The FoodTalk Show

Good health in a nutshell

Apparently walnuts are healthier than peanuts, almonds, pecans and pistachios. Who knew?

Sue, Ollie and Holly are going nuts in the studio this week – or rather, nuts about nuts. Unless you’re unfortunate enough to have a severe allergy, you probably love nuts as much as our hosts do. But are you clued up on how to make the best of these tasty, oily treats?

Sian Porter from the California Walnut Board has popped into the studio to shed light on the benefits of eating walnuts. Some people avoid them due to the fat content, but did you know just how good they can be for your health. A registered dietitian, Sian has some cracking advice for us.

A conversation about the challenges of eating healthily brings us to the next guest, Franco Beer, the creator of Boka cereal bars. Shocked by the amount of sugar, fat and salt in many supposedly healthy cereal bars, Franco set out to disrupt the market. Now, Boka products are the only bars to have all four green lights in the traffic light nutrition system. But how do we use the traffic lights to optimum advantage?

You sexy thing

From the tranquil beauty of the Lake District to the sensuous allure of Indian cuisine, we’ve certainly got a saucy show for you this week. 

Maria Whitehead from Hawkshead Relish joins Sue, Ollie and Holly in the studio to talk about their delicious award-winning preserves, relishes and pickles, which are produced in the heart of glorious Cumbria. With over 120 acclaimed products, Hawkshead Relish’s range is a leading example of the fantastic food coming out of the Lake District – but it hasn’t been an easy road to success, as Maria explains.

Chutneys are a familiar part of Indian cuisine, at least here in the UK, but are they authentic? Chef Sarah Ali Choudhury is well-placed to answer that question, having been the youngest Asian female to manage an Indian restaurant.

But things really hot up when she tells us about her new health-focused products – including a “Viagra curry”, which aims to keep things spicy in the bedroom. Poor Ollie is somewhat outnumbered by women in the studio, but maybe he can take a bit home without anyone noticing…

From Russia with love

Well, from Suffolk actually… But this is one cool vodka.

Holly is back from her holidays and full of food stories that are making Sue and Ollie’s tummies rumble with envy. Having been immersed in one of the world’s most beloved cuisines, she’s ready to get back to discovering the best of British. 

Kiron Phillips set up RK Vodka with his brother Zan to produce a simple yet delicious new vodka. They use sugarbeet rather potatoes, which gives the tipple a more characterful taste. He even reckons that RK Vodka has converted a few confirmed gin and whisky drinkers to the cause!

Because the company deals directly with stockists, from fine dining restaurants to village pubs, they can offer bespoke packages. This sparks a lively conversation about food pairings and what tasty treats go well with vodka. Kiron also enlightens us about his single distillation process and explains the science behind reverse osmosis filtered water (whatever).

Finally, you can’t talk about vodka without devoting a little time to cocktails. This versatile ingredient is very popular for creative alcoholic concoctions, so Kiron tells us more about the magic of mixology and the mystery of flavoured sugar syrups.

Ooh la la! Le Cordon Bleu

Sue and Ollie are feeling all continental as talk turns to traditional French cuisine . . . have they lost their place in the culinary world or is classic cooking still important? 

Research has shown that home cooks are becoming more adventurous, both in terms of flavours and techniques. But as a nation, are we equipped with the basic skills to be truly competent in the kitchen?

To discuss this, Sue and Ollie welcome to the studio Colin Westal from Le Cordon Bleu, the world’s largest network of culinary and hospitality schools. Colin explains that the focus for students is more on learning classic French techniques, rather than recipes, as these are the essential tools for gastronomic success.

Luckily for the team, Colin has also brought in a sneak preview of Le Cordon Bleu’s upcoming plant-based course – which, much to Sue’s delight, takes the form of two absolutely delicious dishes in which the veggies are the heroes.

It takes a lot of courage to switch from one career to another, so Anna Richey’s tale of transformation from journalist to liquid egg white producer is quite the story. She comes out of her shell to discuss the success of Two Chicks and, of course, Colin is on hand to give us all the secret of a perfect poached egg.

Question: What can you make out of cow's milk?

Answer: the most wonderful cheese from the beautiful north west and vodka (yes, really)

Ollie’s back from Morocco and after his taste of the exotic, he’s keen to get stuck into the best of British once again. It’s just as well neither he nor Sue have had breakfast, as the studio is full of food – and alcohol!

Gill Hall from Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses boasts an incredible family history in the cheesemaking industry. It all started with her grandparents back in 1932 and this year marks the 50^th anniversary of the first time Gill’s mum made the company’s flagship Lancashire cheese.

She tells us about the joys of running a family business and gives us an insight into the challenges of perfecting Blacksticks Blue, a fabulous cheese that is going down rather too easily in the studio…

Jason Barber from Black Cow Vodka grew up on a farm and also has cheesemaking in his blood, but now he focuses on dairy waste rather than dairy produce. He’s taken whey, an under-valued by-product and turned into an award-winning tipple.

Does vodka go with cheese? Rather surprisingly, it does, very well – so much so that vodka sceptic Ollie is now a convert.

Born in the USA

With Ollie and Holly still on their travels, Sue has the pleasure of Hari Ghotra’s company once again as guest host. And oh boy, what a show. Gin and pizza? Yes please!

When Warner’s launched their gin brand in 2012 – with a mission to “save the world from mediocre gin” – the market was very much an emerging one. However, sales of gin in the UK have tripled since 2009 and we spent £461 million on the tipple last year.

Is the gin market saturated? With 315 distilleries operating in the UK, how does an artisan brand stand out from the crowd? Tom Warner pops in to tell us how their “graft gin, not craft gin” got in early and why authenticity is so important if you want to make a splash in the market.

Craft gin isn’t so popular in the US yet, but they do like their food. Unfortunately, not everyone else does… Sue confesses to knowing nothing about American food, so it’s lucky that the man behind Stafford’s Bank House Restaurant by Chef Jonathan – Jonathan Cushing himself – has popped in to educate Sue on the rich history of American cuisine.

The San Francisco native has brought an authentic Chicago deep dish pizza for Sue and Hari to try, with the hope of banishing a few stereotypes about the US of A’s foodie credentials. We think he might have succeeded…

Sugar and spice and all things nice

Sue is joined once again by guest host Hari Ghotra, who is astounded by the sheer amount of food in the studio. She’ll soon get used to that…

This week they have the great pleasure of chatting to Kumud Gandhi, founder of The Cooking Academy and widely recognised as “the Spice Queen”. Hailing from a family of spice merchants and chemists, Kumud is fascinated by the “alchemy of food” and she has brought along some samples of her amazing cookery to share with Sue and Hari.

Statistics reveal that 18% of people cook from scratch less than once a month, or even never. So, how can The Cooking Academy help to inspire home would-be cooks to get into the kitchen? 

Social media has transformed the way we communicate, connect and consume over the last 10 years or so and the first guest is social media success personified. Olivia Wollenberg certainly hit the ground running when she founded Livia’s Kitchen in 2014, with the aim of producing indulgent treats that wouldn’t trigger her food intolerances.

Just 11 weeks after having the idea for the business, Olivia was launching her Superfood Crumbles exclusively in Selfridges. Her subsequent recipe blog went on to attract 300,000 hits in the first month. Sue and Hari want to know how she did it!

Planting the seed of change

With regular co-hosts Ollie and Holly away, Sue is joined by a rather fabulous guest presenter, Hari Ghotra – the spice sensation behind the wildly successful eponymous brand. Hari is a bit of an expert on Indian food, having started a whole business designed to inspire people to get cooking with spices.

Plant-based diets are gaining momentum among consumers, so restaurateurs and food manufacturers are having to respond with more, tastier plant-based options. Joining Sue and Hari to shed light on the burgeoning industry is Vishal Madhu from Qwrkee, who claims to have created the world’s first probiotic snack.

Inspired by his wife’s desire for a high-protein diet, Vishal explains how he set about developing a nutritious beef jerky – without the meat. There’s also a range of probiotic puff snacks designed to boost your gut, which Vishal calls “your second brain”.

Also in the studio is Peter Ahye from Freaks of Nature, which aims to satisfy sweet teeth with delicious puddings that are certified vegan and vegetarian, and dairy and gluten-free. If Sue and Hari can stop eating the desserts for long enough to ask any questions, we’ll find out how…

Putting on a show

Soraya Gadelrab is the Portfolio Director at Fresh Montgomery. Her job includes organising the International Food & Drink Event (IFE), The Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Show and Speciality and Fine Food Fair amongst others. In this special programme Sue talks to Soraya to get tips and recommendations on how to make the most of exhibiting at food fairs and exhibitions. How do you prepare beforehand? What can you do to attract the key buyers? And most importantly, how you should follow up your contacts when the show is over. To find out more about forthcoming food fairs or to get help and advice from the Fresh Montgomery team, click here.

Rummaging in the nation's store cupboards 2

We're back again with Sue and Ollie getting all serious, dissecting the annual Great British Chefs Survey with the help of Charlie Parker, a renowned nutritionist. Using her experience as Head of Nutrition for Sainsbury's she gives an interesting perspective on Ollie's infamous love of food statistics and trends.

This show is the second of two, with the team dissecting the results to find out what UK consumers are thinking, their motivations and what they're buying and eating in 2019.

Is alcohol consumption really on the decline? What’s the story about the interest in plant-based food and just what do foodies have in their store cupboard? The team give their views and for a copy of the full GBC research click here.

Rummaging in the nation's store cupboards 1

This week Sue and Ollie are getting all serious, dissecting the annual Great British Chefs Survey with the help of Charlie Parker, a renowned nutritionist. Using her experience as Head of Nutrition for Sainsbury's she gives an interesting perspective on Ollie's infamous love of food statistics and trends.

This show is the first of two, with the team dissecting the results to find out what UK consumers are thinking, their motivations and what they're buying and eating in 2019.

Is alcohol consumption really on the decline? What’s the story about the interest in plant-based food and just what do foodies have in their store cupboard? The team give their views and for a copy of the full GBC research click here.

Bringing home the bacon

We have a great combination in the studio today, and we aren’t talking Holly and Ollie, we’re talking Gin and Charcuterie! We're joined by Shaun Cannon of Cannon and Cannon and Talula White of Sekforde Drinks.

British charcuterie was a bit of an oddity when Shaun started out. The general perception was that you couldn't possibly make charcuterie in the UK because the weather conditions "weren’t right". Well, just like British cheese, we now have a burgeoning charcuterie industry and according to Shaun we're rather good at it.

He takes Sue and the team through a tasting feast of extraordinary British bresaola, air dried hams and chorizos. All from animals that are free range and ethically reared. Eating all this charcuterie made Sue extremely thirsty, so thank goodness Talula was in the studio. If you're overwhelmed by the range of weird mixers that now populate the supermarket shelves and can't work out the perfect combination to go with your Sipsmith, Talula has solved the problem. Sekforde make the perfect mixers to go with a range of spirits and she's enlisted the help of Sharon to make some gin combinations to prove it.

Getting hygge down on the farm

This week our presenters are joined by Bronte Aurell of ScandiKitchen and Will Evans of Eat Farm Now. When we contemplate Scandinavian food, we typically think of pickled herrings, gravlax and Ikea meatballs, but Bronte opens our eyes to the abundance of other wonderful produce. Sue is a little confused by the term "hygge" and wants to understand why Sweden has obesity levels as low as 10% compared to us relatively lardy people in the UK, with a quarter of us being classified as obese. Is it hygge or is there something else going on here?

Ollie and Holly are then stunned by Sue's knowledge of the UK countryside and how little of it is actually built on. We are a rural country after all and no one knew. Did you also know that agriculture in the UK uses 69% of the country’s land area but we produce less than 60% of the food we eat. Crazy. Will has joined us to talk all things farming and agriculture and explain his mission to promote the work of farmers and why they are so important to us all.

Having the craic tasting all things Irish

This week Sue tests the presenters on the top favourite Irish foods and can't stop eulogising about the humble spud. The team discuss Irish stew, soda bread, colcannon, champ and boxty (what?) and of course, Ireland's love affair with potatoes. Irish chef Anna Haugh, owner of London's Myrtle Restaurant, kindly brings in a huge hamper of great food and drink from the Emerald Isle for everyone to taste. 

Sue also reveals that she goes to Harrods to get her favourite beef dripping in the world, from James Whelan butchers of County Tipperary. Ollie is aghast at this revelation.

From Ireland to Greece as Sally Dorling of Tim's Dairy explains how they make traditional greek yogurt in the heart of the Chiltern Hills. Chris, Peter, Bides and Tony Timotheou have brought traditional Greek methods to producing the finest yogurt in batches using fresh pasteurised British milk, natural ingredients and bio-live cultures. 

Brexit's dream according to Ollie Lloyd

The last four weeks have been very health focused, something we're very proud of on the FoodTalk Show, but the presenters are back to their old ways and have sneaked in some booze this week. But to balance it out, Holly, Ollie and Sue want to understand the new trend in plant-based foods. Sue tests the team to see if they know the names of the dozens of types of plant-based and dairy reduction diets out there. How many do you know?

Ollie's research shows 56% of committed foodies are trying to stick to more of a plant-based diet (January 2019), and most especially basing their weekday meals around health. As a nation we are undeniably reducing our meat intake and these trends look set to continue.

After the plant-based discussions we are joined by Rob Berry of Asterley Bros, a company that Ollie describes as "Brexit's dream". He's worked through London’s history of tonics and liqueurs to painstakingly recreate (with his brother Jim) a unique drink with Sicilian influence - the ‘hybrid amaro’. Why has Ollie called it "Brexit's dream"? Listen and find out.

On the wagon

Today, we're talking about all things drink with no food in sight. Sue is relying on Holly as she admits she’s not an expert in non-alcoholic drinks. Laura Willoughby of Club Soda and Chris Beech of Luhv Drinks arrived in the studio to inspire us with some great alternatives to the hard stuff.

In such a health-focused time, more and more people are giving up alcohol during the week or abstaining altogether. Ollie reveals that nearly a quarter of millennials don't drink at all, so what are the alternatives? The consensus in the studio is that consumers are ill-served when in bars, restaurants and pubs with a disappointing selection of non-alcoholic drinks.

Laura is on a mission to give inspiring ideas and support to those who want to socialise and 'fit in' when on the wagon. Meanwhile Chris explains how is dedicated to producing plant-based drinks and juices which are good for the heart, skin and mind.

Let's hear it from the Spice Girls (and boys)

Breakfast… The most important meal of the day, right? It’s Sue’s favourite, Ollie thinks it needs an injection of excitement and Holly never seems to remember to eat it at all. From there we move on to spices. Holly eulogises about cardamom and everyone in the studio tries to work out which ones they have in their kitchen cupboards. They also ponder over the fact that we import 83 million tons of spices a year, even though 40% of the UK don’t cook international cuisine.

Unfortunately, Gouri from Holy Llama Spice Drops, is stuck on a train on route to the studio, so we have thrown Simon Griffiths in the spotlight for this one even though he's been invited to the studio as a bit of a palm oil and nut expert.  

Once he's told us about his favourite spices he takes us through the Meridian Foods story. They're probably most famous for their peanut butter but they make dozens and dozens of nut-based products. They've made a decision not to use any palm oil in their whole product range and Simon explains why it's so important to them. To finish off Ollie explains why tahini is no longer just for new Labour supporters and urges Simon to move peanut butter beyond "the toast moment"?!

A hug in a glass

As a country, we (or rather our politicians) may find it difficult to negotiate our way out of Europe or even work out what party we belong to, but we're very good at lots of other things.

In 2018 we managed to win a penalty shootout in a football game, we didn’t finish bottom of Eurovision and globally we continue to be the best at queuing. In fact, we even produce the best food-related podcast in the world (us, obviously).

One of the things that we haven’t been famed for, until recent years, has been making wine. However, over the course of the last 20 years or thereabouts we've been climbing up the quality ladder. We could even claim to be among the best at creating sparkling wine.

What about normal red and normal white though? We're not as famed for that yet, but we’ve found a company to rival the French, Spanish and Portuguese – they're the Redhill Farm Estate.

Henry Boorman came to walk us through their story and explain how they're the only vineyard in the country to produce more red than white wine. We had a bit of a taste too…obviously.

Another string to Redhill Estate’s bow is their sustainability. Their wines have a unique cork made from sugar cane waste and they don’t have a plastic capsule on the bottle. Their sustainability angle is thanks in no small part to Paul Foulkes-Arellano. Paul works for the design consultancy company, Precipice, and they're working with a whole host of manufacturers in the hope of ridding plastic from the planet.

Wine – good. Sustainability – good. Anti-plastic – good. This week’s FoodTalk episode – good!

Cook books - the good, the bad and the ugly

Ollie Lloyd has a new ritual of dancing along to the catchy FoodTalk theme tune as we begin our recording. It's just too much for Sue, who thinks it's the worst example of ‘dad dancing’ ever seen, but we’ll let him off because we’ve got another great episode.

This week we're discussing our favourite cookbooks. Ollie explains his favourites and despite some fabulous examples there really are some bad ones out there too. Holly has some that are really close to her heart and Sue has a couple that no one else has ever heard of.

The cookbook topic is one of the many tangents we head down when we record these shows, but the real star this week is Catherine Conway – thanks to her amazing Unpackaged company.

We're long-term haters of single-use plastic, but we also understand that, as a consumer and retailer, it’s difficult to avoid. Unpackaged are helping clients to become ‘zero waste stores’ and on a smaller scale can supply refill systems for supermarkets, delis and farm shops.

Will we be going back to the days of taking along our own tubs, jars and bottles to be filled at our nearest food shop? And if so, how are the retailers going to cope? Don't even mention health and safety.

Baby, it's cold outside

We’ve done it again…January is just about out of the way so we can get back to eating sweet things now. Creamy ice cream and dark dark chocolate.

It’s absolutely freezing outside, snow has covered most of Scotland and so we should have invited somebody who makes stew, hot chocolate or something like that…but Coconuts Naturally are producing such damn good ice cream that we just had to invite Cecily Mills into the studio. We're fighting ice with more ice.

100% organic, 100% vegan…their reputation for creamy excellence is growing too. The South West made treats are already available in Ocado and expect to see more of them as the mercury starts to rise. 

From Ice Cream to chocolate (a warning to diabetics), our other guest is producing comfort food which is just as good. We admit it's not hot although it does give a warm glow.

Oli Shorts (another Oliver in the studio) came to visit us with his amazing Seed & Bean Chocolate. They don’t specialise in just one variety; white, mild, dark, pure cacao – they are producing brilliant chocolate bars across the board.

We hope you find this podcast as sweet as we do…