This episode of Table Talk is sponsored by J-Food-O, dedicated to sharing the best Japan has to offer.

Over the next few months, J-Food-O and a selection of London restaurants will create seafood and sake pairings for spectator listeners to help develop your knowledge and enjoyment of the drink.

The pairing will focus on the concept of umami, which in Japanese

means the essence of deliciousness.

Hello and welcome to Table Talk, the Spectator's Food and Drink Podcast. I'm Narapendra

Gast. And I'm Olivia Potts. And today we're delighted to be joined by Michael Heath.

Michael is a cartoonist and illustrator. His first cartoon in The Spectator was published in 1957.

His first cover illustration first appeared in 1964 and he has been cartoon editor since 1991.

His work has appeared in numerous British publications including Punch, the Evening Standard, The Guardian, the Sunday Times, the

Mail on Sunday and Private Eye. All his work is simply signed as Heath. Michael, welcome to

Table Talk. Thank you very much. It stops me drawing. Otherwise I'd be at night and day.

Michael, we're going to start where we always do at the beginning and ask you, what are your

earliest memories of food? Do you know, I can't remember a thing about it. The rationing was on.

It was about 1935, so I mean the war started soon after.

What I remember about sweets is that when the Americans came over in 1944, they threw all their sweets at us because they had loads of stuff given to them in little packages every day,

all the food they wanted, even fried eggs, for God's sake, it's difficult to believe.

But they threw chewing gum matches and all that.

Chewing gum was a difficult thing to get hold of.

Old men used to come up and off you a stick of gum

and then tried to do things to you.

So you soon learnt to say, no, thank you very much.

I don't like chewing gum.

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