Should You Really Eat That?

• Salt: Slug repellent, history shaper, chip enhancer

  From Persian blue salt to Murray River pink salt and every colour in between, sodium chloride has been essential for millennia. The Great Wall of China was funded by a salt tax and hunger for this mineral has led to revolutions in India and France. Salt is so versatile, it can melt ice on roads, clean wounds and repel slugs from your home. Chefs tell us to season generously with salt and our bodies also need this staple to function. But health experts say we’re eating way too much of it. How do we get that balance right? In this episode, Lee Tran Lam talks to salt-maker Alice Laing, restaurateurs Dylan Jones and Tomoya Kawasaki, and health director Peter Breadon.

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• Olive Oil: Lamp fuel, criminal swag, pharmacy staple

  For thousands of years, we’ve used olive oil for everything: from lighting lamps to chasing bugs out of our ears. In Australia, the oldest olive trees – planted 200 years ago – are still alive today. Olive oil was pressed by monks in Western Australia and inmates in Adelaide in the 1800s – but until recently, you could only find this fuel in pharmacies. It was considered an earache treatment, not a cooking essential. Migrants from the Mediterranean made it a mainstream Australian pantry ingredient and today, celebrities claim olive oil shots will do wonders for your health. But what is this prized ingredient really capable of? In this episode, Lee Tran Lam talks to chef Ibrahim Kasif, olive oil sommelier Sarah Asciutto and dietitian Dr Evangeline Mantzioris.

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• Butter: Bakery essential, insult inspiration, wedding gift

  Not that long ago, butter had its health-villain era. Margarine reigned and fridges were stocked with ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’ and alternative dairy spreads. But in recent times, we’ve seen tech-bros ‘biohack’ their coffee with butter, and butter boards and butter sculptures leave a sunny glow on social media. Is there a scientific basis for this change in dietary trends? And what about the cultural role of butter, beyond health fads and online virality? In this episode, Lee Tran Lam talks to baker Anu Haran, butter-maker Pierre Issa and food and nutrition scientist Dr Emma Beckett.

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• Soy: Traditional craft, miracle crop, male threat?

  Is soy “the most dangerous food for men?” This question was posed by a viral Men’s Health article and, like the #soyboy insult, it plays into modern fears that soybeans emasculate bodies. But is there any scientific validity to this online panic? And does it tell the full story about this crop known as ‘green gold’ – and how it’s shaped cuisines across the world? In this episode, Lee Tran Lam talks to restaurateur Yoora Yoon, chef Jung Eun Chae, cookbook author Tony Tan and dietitian Dr Evangeline Mantzioris.

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• Chocolate: Food of the gods, romantic gesture, dog poison

  In 18th-century France, the royal pharmacist treated Marie-Antoinette’s headaches with chocolate. This sweet even appeared in European hospital prescriptions! Medicinal use of chocolate goes back thousands of years: its main ingredient, cacao, was used to treat snake bites by ancient Mesoamerican societies, for instance. Today, we see headlines about chocolate supposedly being a health food – but is it really? And can blocks and bars be a platform for good in other ways? In this episode, Lee Tran Lam talks to nutrition expert Saman Khalesi, chef Juan Carlos Negrete Lopez and proud Wiradjuri woman and chocolatier Fiona Harrison.

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