Planet Food

GLOBE TREKKER presents the story of how tea spread from China to capture the taste of the world. Visits to Southeast China, Japan, Taiwan, England, Bangladesh, India, Morocco and Myanmar provide historical context, a look at cultural traditions and rituals and what the future holds for this popular beverage.

Celebrity chef and traveller Bobby Chinn begins his Celtic voyage of discovery on the South Coast, in Ireland’s second city, Cork. Here he is educated in the stories and subtleties of the amazing produce available in the local market by food Historian Regina Sexton. Bobby delves deeper into one of the stories, the Irish Potato Famine, and is moved by a tale of almost unimaginable suffering.

Bobby Chinn’s visit to the Deep South starts in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he delves into the culinary history of this fascinating region, dominated by Cajun and Creole cuisines.

An enormous variety of cheeses are nearly everywhere on the planet. In this wide ranging episode, Rosie Lovell explorers the the phenomena behind the making of and popularity of cheese in England by visiting Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire (England), Cotswolds, and London. Then Justin Shapiro visits northern France to explorer their local cheeses. Christina Chang then heads to the South of France to experience Roquefort and Italian Parmigano-Reggiano. Megan McCormick visits the medieval town of Parma in the famous Italian north. Bobby Chinn travels south to Sicily to discover what makes Ricotta different to other fresh cheeses. Finally Brianna Barnes travels to Alkmaar, to try Dutch cheese.

For 4,000 million years, people the world over have turned to the delicacy of chocolate for rituals, medicine, romance and sheer pleasure. In this informative and entertaining documentary, Judith Jones reveals how our love affair with chocolate began in Mesoamerica, present-day Southern Mexico and Central America, where people living deep in the tropical rainforests discovered the edible properties of Theobroma cacao, referred to as the food of the gods. With fellow travellers from around the world, Judith discovers the extraordinary popularity behind the pleasure of chocolate. Today, the making of chocolate has evolved into an industry so large that 40 to 50 million people depend on cocoa for their livelihoods.

The tradition of eating beef has passed down generations to become an integral part for many of our regular diets. By providing precious protein, packed with fatty calories beef has come be regarded as an important ingredient for human survival. Along with fellow presenters from around the world, this informative and entertaining episode joins Kate Comer on a voyage to discover the extraordinary journey behind the world’s favorite red meat.

Beer is the world’s oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and after water and tea is the third most popular drink overall. Currently China is the leading global beer producer with the Czech Republic the greatest consumers with an average of 143 litres of the amber gold sipped each year per person.