Inside the Factory

Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey get through a lot in tonight's episode as they investigate the world of pasta

Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey get through a lot in tonight’s episode as they investigate the world of pasta.

While Gregg goes on a tour of the world's largest dried pasta factory, Barilla in Parma, Cherry finds out how pesto and tomato sauces are made and why matching your sauce to your pasta is a serious matter ('Don't mess with Italians,' says an Italian chef).

Historian Ruth Goodman, meanwhile, looks at pasta's history in Britain, from a 14th-century scroll containing a lasagne-like recipe for Richard II’s table to the BBC’s famous 1957 spaghetti harvest hoax, which saw Richard Dimbleby reporting on spaghetti crops in Switzerland.

Fascinating stuff, although Gregg could do with toning down the 'Brit abroad' act in the factory…