Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.
This week, we look at the disputed history of pad Thai with food writer Chawadee Nualkhair.
We also hear from former fruit exporter Don Turner on why his family changed the name of the Chinese gooseberry to the kiwi fruit.
Our expert guest is food historian, Prof Katarzyna Cwiertka, who highlights other moments in history when food and politics combined.
We also have an interview with Thomas Chatenier, the president of Nutella, about the origins of the chocolate hazelnut spread.
Plus, we talk about the Flavr Savr tomato - the world's first genetically-engineered food.
And finally we hear from Ken Hom, the chef who introduced Chinese cookery to TV audiences.
Contributors: Chawadee Nualkhair – Thai food writer. Don Turner – former chief executive of kiwi exporter, Turners and Growers. Katarzyna Cwiertka - food historian and Professor of Modern Japan Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Thomas Chatenier - the president of Nutella. Roger Salquist – former CEO of the biotech company which was responsible for the Flavr Savr tomato. Ken Hom – Chinese-American chef and author.
(Photo: Pad Thai. Credit: Getty Images)
Independence in French Polynesia and the 'Queen of Cuba'
India’s ambitious ID scheme and the iconic Princess Diana photo
Paraguay’s ‘disappeared’ and the history of the Channel Tunnel
Thirty years since the first free elections in South Africa
Ebola outbreak and the Friendship Train returns
The history of art heists
Swedish History
Seventy-five years of Nato and the Heimlich Manoeuvre
Chinese history
Finding early vertebrate’s footprints and the Deaflympic badminton champion
Uruguay's smoking ban and the Carnation Revolution
Whisky wars and the Lord of Sipan
Skiing and two-headed dogs
Letters to Juliet and Saint Valentine’s traditions
Inspirational black women
Internet cafes and Doomsday seeds
Traitors and treachery
Lady Tarzan and Ibadan Zoo
The first lesbian couple to get married and World Laughter Day
Hindenburg disaster and wingsuits
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