Tuesdays, June 13 - 27, 2023 at 7 p.m. on KPBS 2 / Stream the series now with KPBS Passport!
Seen at a microscopic level, your food resembles a vast range of strange and beautiful landscapes, which transform in mouthwatering ways as you cook. Using state-of-the-art photography and groundbreaking CGI, FOOD - DELICIOUS SCIENCE uncovers a secret world of exquisite chemical reactions. Each fizz and tickle of the tongue is captured in such stunning detail you can almost taste it.
This global food odyssey features colorful human stories of culinary culture. In Peru, learn how the chemicals in chocolate spark a unique sensory rush. And in Iberia, discover the most intense umami taste on the planet. This is the untold story of your next mouthful. The three-part series is hosted by Michael Mosley and James Wong.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Episode 1: "Food On The Brain" Wednesday, July 6 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV - Michael Mosley and James Wong reveal the delicious physics, chemistry and biology hidden inside our food. They travel the world in a culinary adventure to search for the origins of our favorite foods and using specialist photography and CGI, they take us on a journey inside the most sumptuous food, right down to the molecular level.
In the opening episode, they explore how this chemistry fuels and builds our bodies. Michael begins by trying the first meal most of us enjoyed, human breast milk, which contains everything a baby needs - fats, carbs, vitamins and minerals. As we grow, we continue to seek the same chemistry in our diet but from a wide variety of scrumptious fare as Michael and James discover.
In San Francisco, they unravel why sourdough bread is so good for us, in the Philippines, they learn how a river weed - rice - has become a comforting staple food, and in Bulgaria, they discover why letting your mushrooms sunbathe may help you get a calcium boost from your dairy food.
Episode 2: "A Matter Of Taste" Wednesday, July 13 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV - Michael Mosley and James Wong explore the sensations, tastes and flavors we enjoy in our food.
From luscious strawberries that deceive us into thinking they are sweeter than they actually are, to the tastiest French sea salt combined with caramel that delights the tongue. Together they unpack the wonderful evolutionary story of our food and our sense of taste and smell.
Michael heads to Spain to search for some of the most powerful tastes on the planet, whilst James travels high in the Peruvian Andes to discover how a bitter potato — a cousin of the humble spud — has been tamed to help the inhabitants survive the extreme altitude. Using the latest imaging techniques to take us inside our food, right down to the molecular level, Michael and James offer us a whole new way of thinking about taste: far more than being just delicious, it's actually a matter of survival.
Episode 3: "We Are What We Eat" Wednesday, July 20 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV - Michael Mosley and James Wong explore the effect that our food has on our most important and, in terms of energy consumption, our greediest organ. It influences our diet by generating cravings for foods such as fat - the most energy-rich food of them all.
James heads off to Peru to reveal the surprising link that fat-rich, indulgent chocolate has with breast milk. Sometimes these cravings almost become an addiction - like coffee for example. So we visit a remarkable lab where a team is studying the effect of caffeine on bees and how that may help explain the hold that caffeinated drinks have over us.
Together, Michael and James take on some of the hottest chilies on the planet to show what the burn does to our brains. Using the latest imaging techniques and incredibly detailed specialist photography, this is a whole new way of thinking about our relationship with food and the powerful effect it has on our minds.
Watch On Your Schedule:
Episodes are available on demand with KPBS Passport, a benefit for members supporting KPBS at $60 or more yearly, using your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire or Chromecast. Learn how to activate your benefit now.
Join The Conversation:
Follow @DrMichaelMosley on Twitter.
James Wong is on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, @Botanygeek on Twitter
Credits:
A BBC Studios co-production with PBS. Presenters: Michael Mosley (9 MONTHS THAT MADE YOU) , James Wong ("Grow Your Own Drugs"). Series Producer: Gideon Bradshaw (HUMAN UNIVERSE). Executive Producer: Helen Thomas
