0:00:02 > 0:00:05Every day, we face a huge number of choices about food.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09Everything from what we buy...
0:00:09 > 0:00:11To whether it's good for us...
0:00:12 > 0:00:14And how to cook it.
0:00:17 > 0:00:18Beautiful.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21In this series,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25we're going to use our expertise to help you make the best food choices.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Wow! SHE LAUGHS
0:00:27 > 0:00:29We want to improve your cooking...
0:00:29 > 0:00:32- Well done, girl. - It looks delicious.
0:00:32 > 0:00:33..your health...
0:00:33 > 0:00:36So, even if I've washed my hands, my forearms are still contaminated.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38..and your bank balance.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41So what are you getting when you spend extra money?
0:00:41 > 0:00:44I'm scientist Alice Roberts.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47I'll be looking at the latest research
0:00:47 > 0:00:51into nutrition to find out what's good for us and what's not.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57I'm journalist Sean Fletcher, I'll investigate which everyday
0:00:57 > 0:01:00products are value for money and which are a rip-off.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04And I'm chef Tom Kerridge.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06And I'll be sharing my tricks of the trade
0:01:06 > 0:01:10that I guarantee will fire up your taste buds.
0:01:10 > 0:01:11Wow, that looks great.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14'We're going to dish up the plain facts,
0:01:14 > 0:01:17'so we can all enjoy our food more.'
0:01:17 > 0:01:19- Cheers!- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:01:31 > 0:01:32Coming up:
0:01:32 > 0:01:37Why diet drinks may not be as good for our waistlines as we think...
0:01:37 > 0:01:40- They're putting it away.- They're polishing it off, it's disappearing.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45..Tom reveals the store-cupboard staples no chef would be without...
0:01:45 > 0:01:48Dust it with smoked paprika. That layer of smokiness works
0:01:48 > 0:01:51so, so well with cheese. Stunning.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54..Sean dissects the ingredients in tins of baked beans to find out
0:01:54 > 0:01:57what we're really paying for...
0:01:57 > 0:01:59It doesn't look like very nice stuff.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01- Should we worry about this? - Yes and no.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04..and I'll find out how understanding the chemistry in our
0:02:04 > 0:02:07kitchens can help give our food more life.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12Onions make things like potatoes and other vegetables go off.
0:02:14 > 0:02:15First up:
0:02:20 > 0:02:25We spend a staggering £4.5 billion on diet drinks each year.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29They now make up almost half of the fizzy drinks market.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32But do diet drinks do what we expect them to do?
0:02:32 > 0:02:34Do they help us keep the weight off?
0:02:37 > 0:02:41A 330-millilitre bottle of a sugar-sweetened fizzy drink
0:02:41 > 0:02:46contains around 140 calories, almost all of them from sugar.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50The same size of diet fizzy drink contains almost 0 calories
0:02:50 > 0:02:55and zero sugar. So how do artificial sweeteners work?
0:02:55 > 0:02:58There are many different types of artificial sweeteners,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02some of them are made from sugar, like sucralose, which is
0:03:02 > 0:03:05a form of chemically modified sucrose,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08others are synthesised in the lab from different compounds,
0:03:08 > 0:03:10like aspartame.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13But what all of these artificial sweeteners have in common
0:03:13 > 0:03:15is the way that they trick our sense of taste.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18# Sugar, I call my baby... #
0:03:18 > 0:03:21To find out how they manipulate our senses,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24I'm meeting Dr Caroline Withers.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26So, if you put out your tongue, you can see
0:03:26 > 0:03:28all the little bumps on the surface
0:03:28 > 0:03:31and on those edges on the outside to those cells are the actual
0:03:31 > 0:03:35receptors that can pick up the different tastes we have.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39And for sweet, there's only one main receptor that they've found.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42So you've got one single receptor that obviously sugar,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45- glucose and sucralose interacts with?- Mm-hm.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48But artificial sweeteners are also interacting with that
0:03:48 > 0:03:49with that receptor as well?
0:03:49 > 0:03:52And I presume it must be like a key fitting into a lock.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55If you can get a similar-shaped key in there...
0:03:55 > 0:03:57- You can just about get away with it! - Yeah.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02These artificial sweeteners are so good at locking onto our taste buds,
0:04:02 > 0:04:04that a little goes a long way.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07So, if you take a sugar lump
0:04:07 > 0:04:11and then you take an equivalent of actually one of these sweeteners
0:04:11 > 0:04:14that you might get and if you take the pure sucralose, for example,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17- that's 600 times sweeter than sugar...- Really?
0:04:17 > 0:04:19..so you need a fraction of that, really,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22to get just as sweet as that sugar lump.
0:04:23 > 0:04:24But what about the taste?
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Caroline is putting me to the test with sugar
0:04:27 > 0:04:30and some artificial sweeteners.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32- So here are your four samples.- OK.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34So I think you should start on the right.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40Yes, that's quite sweet. I don't think it's sugar.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43- You don't think it's sugar?- No. - Why not?- I'm not sure.
0:04:43 > 0:04:44LAUGHTER
0:04:44 > 0:04:46The first one is always the hardest.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48So try the next one and then compare.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56Mmm, that doesn't taste very sweet to me at all, that one.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59It isn't going "Sugar!" LAUGHTER
0:05:03 > 0:05:05SHE SIGHS IN EXASPERATION
0:05:05 > 0:05:08I think that's the sugar.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10- This one is the sugar.- Really?!
0:05:12 > 0:05:15We may think we can tell the difference between sugar
0:05:15 > 0:05:19and sweeteners, but our taste buds are easily tricked.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22So what I want to know is, if we're convinced that we're getting
0:05:22 > 0:05:27sugar when we're not, what effect can this have on our appetite?
0:05:35 > 0:05:39These athletes are performing an urban sport called parkour.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43They're going to be taking part in an experiment to see if
0:05:43 > 0:05:48artificial sweeteners can influence how much we eat after exercise.
0:05:48 > 0:05:49- Hi.- Hello.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52'Overseeing the experiment is Professor Catherine Appleton
0:05:52 > 0:05:54'from the University of Bournemouth.'
0:05:56 > 0:05:57Absolutely brilliant to watch this,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59but why are we watching parkour athletes?
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Before we ask our participants to drink, we need them to be thirsty.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07They certainly look like they're working up a thirst, don't they?
0:06:07 > 0:06:10We've split them into a blue group and a white group.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14- Are you all nice and thirsty? - ALL: Yes.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18To quench their thirst, the blue group is drinking
0:06:18 > 0:06:20artificially sweetened drinks, while the white group
0:06:20 > 0:06:23has the sugary variety.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26ALL: Cheers!
0:06:26 > 0:06:28And now, it's time for lunch.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Each table is laid out with the same number of calories.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37We want to see which team eats more.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41The blue group with their diet drinks or the white group,
0:06:41 > 0:06:42with the sugary ones.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46- They're polishing it off.- They're putting it away.- It's disappearing.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49After exercising, each person is asked to eat
0:06:49 > 0:06:51until they're comfortably full.
0:06:51 > 0:06:52Has everybody finished?
0:06:53 > 0:06:56The blue group, who drank the diet drinks,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59didn't leave much food behind.
0:06:59 > 0:07:05They ate a staggering 3,126 more calories than the white group,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07who left behind a lot more food.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10When you add the calories from the sugary drinks,
0:07:10 > 0:07:15both groups' overall calorie consumption was about the same.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19So what do scientists think is going on with the
0:07:19 > 0:07:23artificially sweetened drinks that made the blue group eat more?
0:07:23 > 0:07:26When you experience a taste, you expect energy to come afterwards.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29With a diet drink, of course, you experience a taste,
0:07:29 > 0:07:31but there's no subsequent energy.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34Your body is prepared for energy, but it doesn't arrive.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Consequently, you become more hungry and you eat more.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40So it's almost stimulating our appetite, then,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43- but not rewarding us for it? - Yes.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Other studies have found that there is a place for
0:07:46 > 0:07:48low-calorie drinks in weight control.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52But this research suggests that if you choose diet drinks after exercise,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55you may end up eating more than you expected.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12We're on a mission to improve the nation's cooking, one dish at a time.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14Tom is keen to share what he knows
0:08:14 > 0:08:17so that we can all raise the standard of our cooking.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24I put a shout-out on social media for your kitchen fails.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27It's clear there's a lot of you struggling with dishes
0:08:27 > 0:08:30that don't always go the way you want them to.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32But don't despair, I can help.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39I've come to Glasgow to see if
0:08:39 > 0:08:43I can save Gillian Bland from her kitchen disaster.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44Yorkshire puddings.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47LAUGHTER
0:08:47 > 0:08:48Not quite cooked enough.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50Risen and collapsed.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54Tom, we need your help.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59Right, time for the cavalry.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01I'm sure with a few of my top tips,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05I can whip sports manager Gillian's Yorkies into shape.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08- Hey, Gillian.- Hiya!- Nice to see you. You all right?
0:09:08 > 0:09:11- Problems with your Yorkshire puddings?- Problems with Yorkshire puddings!
0:09:11 > 0:09:14OK, let's have a little look.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18Gillian is going to run me through how she normally cooks
0:09:18 > 0:09:21her Yorkshire puddings, so that I can see where she's going wrong.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25Starting with how she prepares her batter.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27140g of flour.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32Couple of eggs...and then just whisk it all in.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35- Quite...dry and lumpy.- Yeah, really dry and thick. - SHE LAUGHS
0:09:35 > 0:09:38- OK.- So what I do now is put some milk in.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44So you've got a big lump of flour and egg mix stuck in between the whisk.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46- OK! - LAUGHTER
0:09:46 > 0:09:48That's not the way to make perfect batter.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53Now, let's see how Gillian cooks her Yorkies.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56- I normally leave them in there for 20 minutes or so.- OK.- Yep.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00So what happens now? Do you have a little look?
0:10:00 > 0:10:03- I try to not. Can't quite see through there!- OK.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Look a bit pale still, so... I'll just shut the door back over.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12It's a bit of a disaster.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17Her Yorkies haven't risen properly and they're still doughy in the middle.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Right then, Gillian. Yorkshire pudding, my way.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23The most important part of this Yorkshire pudding cookery
0:10:23 > 0:10:25lesson is...using this, mate.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28We've got to clean the oven and I'll tell you why,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30it's because we need to be able to see in the oven,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32- see what's happening without opening the oven door.- Yes.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Because your opening the oven door changes the temperature
0:10:35 > 0:10:38- and that doesn't help them rise. - SHE LAUGHS
0:10:40 > 0:10:42You're actually cleaning my oven, aren't you?
0:10:42 > 0:10:45- Yeah, no, I am, actually! - Actually!
0:10:45 > 0:10:46SHE LAUGHS
0:10:49 > 0:10:50Keep scrubbing there, Tom.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53- That's it! - LAUGHTER
0:10:53 > 0:10:57- There we go, mate.- Cheers, thank you very much.- Oven cleaned.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Now that I can see what we're doing, I'm going to show
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Gillian a simple method that will have her producing
0:11:02 > 0:11:04light and fluffy Yorkshire puddings in no time.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08Now, the first thing we're going to do is we're going to crack
0:11:08 > 0:11:11- these four eggs into this bowl.- Yep.
0:11:11 > 0:11:12Not into the flour.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18To get the best consistency for the batter, mix the eggs
0:11:18 > 0:11:22and the milk together first, then add this mixture to the flour.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28This will help prevent the batter from being overworked,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31which can leave your Yorkshire pudding struggling to rise.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Just give it a last little mix...
0:11:34 > 0:11:36So you just work the flour away from the sides.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41- But you can see in that, that's still quite lumpy...- Yeah.
0:11:41 > 0:11:42Still quite thick.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Now, this is the really important point.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49I'm going to put a bit of clingfilm on it
0:11:49 > 0:11:52and I'm going to leave it to rest for a minimum of four hours.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Room temperature.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58That sounds like a long time, but all the lumps and bumps will
0:11:58 > 0:12:02dissolve and you'll end up with perfect Yorkshire pudding batter.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05Now here's one that I made earlier.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07We're going to heat these up in the oven and bring them
0:12:07 > 0:12:10- up to temperature. But you can see these, these are deeper.- Yeah.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13Yours were very shallow, so they're going to be smaller, but taller.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15- Yep, yep.- We hope. Yep.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Use vegetable oil.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20It doesn't have a strong taste,
0:12:20 > 0:12:22so it's great for clean and crisp cooking.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Put the tray into the oven for 5-10 minutes to heat the oil up.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32And this is where we pour the Yorkshire pudding mix in.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Now, when you poured your mix in, you poured it on to the side
0:12:35 > 0:12:39- and it kind of dribbled in.- Yes. - Now you want to pour it dead centre.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44- Right.- And about halfway up, so it's creating a small well.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49Then pop your tray into the oven and leave it alone.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51Now, with Yorkshire puddings, you have to trust me on this
0:12:51 > 0:12:54and be brave, do not be tempted to open that door.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Because if you open it too early, it will just kind of collapse, all right?
0:12:57 > 0:12:58- Yeah.- Like a pancake.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01The heat in the oven creates air pockets in the batter,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04causing the puddings to rise.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07If you open the door midway through cooking, the oven suddenly
0:13:07 > 0:13:12cools and the air pockets will collapse, leading to flat Yorkies.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18- Here you go, mate. You happy with those?- Happy with those.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21- You made those.- I can't believe just how different they are.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23This is cooked all the way through.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26- That means it's going to hold its shape.- Yes, no soggy bottoms.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29No soggy bottom. There's your first attempt.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31- LAUGHING:- So embarrassing!
0:13:31 > 0:13:33If you feel that in weight.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35It's like a doorstop!
0:13:35 > 0:13:38# I like my baby's pudding... #
0:13:38 > 0:13:43The perfect accompaniment, sausages and onion gravy.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47There we go, mate, get in there and have a little try of it.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50- Wow.- A bit of a difference?
0:13:50 > 0:13:52- Just a bit!- Brilliant.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Yorkshire puddings, solved.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Share your kitchen fails on social media using
0:14:01 > 0:14:05# BBCKitchenFails and I'll see if I can help you.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12True or false?
0:14:12 > 0:14:13When cooking pasta,
0:14:13 > 0:14:17drizzle olive oil in the water to stop the pasta sticking.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24The answer is false. Never put oil in the water, only salt.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28It's the vigorous boiling of the water that keeps the pasta moving
0:14:28 > 0:14:30so it doesn't stick.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40Own brands are the rising stars in the supermarket.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44You can choose from basic through standard to premium varieties.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48But what exactly are we getting for our money?
0:14:48 > 0:14:50When is it worth spending money on the premium
0:14:50 > 0:14:54and when could a money-saving basic be just as good?
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Our consumer journalist Sean Fletcher
0:14:59 > 0:15:02is at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05With help from food science experts, he's going
0:15:05 > 0:15:08to dissect one of our all-time favourite foods.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Baked beans.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13# Beans and coffee. #
0:15:13 > 0:15:14In some supermarkets,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18budget baked beans can be nearly 40 pence cheaper than premium.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22So I'm hoping to find out what we're really paying for.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25To do that, I've enlisted the help of some volunteers.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30- So who buys basic and who buys premium?- I buy basic.- I buy basic.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32Why would you buy basic?
0:15:32 > 0:15:35I don't feel like it's worth paying the extra for, for the amount of taste difference.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37I would probably buy premium.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41- Do you notice the difference between the taste?- I think I do.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44Before we find out how different they do taste, nutritionist
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Dr Carrie Ruxton is going to take us through the ingredients.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Carrie, what are the main differences between the price ranges?
0:15:54 > 0:15:55There's not a huge amount of difference.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59The main ingredient in baked beans is haricot beans
0:15:59 > 0:16:01and they're the most expensive ingredient in the tin.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04So the beans are the most expensive ingredient?
0:16:04 > 0:16:08- So does that mean there are fewer of them in a budget tin?- I don't know.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Let's count them.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14So while Colin counts the beans in the budget tin,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16Cath and Louise take on the standard
0:16:16 > 0:16:19and Beth tots up the total in the premium organic beans,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22we're going to look at what else ends up in your tin of beans.
0:16:24 > 0:16:30The first three ingredients always tend to be beans, tomatoes, water.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Sugar also figures high on the list of ingredients,
0:16:33 > 0:16:38with some budget ranges using a very different kind of sugar.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41What you find that's different is in the budget ones,
0:16:41 > 0:16:43there's something called glucose fructose syrup.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46The reason they use that is because, first of all,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48it's sweeter and concentrated, they can use less of it.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51But the other thing is, it's in liquid form,
0:16:51 > 0:16:53so it's a lot easier to pump into the can.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56You don't have to dissolve it first.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58Glucose fructose syrup is made from starch
0:16:58 > 0:17:01and is much cheaper to produce than refined sugar.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05It's pretty solid, isn't it?
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Let's see what this is like.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10- Hmm. It's really hard and sticky. - SHE LAUGHS
0:17:10 > 0:17:12And it's actually quite unpleasant. Should we worry about this?
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Well, yes and no.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18There are some experts who think that fructose causes liver fat,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20but that's only if you eat vast amounts.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Time to catch up with our bean-counters.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31- Colin, you did the budget tin. How many beans were in that?- About 350.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Cath and Louise, you did the standard tin,
0:17:33 > 0:17:37- how many beans did you have?- 478. - 478?
0:17:37 > 0:17:39So that's a huge amount more.
0:17:39 > 0:17:45- So let's find out the premium tin. Beth?- So I counted 383.- 383?
0:17:45 > 0:17:48So you're better off going standard, if it's all about beans.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Beth, Louise and Cath, you all buy budget.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54- Will this change your opinion? - Probably, yeah.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Because you're maybe going up one level for getting more
0:17:57 > 0:17:58beans for your money.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02It's only a small sample,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05so not a definitive test of how many beans are in every cam.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08But today, standard is the clear winner on quantity.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Now, what about the taste?
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Our volunteers will try ten different baked bean samples
0:18:17 > 0:18:19from a range of UK supermarkets.
0:18:19 > 0:18:25There are four basic, four standard and two premium organic beans to try.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27It's a blind taste test,
0:18:27 > 0:18:31so no-one knows whether they're eating a cheap or expensive kind.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34In charge is Dr Laura Wyness.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48Standard came out on top for ingredients, but what about taste?
0:18:48 > 0:18:51So, Laura, is budget better, standard or premium?
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Well, actually, in terms of taste, the budget scored the highest
0:18:54 > 0:18:58with 5.1 out of nine, closely followed by the standard,
0:18:58 > 0:19:03at 5.0 and then finally, the premium was 3.6.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Although standard had the most beans,
0:19:07 > 0:19:09when it comes to taste, budget was the favourite.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Wow. That's a real surprise.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15So, Colin, you're a buyer of premium products.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Has that changed your perspective on this?
0:19:17 > 0:19:19- It made me think.- And what are you thinking?
0:19:19 > 0:19:21- I'm thinking pennies, maybe.- Save the pennies?
0:19:21 > 0:19:23- Save the pennies, yeah.- Beth?
0:19:23 > 0:19:27I think it may be worth switching to the standard instead of the budget
0:19:27 > 0:19:31- beans.- And what about going premium? - No.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34So if you want to save money on supermarket own brand beans,
0:19:34 > 0:19:36you're not giving up much nutritionally
0:19:36 > 0:19:39if you downgrade to standard or budget,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42and you'll have a lot more money left in your pocket.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58We throw away 7 million tonnes of
0:19:58 > 0:20:01food and drink from our homes every year in the UK.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05Much of it is food we could have eaten.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Recently, the issue of food waste has become really big news.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13So we can all do with a little help to cut waste.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17At the heart of the kitchen, there's some clever chemistry at work,
0:20:17 > 0:20:22and I want to discover how we can use it to make our food last longer.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27To find out, we've set up our own
0:20:27 > 0:20:30kitchen in this Glasgow shopping centre.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32I want to know what the locals think
0:20:32 > 0:20:35are the dos and don'ts of storing food.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37What about potatoes? Would you keep them out in the light?
0:20:37 > 0:20:40- No.- Or do you think it is important to keep them in the dark?
0:20:40 > 0:20:42- Important to keep them in the dark. - Why, why?
0:20:42 > 0:20:44- God knows.- What about tomatoes, where do they go?
0:20:44 > 0:20:47I would put them in the refrigerator, on the bottom shelf.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49What about potatoes, where'd you keep those?
0:20:49 > 0:20:51- We eat them all.- You eat them?
0:20:53 > 0:20:58Dr Patrick Hickey is going to help me separate fact from fiction.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01He is an expert on moulds.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03First off, I want to find out how to
0:21:03 > 0:21:07store some of our most popular fruit and veg, starting with these.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11Patrick, what's special about bananas?
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Well, by placing these bananas in with the other fruits,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17it will actually speed up the ripening process.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22When bananas ripen, they produce a gas called ethylene
0:21:22 > 0:21:25which makes neighbouring fruit ripen faster.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30But this is a chemical signal we can use to our advantage.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33If I got a piece of unripe fruit
0:21:33 > 0:21:35that I'm really wanting to eat in the next day or so,
0:21:35 > 0:21:38if I put that close to bananas, that's going to make a difference?
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Yeah, and it might even help if you put them in a paper bag
0:21:41 > 0:21:44or in a Tupperware container. That's going to concentrate that gas.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46The gas will build up and ripen them much faster.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53It's not just bananas that produce this ripening gas.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Vegetables do it too.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59And there's one that you don't want anywhere near your other veg.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03Onions, a bit like the bananas, produce this ethylene gas.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05- Right.- That can make things like
0:22:05 > 0:22:07potatoes and other vegetables go off.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11Keep onions away from the rest of
0:22:11 > 0:22:13your veg if you want them to last longer.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20But if food has gone off, is it still safe to eat?
0:22:20 > 0:22:21Would you eat those?
0:22:21 > 0:22:23The only time I wouldn't eat it is with green.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26- I would throw out the green.- Would you eat that cheese?
0:22:26 > 0:22:28- No.- Disgusting.- Disgusting.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30Would you cut off the mould?
0:22:30 > 0:22:33- I have done, yes.- Because I think... - But then, I am Scottish.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37I'm guessing most people would
0:22:37 > 0:22:41chuck out mouldy bread and cheese, but do we need to?
0:22:41 > 0:22:42It looks hairy.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44These little threads that are coming
0:22:44 > 0:22:47out the surface of the bread, those are fungus.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49And on the end of them, if you can make it out,
0:22:49 > 0:22:51there are these little balls.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Each one of those tiny balls is actually a spore,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55and those are the things that spread in the air
0:22:55 > 0:22:58and land on the bread, germinate and start to grow into the bread,
0:22:58 > 0:23:02so if the bread has got just a small amount of mould on the crusts
0:23:02 > 0:23:03you can cut those crusts off.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06Is there going to be mould in the bread that you just can't see?
0:23:06 > 0:23:08You should always allow a bit extra,
0:23:08 > 0:23:13so cut a good five or 10 millimetres deeper than the mould you can see.
0:23:13 > 0:23:14What about cheese, then?
0:23:14 > 0:23:18Would you cut off the mouldy bits and eat the not-mouldy bits
0:23:18 > 0:23:20or should we be more cautious, do you think?
0:23:20 > 0:23:23If it's a hard cheese, then it's usually OK to cut off.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26But if it is something that looks like it has gone slimy or
0:23:26 > 0:23:29if it's a soft cheese, something like a brie, I wouldn't bother.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33With slightly mouldy bread and hard cheese,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36I can simply cut off the mould and eat the rest.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40But there's something else lurking in the larder that has
0:23:40 > 0:23:42the potential to make you very ill indeed.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Everyone I asked is quite clear that they wouldn't eat green
0:23:48 > 0:23:52potatoes, even if they didn't know why, so why is it so bad?
0:23:52 > 0:23:55Well, when the potatoes start to turn green, the compound
0:23:55 > 0:24:00in there that is poisonous to us is actually something called solanine.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02Solanine is a natural pesticide,
0:24:02 > 0:24:08which gets concentrated in the green areas, and is toxic to humans.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10If you were to eat that, you'd be very ill indeed.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12The best thing to do, cut those areas off,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15cut any developing shoots off as well.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Yes, I tend to keep cutting until I'm sure that there's absolutely
0:24:18 > 0:24:20no green left, and sometimes you end up with no potato,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23but that's better than eating something that is green.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25Yeah, just chuck it.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29Potatoes can begin to sprout within a week
0:24:29 > 0:24:32if stored at room temperature and exposed to light.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35So keep them in a cool, dark cupboard.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Beyond the way our food looks and smells on the surface,
0:24:40 > 0:24:45there is this incredible hidden world of chemistry and microbiology
0:24:45 > 0:24:49in our kitchens, and understanding more about those processes
0:24:49 > 0:24:54of ripening and decay might help us keep our food fresher for longer.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06TOM: Dishing up great food doesn't have to be difficult.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10I have loads of ways to transform your cooking.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13In a professional kitchen, getting food consistently tasting
0:25:13 > 0:25:16great relies on tips and techniques that have never failed.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18Now, I'd like to share with you some of these trade secrets
0:25:18 > 0:25:21that are easy to do, but incredibly effective.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32I want to let you in on the store cupboard staples that,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35as a professional chef, I wouldn't be without.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38Now, I've got four ingredients that, on the face of it,
0:25:38 > 0:25:43are very familiar. But that can transform a dish in seconds.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45First, olive oil.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49Now, this is cold-pressed, virgin olive oil, and this is fantastic.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53A little bit of this goes a long, long way. It is full on in flavour.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Do not cook with it. Use this to finish dishes.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58And the reason you don't cook with it is because all of that
0:25:58 > 0:26:00lovely freshness, that green,
0:26:00 > 0:26:02raw flavour that you get from olives,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04that'll burn in the pan.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09When overheated, olive oil can start to break down.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11This gives food an unpleasant taste.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15So chefs only use it as a dressing.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20Mix it with these tomatoes, chopped shallots, and some chopped herbs,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22and this is called sauce vierge.
0:26:22 > 0:26:27Huge flavours, wonderfully clean, wonderfully fresh,
0:26:27 > 0:26:29keeps everything really delicious.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34Another store cupboard essential is flaky sea salt.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37The flavour is really intense and delicious, but also texture.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39It's got loads of crunch to it.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45You can finish just about any dish with this,
0:26:45 > 0:26:46including desserts.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52The amazing crunch that comes from the salt in that lovely flavour,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54absolutely delicious.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56It is one of those new classics, salt caramel.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02Now, a little trade secret that delivers a big punch
0:27:02 > 0:27:04is this - smoked paprika.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08That layer of smokiness works so, so well with cheese.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Put grated cheese on the top, dust it with smoked paprika,
0:27:11 > 0:27:15and as it cooks, that kind of cheese and the fats melt out - stunning.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20And you might think this final store cupboard essential is a bit odd.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23It's anchovies.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Now, I know you lot will turn your nose up at these,
0:27:25 > 0:27:27or a lot of you will, and they're the sort of thing that you
0:27:27 > 0:27:29just pick off the top of a pizza.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31Think about them in a different way.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33They will enhance so many dishes
0:27:33 > 0:27:37and just give this underlying savoury, salty flavour.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40They'll add a salty hit to a spaghetti dish,
0:27:40 > 0:27:45liven up a simple salad, or enrich a sauce, like this salsa verde.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50Finely chopped up into little bits like this, and then spooned
0:27:50 > 0:27:55onto a piece of roasted lamb gives a lovely, savoury, salty kick.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Absolutely delicious.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59There you go, my friends.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Four store cupboard essentials that, as a professional chef,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04I think every home should have.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08You can find these trade secrets and more on the website.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19ALICE: Next time - We're told processed meat causes cancer.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21But just what is it that we should be worried about?
0:28:21 > 0:28:23Well, I think we've definitely proved
0:28:23 > 0:28:26the existence of nitrate in that piece of bacon.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30Sean reveals what's really in mayonnaise.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32I'm flabbergasted by how many ingredients there are.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34I have never made home-made mayonnaise,
0:28:34 > 0:28:37but I'm guessing you don't need all of this to make it.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40And Tom rescues a risotto disaster.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Terrible already!