Honey & Co: The Food Sessions

Chetna Makan was a semi-finalist on series 5 of The Great British Bake Off, wowing the judges and the audience with her advance techniques and use of complex flavours. Since the Bake Off she has been extremely busy. She came to Honey and Spice to talk about her newest book Chai, Chaat & Chutney, a journey through the street foods of India. Chetna talks to us about the differences between the street food of Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai, how she has taken inspiration from the dishes and created delicious recipes and what it was like to be a contestant on the country's favourite baking show.

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This is the third episode of our Who Run The World? season celebrating women in food.

Today’s guest is multi-award winning food journalist Sheila Dillon, known as the voice of The Food Programme on BBC Radio 4. Sheila started her career in journalism when she reported on the contamination of the New York water supply by pesticides for food magazine Food Monitor, and has been reporting on the most important stories in the industry ever since. As a reporter, writer, producer and presenter on The Food Programme, Sheila has been involved in many important stories in the food world: from BSE to the horsemeat scandal; from the rise of GM crops to the growth of the organic movement; and more recently the health hazards of vegan junk food.

As well as telling us about these groundbreaking food stories, Sheila told us fascinating stories about her experiences as a woman in the food world, including her activities with the women's movement, how she was involved in a landmark sex discrimination case for equal pay in America, and more recently her experiences of the gender pay gap at the BBC. 

We really loved having Sheila share her knowledge, experience and advice for those looking to build a career in the industry. This is such a wonderful, insightful conversation and an important listen. 

Hope you enjoy!

This interview is part of our series Who Run The World? Women in Food. Our final episode will air on 8th March International Women’s Day.

Got something to say? Share your thoughts, feelings and questions with us!

Email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: @honeyandco @sheiladillon

Instagram: @honeyandco @thesheiladillon

Find out more about the series here – www.honeyandco.co.uk/TheFoodTalks 

#HoneyAndCo #TheFoodTalks #WomenInFood #WhoRunTheWorld

Producer: Miranda Hinkley

Manager: Louisa Cornford

Vocals: Kristine Kruz 

This is the second episode of our Who Run The World? season celebrating women in food.

Today’s guest is Claudia Roden, the goddess of Middle Eastern food writing. Claudia is a cookbook writer and anthropologist, her career spans over 50 years. Originally from Egypt, Claudia grew up in Cairo and studied in Paris and London. In 1956 when her parents fled Egypt to London, Claudia began collecting recipes from the Jewish diaspora arriving from all over the Middle East as a way to make a connection between refugees and their homelands. This led to multiple bestselling cookbooks including the international award-winning The Book of Jewish Food, and she revolutionised western attitudes to Middle Eastern cuisines in 1968 with her bestselling cookbook, A Book of Middle Eastern Food.

 We talked to Claudia about her unusual route to a career in food writing, how attitudes to women working have changed over the last 50 years, the women who inspired her, and how travelling alone as a woman was treated with suspicion yet opened many kitchen doors for her research. Claudia is a true inspiration, our hero, and we owe so much to her in paving the way for us.

This interview is part of our series Who Run The World? Women in Food in which we will be chatting to leading women across the food industry, writers, broadcasters, critics, chefs and restaurateurs.

Our final episode will air on 8th March International Women’s Day.

Got something to say? Share your thoughts, feelings and questions with us!

Email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: @honeyandco 

Instagram: @honeyandco 

Find out more about the series here – www.honeyandco.co.uk/TheFoodTalks 

#HoneyAndCo #TheFoodTalks #WomenInFood #WhoRunTheWorld

Listen to episode 1 with Andi Oliver

Producer: Miranda Hinkley

Manager: Louisa Cornford

Vocals: Kristine Kruz 

The first episode of our Who Run The World? season celebrating women in food.

Since the start of Honey & Co women have reigned supreme; they run our kitchens, our front of house and our offices, and we finally feel that the industry is starting to catch up with us. Women are now leading the way across the industry, not just as chefs but as food critics, as writers, as culinary teachers, tv and radio presenters and so much more.

So, with International Women’s Day on the horizon we wanted to dedicate a whole season to some of the women who inspire us every single day!

Today’s guest is Andi Oliver, she’s the most vivacious and beautiful person we’ve had the chance to meet this year. The interview with her is absolutely hilarious. We talked about her career in a punk band, and how she made the transition to chef and then to food broadcaster. Her show The Great British Menu is one of our absolute favourite shows, you should watch it - we spend hours arguing over what we would make!

Listen to find out more about how she managed to get where she is and how she broke the glass ceiling. We are also so excited to hear about her current project collecting recipes from all around the Caribbean, Wadadli Kitchen.  

This interview is part of our series Who Run The World? Women in Food. Our final episode will air on 8th March International Women’s Day.

Got something to say? Share your thoughts, feelings and questions with us!

Email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: @honeyandco @andisn16

Instagram: @honeyandco @andioliver

Find out more about the series here – www.honeyandco.co.uk/TheFoodTalks 

#HoneyAndCo #TheFoodTalks #WomenInFood #WhoRunTheWorld

Producer: Miranda Hinkley
Manager: Louisa Cornford
Vocals: Kristine Kruz