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The Food Programme

Ainsley Harriott: A Life Through Food

The Food Programme

BBC

Arts, Food

4.4943 Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ainsley Harriott joins Jaega Wise to share his 'Life Through Food' from his kitchen in South London. Ainsley is one of the UK's most recognisable TV chefs; after training at Westminster College he worked at a number of London's hotels and restaurants - including The Long Room at Lords Cricket Ground where he became head chef. In the early 90s he got his first broadcasting gigs - on BBC Radio 5, and shortly afterwards "tv came knocking".

Over the past 25 years he has hosted countless programmes - including Can't Cook Won't Cook and Ready Steady Cook for a decade. He has presented series for US and South African television, been a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, and was awarded an MBE in 2020. His latest TV series, 'Ainsley's Good Mood Food' is all about cooking food to boost your mood.

In this interview, Ainsley takes us back to the early days of family dinner parties, a summer in France, and his journey to TV stardom. He also discusses what it's like to be the subject of many many memes and where he finds his seemingly perpetual energy. Jaega also speaks to school friend and the other half of Ainsley's 90s pop group The Calypso Twins, Paul Boross, and hears from Ainsley superfan, Radio 1 Breakfast DJ Greg James, who's obsession with Ainsley turned him into a viral sensation.

Presented by Jaega Wise Produced in Bristol by Natalie Donovan

Transcript

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0:00.0

You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about the

0:03.8

podcast I work on. I'm Dan Clark and I commissioned factual podcasts at the BBC.

0:08.6

It's a massive area but I'd sum it up as stories to help us make sense of the forces shaping the world.

0:15.3

What podcasting does is give us the space and the time to take brilliant BBC journalism

0:19.8

and tell amazing compelling stories that really get behind the headlines.

0:23.7

And what I get really excited about is when we find a way of drawing you into a subject

0:28.4

you might not even have thought you were interested in.

0:30.2

Whether it's investigations, science, tech, politics, culture, true crime, the environment,

0:36.1

you can always discover more with a podcast on BBC Sounds.

0:39.7

BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.

0:44.6

Hello, you've downloaded a podcast of BBC Radio 4's The Food Program.

0:49.7

Welcome to our world, from cooking to culture, politics to pleasure.

0:54.7

We hope you enjoy it.

0:56.7

Nice to meet you, Inslee.

0:58.7

Thank you so much.

0:59.9

And hey, let's have a cup of tea.

1:01.8

Oh, yes, please.

1:03.0

I've got a bit of a sound breakfast.

1:05.0

Is that up your street?

1:07.0

Ah, let's do that then.

1:09.0

Yeah, all right.

1:10.0

Right, you're up you too.

...

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