly_100

holly_100

holly_100

 

 

 

Rose Bignall, aged 105, recalls a Christmas of her youth.

 

 
School Dinners

school_dinners.jpg


Everyone has a memory of their school dinner - and it's not always about the dreaded tapioca pudding! There are some people who actually liked them.

 
Gulangyu Sesame Cakes
gulangyu_sesame_cake.jpg



The Ye family have been making award-winning sesame cakes for decades.  They are one of the specialities of Gulangyu Island where visitors and locals alike stop to buy them on a busy corner from a diminutive cart.

 
Xian Jiaozi

xian_jiaozi_2




Xi'an, long the capital of China from the time of Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor, is not only famous for its history, but also for its dumplings;  one restaurant in particular offering some 120 varieties.

 
Breakfast Lady

Breakfast Lady
Every morning in Xiamen in China, you find people selling breakfast foods from barrows to people on their way to work. The project was set up by the government about 8 years ago to provide employment for the jobless and to ensure that everyone could have a good breakfast.

 
Beijing Snacks

beijing_snacks.jpg



The Chinese are great 'snackers'.  Throughout China, in the evenings in particular, street markets offer a huge range of foods.  These snacks from a night market in Beijing prove once again that, to the Chinese, anything is a potential food...