Summary
Stories about the history of food, including the creation of ciabatta bread by a rally driver in Italy in 1982 and the Maltese bakers' strike in 1977.
Also, the invention of instant noodles in Japan, the start of the Slow Food Movement in Rome and the creation of Chicken Manchurian in India.
(Photo: Different shaped artisan bread loaves. Credit: Getty Images)
Contributors: Marco Vianello - baker and friend of the creator of ciabatta, Arnaldo Cavallari Noel Buttigieg - food historian Dr Sue Bailey - food historian, writer and lecturer Carlo Petrini - founder of the Slow Food Movement Momofuku Ando - colleague of the inventor of instant noodles, Yukitaka Tsutsui Edward Wang - son of Nelson Wang, the chef behind Chicken Manchurian
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the History Hour Podcast from the BBC World Service with me Max Pearson, |
| 0:09.7 | the past brought to life by those who were there. |
| 0:12.1 | This week we're focusing on some moments in |
| 0:14.4 | history which revolve around food, including from the 1970s a baker's strike |
| 0:19.6 | that changed the island of Malta. Local bakers in Malta decided not to produce bread unless the government |
| 0:27.1 | was willing to increase the price of bread for the general population. |
| 0:32.3 | Plus we visit a Mumbai restaurant that became the toast of the Bollywood set. |
| 0:36.0 | We hear the story of the invention of instant noodles and how the fast food industry |
| 0:41.4 | provoked the slow food movement. |
| 0:43.4 | To reduce our food to just energy, like we are the machines that just need petrol. |
| 0:48.4 | It's so wrong. Food is a moment of sharing, an act of love, is being part of society. |
| 0:54.0 | That's part of our menu for today, but first, bread, arguably one of the main sustainers of life on earth, |
| 0:59.7 | a basic food but one which comes in a bewildering range of styles. Most have been around for centuries, |
| 1:05.2 | millennia even. But not so, Chabata. What seems like a classic Italian bread is in fact just |
| 1:12.1 | 40 years old. It was invented as an act of nationalist |
| 1:15.6 | pride by the late Arnoldo Caballari, a competitive sportsman turned master baker. |
| 1:21.0 | Rachel Naylor has spoken to one of his closest friends. |
| 1:24.0 | It's July 1982 and we're in Adria, a town in Northern Italy. |
| 1:32.0 | Valley driver Arnoldo Cavalari is sick of the French baget. |
| 1:36.0 | He thinks it's everywhere. |
| 1:37.0 | It's taking over and he wants to create an alternative. |
| 1:42.0 | The idea started from making a better bread than French baguette. |
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