The Food Programme

It's boom time in the world of lettuce and salad leaves. More leafy greens were sold in the UK last year than ever before, and that upward trend looks set to continue - driven in particular by bags and bowls of pre-prepared leaves. In this edition of The Food Programme, Dan Saladino goes on a journey into this fast-changing world of leaves - from how they are grown and packaged, to the ongoing hunt for new leaves. Dan discovers how one particular type of lettuce with roots in 19th-century America changed food forever, he encounters a man who travels the globe searching for the next 'hero leaf' - and learns secrets about preparing and growing. Along the way he'll meet pioneering chefs René Redzepi and David Everitt-Matthias, US food writer Irene Sax, greengrocer Charlie Hicks, as well as gardener and writer Mark Diacono.

Food in Opera. Sheila Dillon hears the story of food told through 400 years of music history. Gluttonous composers, cuisine centred plotlines and singers needing nourishment.Renowned opera critic and gourmet traveller, Fred Plotkin holds an event at the Royal Opera House on food in opera. We get to listen in to stories of a sugar addicted Mozart, Pavarotti's post performance meals and find out who gave their name to Pasta Norma.The interval is spent at Glyndebourne opera speaking with chorus members and prop makers about the travails of eating on stage.Presented by Sheila Dillon with help from Opera on 3's Christopher Cook. Produced by Emma Weatherill in Bristol.

Stefan Gates talks to teachers, kids and cooks about food and the curriculum, ahead of the changes that come into force from September. Stefan asks how well prepared schools and teachers are, what students think of it all and whether the changes will finally spark a real change in the attitudes to food that will grow for generations. Producer: Sarah Langan.

Dan Saladino meets the world authority on the food of Mexico, the British born writer Diana Kennedy.Diana Kennedy's life reads like an adventure story. Born in Loughton, Essex in 1923, after serving in the land army she set off on a journey that would take her to Canada, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. She stopped off in Haiti, met the New York Times correspondent Paul Kennedy, fell in love and they moved to Mexico.Soon after arriving she became fascinated by Mexican food. A maid looking after the home was also a cook and the regional dishes made Diana Kennedy curious about the ingredients and recipes of other regions of Mexico.After Paul Kennedy died in 1966 Diana found herself living in New York, with no income and an uncertain future. The Food Editor of The New York Times, Craig Claiborne encouraged her to use her knowledge of Mexican food and give cooking lessons.To research recipes and find ingredients she'd travel to remote parts of Mexico, into villages, to markets and into kitchens with domestic cooks to learn more about traditional foods. That research has continued for five decades.It has produced nine books, and a body of work that is now regarded as the most authoritative account of Mexico's cuisines ever created. In the programme Diana Kennedy explains her life in food.In the programme food writer and editor of Swallow magazine, James Casey visits Diana Kennedy in her home in Michoacan to see how she's also created a garden containing varieties of fruit and vegetables from all over Mexico.Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

Sheila Dillon asks whether sweeteners could be the way for us to cut down sugar but to keep enjoying sweet treats. Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced in Bristol by Emma Weatherill.

Richard Johnson is in South Carolina to meet Charleston chef, Sean Brock, who is on a mission to revive ingredients and flavours not experienced for hundreds of years. It's a story that involves an intricate "food tattoo", one of America's biggest private seed collections, a hog roast and "pick picking" and bowls of delicious peas, beans, rice, grits and fried chicken. Soon after British settlers arrived in South Carolina in the 17th century a cuisine called the "Carolina rice kitchen" was formed. Using the expertise of West African slaves to develop rice plantations, a larder evolved consisting of the main crop along with beans, African vegetables and staples like oats, rye and wheat from Britain.Chef Sean Brock believes it was one of the earliest, and "most beautiful" food cultures in America. In his mid-thirties and sporting an arm covered in tattoos of heirloom vegetables, he's attempting to "reboot" that cuisine and those ingredients which had all disappeared by the 20th century.He's joined forces with historian David Shields and a seed hunter, Glenn Roberts, to source, grow and cook with these historic foods. Richard joins Sean Brock at his restaurant, Husk to hear why "ridiculous flavour" is the driving force behind the mission.Producer: Dan Saladino.

Tim Hayward looks at the tradition of monastic food production, with stories from Sicily, New York as well as from closer to home.Ever since the 6th century rule of St Benedict said that monastic orders should be self- sufficient, monks and nuns have taken to the land and to the kitchens to produce food and drink for sale. Tim introduces us to some specific examples of how that tradition is thriving today. Giorgio Locatelli and food historian Mary Taylor Simeti explain how an array of recipes for sublime biscuits and pastries made by Sicilian nuns have survived for centuries, due in no small way to a woman called Maria Grammatico who went to live in a convent where Nuns would live out their final days. She would collect their recipes and she went on to become one of the most famous makers of Sicilian pastries. Giorgio Locatelli lovingly recreates some of those sumptuous treats in his Locanda restaurant today. We visit the New Skete Nuns in New York who have featured in the New York Times and Vanity Fair with their famous cheesecakes. Tim talks to food historian Annie Gray who reminds him of the overall impact of the monastic orders on food production but who also cautions us not to get too carried away with the idea of continuity. We hear from the writer, Madeline Scherb, who went on her own pilgrimage around the world to cook and pray with some monks and nuns; recalling the chanting of the Hail Mary on a caramel production line. She explains how St Benedict himself was not able to persuade his own monks to abstain completely from alcohol, and so the tradition of producing liquors of all sorts is one of the longest surviving strands of monastic production. In the UK, that includes the famous Ampleforth abbey ciders and beers. And there's Buckfast tonic wine from Devon; a drink that has attracted controversy in some areas. Join Tim Hayward as he raises a glass to a tradition of monastic food production that appears to be alive and kicking.Producer: Sarah Langan.

Sheila Dillon takes a look at that most coveted of kitchen tools; the knife.One of the most primal yet treasured implements, any chef worth their salt knows that you don't mess with another chef's knife. Sheila talks to chef Henry Harris from Racine's restaurant about his passion for knives. There's a report from a knife shop where the prices reach into the the thousands. With knife skills courses popping up all over the country, this programme is a celebration of the craftsmanship and artistry of knife making and of the people with a passion for this ancient tradition; from the home cook, the new chef buying his first set of knives, to the people who hanker after the rare Japanese blade.Producer: Sarah Langan.

Writer and forager Andy Hamilton leads a journey hunting for plants to make incredible drinks, and looks again at the wild world all around us.

Fields of Fish - The huge rise in farmed fish and the people trying to make it sustainable. The world is now producing more farmed fish than farmed beef. Sheila Dillon discovers how fish farming works and hears concerns about its impact on the environment and fish welfare.Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced in Bristol by Emma Weatherill.