Main content

Can you taste a place?

Terroir is usually associated with wine, but does it exist in food?

Is it possible to taste a place? A listener wonders whether the French concept of β€˜terroir’ can apply to food and, if so, what the science behind it is.

Ruth Alexander goes in search of the answer, exploring how growing conditions and practices can develop flavours unique to a location.

She also hears about why the value you give to certain flavours might also be cultural.

Ruth speaks to a honey expert who is mapping the flavours of the sweet syrup across the world, a barley geneticist working with a high-end whisky brand and visits a vertical farm in Liverpool, UK, to see if foods grown in a closed environment still taste just as good.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Ruth Alexander

Producer: Hannah Bewley

(Image: A barley field under a setting sun. Credit: Getty Images)

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Last Sunday 08:32GMT

Featured

  • .

Broadcasts

  • Thu 3 Oct 2024 03:32GMT
  • Thu 3 Oct 2024 12:32GMT
  • Thu 3 Oct 2024 17:32GMT
  • Thu 3 Oct 2024 21:32GMT
  • Thu 3 Oct 2024 22:32GMT
  • Last Sunday 08:32GMT

Food Chain highlights

Tea, coffee, spices, chillies ... snack on a selection of programme highlights

Podcast