Podcasts for food and drink lovers

Updated February 2021

Indulge your passion, listen to a food podcast

Here’s a way to make the most of that extra free time and indulge your passion for food and drink with absolutely no calories involved. Listen to a food podcast.

I listen to many. I find they help me relax. Sometimes I learn something new, sometimes things shock or amaze me. But how do you find great podcasts?

Choose your Food Podcast

So where do you start? Here are some of the podcasts I listen to regularly, together with ones I’ve recently discovered through personal recommendations. I update this list regularly!

Enjoy listening and exploring

The Storied Recipe Podcast

These are lovely long episodes where Becky Hadeed talks to guests in depth about their love of food and how a particular recipe sums up their love of food. Look out for my interview aired in February 2021.

Highlights From My Interview With Becky

  • What is the Real Bread Campaign and Why do we need it?
  • The reason I believe many people are “gluten intolerant”
  • A life changing summer in France
  • What I teach – not just baking, but marketing and running a bakery as well
  • The mad Scotsman who taught Danielle to bake and the pastry chef who taught her she was doing it “all wrong”
  • An internship at a bakery where everything was baked on a stone and made with NO electrically-run equipment!
  • 670 hours of professional training in France
  • Starting and running one of the most successful food blogs in Scotland

Becky’s photos are really gorgeous too – she works as a wedding photographer in addition to hosting the podcast. Do check out all the photos she took when making pesto rolls.

My Pesto Rolls made by Becky Hadeed
My Pesto Rolls made by Becky Hadeed

BBC Radio 4 Food Programme

The BBC Radio 4 Food Programme is Grandmother of them all with an archive going back to 2007. This is a wide ranging programme on a diverse range of food and drink.

Sheila Dillon presents the Food Programme on BBC Radio 4
Sheila Dillon presents the Food Programme on BBC Radio 4 available as a podcats

It’s also the home of the annual Food and Farming awards which is a great way of finding out about food and drink producers in the UK.

First episode to try?  A different kind of SWAT team presented by Romy Gill. Randeep Singh and his colleagues realised that more than 200 people in their immediate local community were homeless;  hidden. Together, they decided they could do something to help them, and they begun a project cooking hot meals and sourcing food donations. Nishkam S.W.A.T (Sikh Welfare & Awareness Team) was born.

Listen to this: If you like a wide mix of topics. Episode length 30 minutes.

The Nightcap

The Nightcap Podcast
Paul Foster (left) of the The Nightcap Podcast

The Nightcap podcast is hosted by Paul Foster, Michelin starred chef of Salt in Stratford-upon-Avon and Simon Alexander. I enjoy listening in to their guest Michelin star chefs chatting about many topics including shouting in the kitchen; catering for dietary requirements with two topics that feature in each episode: TripAdvisor Reviews and Boiling Point. It’s unusual to be almost eavesdropping!

I’ve learnt a lot. Whilst we can all understand the extra work that catering for dietary requirements can mean, I’d never thought before about how a change of ingredients can change the balance of the dish. And that was just one topic!

I’d suggest listening to all the episodes in turn. Listen to this and you’ll surely want to go and eat at these chefs’ restaurants after doing so! The language is sweary at times and it’s a bit ‘blokey’ but don’t let that put you off!

During lockdown, they reviewed food  programmes and films. A great way to find something new.

Dessert Island Dishes

Each week, Margie Nomura meets a special guest to chat about their life in food and poses questions such as “What was the first dish you ever cooked” and “Your go to dinner party dish”. It’s fascinating to compare one guest to another, both from how Margie relates to them and how they open up. As a bonus, she creates a dish inspired by that week’s guest.

First episode to try? Mark Hix Chef and Restaurateur. Not least because I love his choice of Pineapple Upside Down Cake and her beautiful recreation. Many thanks to Anna Maria Tuckett for suggesting this one.

Listen to this if you’d like to get to know key foodies better. They might be simple questions, but the answers tell you a lot.

Pineapple upside down cake inspired by Mark Hix. Margie Nomura Desert Island Dishes Podcast

Honey and Co Food Talks

February 2021 – Not currently being updated but do listen to the archive.

The Honey and Co restaurants in London opened by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich serving middle eastern food are a joy. The Honey and Co food talks are recorded in front of a small audience who taste the food being discussed. It really makes we want to be there and part of the audience! You’ll discover chefs, a spice merchant, food magazines and more.

Listen to their recent series “Who run the world” focusing on women in hospitality.

The Pitch

The Pitch Show is a radio version of Dragon’s Den – American style. You listen in to an entrepreneur pitching to four investors. After the pitch you the investors discuss why they did and did not invest. The presenter then contacts the entrepreneur a few months after the pitch to see how business. It’s a great lesson in how to and how not to present your business and it might just give you ideas.

This podcast features all types of businesses. However, food and drink businesses often feature from premium instant coffee – yes really – to a healthy delivery service.

First episode to try? How you sell a healthy snack bar makes all the difference: Sun and Swell foods. Average episode 40 minutes.

Listen to this if you’d like an insight into what investors look for when investing.

Gastropod

This is consistently a great podcast full of fascinating facts. Co hosts of the The Gastropod podcast, Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley look at food through science and history. The presenters go out to discover the food in question then weave the story around it. Topics include cranberries; women, food, power and books and even canabalis.

First Episode to Try: Saffron – the World’s Most Expensive Spice. This includes a large section about the English Saffron company and it appears that nuns in the middle ages might have spent quite a bit of time high. Average episode about 45 minutes.

Listen to this if you love fascinating facts and odd snippets of information.

Saffron grown in Saffron Walden made into gin features on the Gastropod Podcats
Saffron grown in Saffron Walden made into gin features on the Gastropod Podcast

Eat Capture Share

Kimberley is a food photographer. Her podcast Eat Capture Share is a mix of interviews with people involved in food (bloggers, photographers etc) and some useful insight into using Instagram. She also runs the very popular #eatcaptureshare photography challenge on Instagram.

First episode to try? How to turn your passion for food into a career – Olia Hercules

Eat Capture Share
Flour Power
Flour Power on Pre-heated

Pre-heated

After their 200th episode, this podcast was archived. It is worth catching up on previous episodes

I love listening to two American ladies who present Preheated one based here in London the other in Washington. They focus on sweet items and try out cookbook recipes which I’ve not come across elsewhere. I do sometimes find myself shouting at them a little, but am enjoying their insights!

Listen to this if you love trying new recipes that don’t always go quite as they should.

Where to find podcasts

Apart from the obvious, Apple podcasts and Android apps, apps such as Stitcher might work for you. If you have a Spotify account, there’s a spoken word section and Soundcloud is worth checking out. Visiting the podcast’s website will give you more information.

Listening in the car

Listening to podcasts via your car radio is relatively easy. Many new cars have something called Car Play. You can connect your iPhone for easy listening. There are however other options if your car isn’t that new. You can connect to the car stereo system via Bluetooth or even a via a tiny FM tuner that you use to tune into a frequency on the radio and listen that way. So no excuse not to listen when you’re driving. This article gives a good overview on set up options.

And there’s more

I’m happy to say, I have more food podcast suggestions to follow up. A huge thanks to everyone who responded to my request for suggestions.

Let me know what food and drink podcasts you love, and the list can grow.

2 thoughts on “Podcasts for food and drink lovers”

  1. Thanks so much for including us in your list. We’re glad Preheated is on your radar and you can indulge in a little healthy venting with our show (along with the sweet treats).

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