Unpeeled

The art of food and food in art, enjoy three segments of culinary craziness, documenting the representation of all things tasteful and tasty.

The Roman Orgy - the ultimate in culinary and sexual excess. Or so most people think. But it seems the truth about the eating habits of ancient Rome is a far cry from the toga clad sex romps of the 1960s. On closer inspection of the historical and archaeological evidence, we are presented with quite a different story, and it transpires our notions of drunken, sexual, debauchery are probably confused with the notorious practice of the Baccic Cult, a religious cult devoted to the god Bacchus, or Dionysus...

Marcel Proust's fictional biography A La Recherché Du Temps Perdu was translated into English as Remembrance of Things Past. But it could equally be translated as Remembrance of Tastes Past. Encompassing thirteen volumes, its not only a vivid depiction of Prousts' complex inner world, it's a wonderful record of the tastes of the Belle Epoch, exploring how a kitchen was run, the planning of meals and Proust's own culinary predilections. Like Proust, the leading French chefs of the period were attempting to raise food to the level of art, but Proust took it one step further, finding in food a sensual, even spiritual connection.

The Last Supper is the most celebrated meal in history and the foundation of this programme, which examines the truths, half-truths and myths. No other meal in history has been imbued with such significance, nor inspired as many artists through the ages. From Salvador Dali, to 3D coffee mugs, the Last Supper lives on in a variety of incarnations. Da Vinci painted his monumental fresco towards the end of the 15th century and it's still probably his vision of the Last Supper, more than any other that colours our understanding of the event. And yet in the Bible, there is no recorded menu for the Last supper nor is there any precise description of the seating arrangements of even the guest list. So how then, without certain knowledge of these most basic ingredients did artists like Leonardo go about reconstructing the actual meal?

Format	:	3x24mins
Talent	:	Narrated by Jane Copeland

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