One Dish – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In the One Dish Christmas special, chef and author Yotam Ottolenghi cooks Andi Oliver one of his favourite festive feasting dishes - a stunning platter of roasted aubergine drizzled with sunshine yellow saffron-infused yoghurt and jewel-like pomegranate seeds. It’s technically a side dish, yes. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be a stand-alone thing of beauty.

How does it fit in alongside the traditional Christmas bird with all the trimmings that his husband and kids adore, or a more vegetable-focused New Year’s Eve spread for friends and family? Yotam reveals all.

Andi and Yotam discuss how they approach catering their family Christmases and what the spice trade has to do with the Essex town of Saffron Walden, and Yotam reveals a game-changing tip for getting that perfect, melt-in-the-mouth texture and those caramelised edges when roasting aubergine.

Also, Kimberley Wilson explores the unexpected benefits of a Yuletide banquet - find out why attending the office Christmas lunch might actually be good for society as a whole.

Food Scientist: Kimberley Wilson Food Historian: Neil Buttery Producer: Lucy Dearlove ExecutiveProducer: Hannah Marshall Sound Design: Charlie Brandon-King Assistant Producer: Bukky Fadipe Commissioning Producer: Lynda Davies

A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4

In the final episode of the first series of One Dish, comedian and writer Jack Rooke brings a lovely little ramekin of one of his favourite foods: stuffing. Intended to keep meat moist, and to eke out expensive cuts so they go further, they’re now an indispensable component of a special occasion meal for many people - including Jack. He shares some of his favourite stuffing memories, and admits that when it comes to the preparation he’s very much a sous chef and it’s his mum who’s in charge in the kitchen. Andi and Jack learn about the long and varied history of stuffing in Britain; it’s had many guises over the years, from pudding to forcemeat to the ‘just add water’ type out of a box. They find out how the popularity of sage and onion is connected to commercial chicken farming, and Jack persuades Andi to cook one of the more outlandish historical stuffing recipes she’s discovered (although not quite as outlandish as stuffed porpoise). And Kimberley Wilson has some fascinating intel on the delicate art of cooking different cuts of meat and the scientific reason why it sometimes goes dry and tough. Food Scientist: Kimberley Wilson Food Historian: Neil Buttery Producer: Lucy Dearlove Exec Producer: Hannah Marshall Sound Design: Charlie Brandon-King Assistant Producer: Bukky Fadipe Commissioning producer: Lynda Davies A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4

British-Malaysian comedian Phil Wang joins Andi Oliver at the table to share his love of a classic Malaysian dish, Wat Tan Hor. It’s characterised by flat rice noodles, seafood and a gloopy egg gravy spiced with pepper. Phil thinks this dish might be visually unappealing to the uninitiated, but he urges us to see past its humble appearance to appreciate the savoury deliciousness within.

This dish has a real family connection for Phil - it reminds him of his Dad, who took it on himself to feed him up with it as a kid. He tells Andi about the strong and varied influences of Chinese, Malay and Indian food on Malaysian cuisine, paints a vivid picture of the unparalleled joys of a hawker market and explains how spotting a great Chinese restaurant is easier than you think.

Food Scientist: Kimberley Wilson Food Historian: Neil Buttery Producer: Lucy Dearlove Executive Producer: Hannah Marshall Sound Design: Charlie Brandon-King Assistant Producer: Bukky Fadipe

A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4

Joining Andi Oliver this week is presenter, author and journalist Candice Brathwaite, and she's chosen a dish with a history that runs deep for her and her family - fried plantain. Candice loves plantain so much, she’d eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The plantain’s roots lie on the Pacific island of New Guinea, which comes as a bit of a surprise to Andi and Candice, who have spent their lives eating plantain as part of Antiguan and Jamaican meals respectively. They discuss how plantain’s story is inextricably linked to the transportation of enslaved people from Africa to the Caribbean, and also the deep connection and pleasure this food brings for them. Also, Andi reveals the specific way plantain should always be cut for maximum fried joy.

Food Scientist: Kimberley Wilson Food Historian: Neil Buttery Producer: Lucy Dearlove Executive Producer: Hannah Marshall Sound Design: Charlie Brandon-King Assistant Producer: Bukky Fadipe

A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4

Chef, restaurateur and the internet’s unofficial King of Butter, Thomas Straker has the honour of being the first One Dish guest to actually cook at the studio. He’s making his signature dish of pici cacio e pepe for Andi Oliver. It’s a bit of a cheffy favourite at the moment but, as Thomas and Andi discuss, it’s becoming more well known with British home cooks thanks to its simple ingredients. Thomas explains how cooking this dish was a lifebelt for him during lockdown, why friction is the secret ingredient to hand-rolling great pici, and he and Andi explore the significance of the four classic Roman pasta dishes. Also, Thomas admits to the not-strictly-traditional tweaks he makes to the dish. Food Scientist: Kimberley Wilson Food Historian: Neil Buttery Producer: Lucy Dearlove Executive Producer: Hannah Marshall Sound Design: Charlie Brandon-King Assistant Producer: Bukky Fadipe A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4

Food-loving comedian Jessica Fostekew is Andi Oliver’s guest at the One Dish table this week and she’s talking about an Austrian family favourite - schnitzel. Whether cold from the fridge or freshly bubbling and crispy from the pan, Jessica is always up for some schnitzel.

Andi and Jessica learn about the 1st century Roman gourmand who first recorded a version of this dish, and discuss the respective merits of other breaded cutlets (tonkatsu or parmo, anyone?) as well as how making schnitzel yourself can save your sad ends of stale bread from the bin.

Food Scientist: Kimberley Wilson Food Historian: Neil Buttery Producer: Lucy Dearlove Exec Producer: Hannah Marshall Sound Design: Charlie Brandon-King Assistant Producer: Bukky Fadipe

A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4

Andi Oliver meets drag queen and star of RuPaul's Drag Race UK Cheryl Hole to discuss her favourite food - lasagne. Cheryl's a true diva who prefers to be cooked for, but she can still turn out a mean Essex lasagne, just as her mum did.

Andi and Cheryl learn about the greedy friar whose lasagne gluttony made it into a 13th-century Italian poem, get geeky about how swelling starch molecules hold the key to the perfect béchamel, and both Andi and Cheryl admit to some frankly shocking cold lasagne related behaviour.

Food Scientist: Kimberley Wilson Food Historian: Neil Buttery Producer: Lucy Dearlove Executive Producer: Hannah Marshall Sound Design: Charlie Brandon-King Assistant Producer: Bukky Fadipe

A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4

In a new series about the dishes that mean the most to us, Andi Oliver meets cookery writer, presenter and GBBO star Briony May Williams to sample her home-made soda bread. Briony makes soda bread just as her incredible Granky did, using a recipe that's now over 100 years old.

Andi and Briony wonder how on earth anyone discovered that using ash from a fire makes a delicious risen loaf, get stuck into the science of acidulation and saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Andi has a bread-related brainwave which will transform the way you roast a chicken and will quite possibly change your life.

Food Scientist: Kimberley Wilson Food Historian: Neil Buttery Producers: Victoria Lloyd and Lyndsay Fenner Series Producer: Lucy Dearlove Executive Producer: Hannah Marshall A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4

Andi Oliver explores the science and history of of our favourite foods. The first episode drops on Friday, 13th May 2022.

Presenter, comedian and actor Jayde Adams joins Andi Oliver this week to discuss a mutual favourite dim sum dish: cheung fun. These steamed rice noodle rolls filled with pork, prawns or other delicious things weren’t familiar to Jayde until relatively recently. Although she grew up with a close family connection to Chinese cooking, it was her mum who introduced her to the joys of dim sum in a Chinatown restaurant on a visit to London.

Andi and Jayde learn about the extensive history in China of cooking with rice noodles like this, and also about the interesting possibility that the dish may have evolved in the absence of another ingredient. Kimberley Wilson explains the science behind why this type of steamed noodle dish remains delightfully chewy and bouncy despite not containing any gluten. And you’ll never guess what technological innovation Jayde’s planning to install in her new kitchen; probably no use for making her own dim sum though!

Food Scientist: Kimberley Wilson Food Historian: Neil Buttery Producer: Lucy Dearlove Exec Producer: Hannah Marshall Sound Design: Charlie Brandon-King Assistant Producer: Bukky Fadipe

A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4