Foodie documentaries on BBC4
I've just been watching "The Man Who Ate Everything" presented by Andrew Graham-Dixon, about Alan Davidson, a diplomat who wrote the first Oxford compendium of food in 1978, and founded Petits Propos Culinaires, a journal of food studies and history. He had travelled widely and tried everything- when I switched on Andrew G-D was in Laos, funnily enough where I've just been and where he was ambassador until 1975. Diplomats are - so lucky - particularly in those days, like my parents, they were discovering the world and could bring it back to Europe and in a way that is no longer possible. Sallie Morris was another diplomatic wife friend of ours in Malaysia who was also writing about south east Asian food in the 70's.
These great docs are of course, on BBC4, part of the Exquisite Cuisine Season..here they are:
(Funny to see Fast Food Nation in the list though, it's a drama film made by American Eric Schlosser who recently did Food Inc ..)
Bread: A Loaf Affair. The story of the rise of the popular loaf and how it has shaped the way we eat in Britain.
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Carluccio and The Leopard. Antonio Carluccio travels to Sicily to discover more about Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel The Leopard.
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Christina: A Medieval Life. Michael Wood traces the story of a real-life peasant of 14th-century Hertfordshire.
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Clarissa and the King's Cookbook. Clarissa Dickson Wright tracks down Britain's oldest cookbook and traces its influence.
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Fast Food Nation. Film in which a fast food marketing executive takes an eye-opening trip around Middle America.
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Fat Man in a White Hat. New Yorker magazine writer Bill Buford dons a white hat and works in a series of French kitchens to investigate whether French food is all it's cracked up to be.
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Fear of Fanny. Dramatisation of Fanny Cradock's career, based on interviews with her friends and family, revealing the private vulnerability behind her tart public persona.
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France on a Plate. A gastronomic tour through French history, from Versailles through to ethnic fusion food.
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Hannah Glasse: The First Domestic Goddess. Clarissa Dickson Wright presents a profile of the author of The Art of Cookery, the best-selling cookery book of the 18th century.
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In Search of the Perfect Loaf. Documentary which follows Tom Herbert's efforts to bake a prize-winning loaf of bread.
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Kings of Pastry. Documentary chronicling the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France pastry chef competition.
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The Man Who Ate Everything. Andrew Graham-Dixon presents a profile of the influential food writer Alan Davidson.

