What's the point of bay leaves?

0:00This is a Global Player Original Podcast. This is LBC from Global, leading Britain's conversation, Mystery Hour with James O'Brien. Three minutes after 12 is the time. I've got a bit of a curtailed conversation we may try to return to it at some unspecified point in the future. Because now it is Mystery Hour. Your weekly opportunity to it, I've done all that haven't I? What haven't I done? Oh, there's a prize. There's a magnificent prize. You can win it, actually, by being my favourite contribution of the week. The management decision is final, but that's all you have to do. Whether you're ringing with a question or an answer or a complaint. Not a complaint, that was a joke. Whether you're ringing with a question or an answer, if it is my favourite of the day, my favourite of the week, then it's all yours. You get a Mystery Hour board game, that's the game version one, or you get the Mystery Hour travel game, which is a completely different proposition.

1:00And it comes in a tin. One is pocket sized, one is not. But one, either box size or pocket size, will be yours if you make my favourite contribution of the week. And I'll tell you about the terms and conditions in a minute. In fact, I'll tell you now. The terms and conditions for the competition are at lbc.co.uk and the... what's the other thing? Oh, yeah, you can find out more about the game if you want to actually buy one as opposed to cross your fingers and hope that you make the most appreciated contribution of the week. Then you can go to mysteryhour.co.uk. So, phone lines are open. If you have a question that needs an answer, call me now on 03456060973. If your brand's spanking new to this feature, maybe give yourself five minutes to just get a flavour of the kind of questions that get on the board. Because some are perhaps a little bit obvious, and some wouldn't necessarily get put straight to the switchboard. But generally speaking, it's a who, a why, a when, a where, a whence, a wither.

2:02The occasional where for, although I don't think anyone's ever rung in and said James, where for art that, where for, what it just means, why doesn't it Keith? It's just a fancy way of saying, why? So, where for, do we do do this? So, all of that, they're all, what are they called, Keith interrogative pronouns? I think, I think that's what it is. That's it really. And the only real thing that you need to bear in the back of your mind is it must have an answer. So, don't ring in and ask about the meaning of life, or something like that. 42, everyone knows that. It must be something that actually has an answer. Something that you feasibly, plausibly believe, that you actually have a prospect of getting an answer to your question. In other words, that somebody else listening to this so-called program will be able to provide the answer that you so desperately crave. I mean, we used to have rules. Don't really like motoring questions, but frankly, I'm getting old.

3:02And find it increasingly hard to stick to my carefully cultivated principles on this particular issue. What was I thinking about the other day though? So, don't do motoring questions, and I don't like London centric stuff. But I'm fascinated by you, though. Absolutely fascinated by it as an emblem, as an example of almost everything that's wrong with British media and elements of British politics. I may explore that another day, but I generally don't like motoring questions. And we don't like repetition, but we've been doing this for so long now that avoiding repetition is, frankly, impossible. Imagine being a phone in host who only does the new topics. Every single topic we do, three topics a day, is something that we've never gone anywhere near or done anything like before. We wouldn't last a week. We wouldn't last a week. The trick is, of course, to return to familiar territory with fresh eyes and interesting new insights. First time for everything. Let's get this up and running. Harry is in Helm'sdale. Harry, question or answer?

4:02Hello, James. I've got a question. Harry, I'm... No, he hasn't. He's fallen. I probably hasn't fallen down a while. Harry, yes, hello. Go on, what's your question? What's your question? I'm currently hiking, Van Dentsch on a road. I've got 60 miles left. How much? You've kept me company, so thank you so much. I've listened to you every day. It's a pleasure. Thank you for keeping me company, although I was unaware of it until this moment. What are you doing here for charity? Yes, I'm doing it for Alzheimer's, the research UK. How can people find out a little bit more about your particular quest? We've got to go, let me page your or just giving page or something like that. He's fallen down a while. We'll get him on with a better fir. Tell him to climb a tree, Eleanor. So there's plenty of trees up there. Well, it depends where he is, whether he's near Lantern or John A Groates, actually. Nigel is in Poulton, LaField. Filed, filled, filed. Question or answer, Nigel? Hello, James. It's a question. What does Filed mean? It's the area of it. So you near Blanpool? Yeah, Blanpool, yeah.

5:02I mean, it's Filed. So that's where Filed, yeah, okay. Because we'll play you at football. Yeah, I have seen Filed, which is keratin. The Filed is the whole area between Fleetwood and Preston. There you go. You live and learn. What's your question? Question is, how did they record 29th of February historically? And if you go back, if you look at some government websites, they say that it can be recorded as either the 28th or the 1st of March, on some official documents. What do you mean if it's your birthday or something like that? Yeah, right. Yeah. And the reason I'll say is that we always celebrated my grandfather's birthday on the 29th of February, because that's when my mother said he was born. How you got that wrong? Sorry, I'm correcting you on your own family history, but I think you must mean the 28th of February or the 1st of March. We celebrated it on the 1st of March, and of course, yeah, we celebrated on the 29th. And it was after we died, after my mother died, that I found his birth certificate instead of 1st of March.

6:04And I thought, was it really the 29th? So did everybody record it differently? But what is really interesting, so I was alive at the time, was he died on the 29th of February, 1980. So at the front door? Yeah. So we think he was both born and died on the 29th of February. That's right, 19th of the 4th. That must be close to unique, isn't it? Well, it's pretty rare. What does he odds? I mean, you'd have to know how many people there are in the world, and then you'd have to divide things by four. Twice, squared. Not my strong point, maths, Nigel, I can't lie. No, it's a big thing. So obviously, it's quite an interesting situation. So what's the question? Did they ever write 29th of February on birth certificate? Yeah, or did they record them going back to the beginning of last century as the 1st of March? I like that. I mean, it's quite an issue, isn't it? But I like it. Yeah. It could have been that he was just sort of playing the wagon.

7:05He was the 1st of March, but he thought 29th of February was my interesting. I mean, it could have been on the 29th of February. It could have gone any... His mother could have gone into labor, you know, late on the 28th. Late on the 29th of work, and then didn't give birth until early on the 1st, but they kind of decided to split the difference. So why wouldn't they put down the 20th? I mean, in the days before computers, it would make more sense to just jot down the 29th. In computers, there might be a kind of Millennium Bug-type scenario, where it can't cope with the anomaly. Well, it's probably... I mean, as I genuinely say, I've looked at some research, and you can find some guidance that says, on official documents such as driving license, so we'll record it as the 1st of March of the 28th of February to avoid complications if it's a reject. Oh, really? Yeah. So it's a... Well, someone on, I won't think, because they're banning people listening to this who were born on the 29th of February, and they'll be able to tell us straight from the horse's mouth as it were.

8:05What... the rules go on? Yeah, well, I would hope so, you know, but particularly going back, you know, 120 years, that's what I'm interested in. So, I see whether or not you're granddad. So really, you just want to know whether your granddad really was born on the 29th of February or not. Yeah. Well, we're not going to be able to answer that. We might be able to say, if he had been, they definitely would have written it down, because on his birth certificate, it said the 1st of March. Oh, crikey, thank you, Nigel. 0356, 060973 is the number you need. Let's have another go with Harry's in Helmstale. Harry, have you climbed a tree? Yeah, I've just climbed out the well. There we go. And you are raising money for Alzheimer's by hiking from Land of the Inter-Johnny Grotes. How long have you been hiking? I've been hiking for 46 days. 46 days, 60 miles to go. Are you going to finish it tomorrow, do you think? Oh, no, I think three days. You should just get a flipping rake on, man. Will you? Seriously? What are you doing? Crawling? Hopping? Oh, there's lots of rocks, James. Lots of rocks. And how can people offer some support for your journey? And indeed, for Alzheimer's UK as a success. Okay, yes.

9:05So I have a just giving page, which is Harry M. Dashler jog. Oh, nice. Harry M. Dashler jog. Yes, but I also have an Instagram, and I'm doing like daily videos. Go on. And that's Harry M. underscore Le Jog. Le Jog. It is. Why did you call it Le Jog? Well, Land of the Inter-Johnny Grotes. Land of the Inter-Johnny Grotes. Land of the Inter-Johnny Grotes. Oh, Le Jog. Oh, Land of the Inter-Johnny Grotes. Oh, Land of the Inter-Johnny Grotes. Oh, Land of the Inter-Johnny Grotes. Yeah, I thought you were doing something a bit French there, mate. I thought you were jogging it. We're the French flavour, and therefore you'd call it Le Jog, you see? Like, do Van Doupand do book it anyway? Le Jog, that's easy to remember. Land of the Inter-Johnny Grotes, Ellie Jog. So Harry M. M. for mother. Yes. Dashler jog. I bet you're wishing you'd never rung in now, aren't you? Anyway, what's the question? Okay, yes. So I was wondering what the origins of public rights of way for football? As in, why can we walk on summer, not on others?

10:06Yeah, why can we just walk on some person's land and they can't stop you, but not anywhere else? I like that. It's a story in the news today, actually. I couldn't see a way into it. About a lot of previously sort of casually established rights of way, being increasingly closed down by landowners. So what is enshrined in law and what is not? I do not know. Well, there'll be presumably, there'll be kind of ancient traditions, some of which make it into ordnance survey maps. I don't know why I'm trying to answer this question, Harry. I mean, firstly, you've got a hike to go. And then I haven't got a clue about this. I had a posh friend who fell in love with a girl from a more normal background. You'll like this story, Harry. It'll keep you company for the next five miles. And he lived on a country estate. And his old man had a bit of a problem with Ramblers, who were there legally, but he didn't like having Ramblers on his land. For the reasons that we're both alluding to, that they had the right to just sort of walk through what he considered to be his garden,

11:09but which they considered to be great British countryside. And he started having a go at some Ramblers that he'd encountered on his travels, on his own land. And it quickly emerged that they were the parents of the lovely young woman with whom his son had recently fallen in love. It was a very romantic moment that came up in the wedding speeches, but they all get on famously now. You're on. Why are some rights away, some roots allowed, access, and others are not? Thank you, Harry. John's in what? No. I will come to him after this. Sixty minutes after 12 is the time. Mystery air is upon us. You are listening to James O'Brien on LVC. And good luck to Harry, as he puts in the finance. Which way was he going? Keith Land's Enter John A Grotes. The Land's Enter John A Grotes. Sixty miles left. If you see him, give him a wave. And maybe I don't know, a cup of soup or something. I know what sustains you on a hike like that. It's unlikely I am ever going to fight. Or some kindle mink cake. I don't know what he looks like. He's probably got a thing saying Le Jog on his back or something like that.

12:09And a beard. Lewis is in Mason. Lewis, question or answer? Question. Are you currently embarked on a multi-hundred mile hike, Lewis? I wish. Why not? I'm a work. I'm a work. I'm a work. Oh no. What's the question? Yeah, I'm in the sixties. I sit down to my evening meal with my wife. And on the TV, we have adults. We have an advert. Sorry for pension plans, funeral care, disability aids and wheels. I'm just wondering if a young couple would get the same advert. Wheels. Wheels. Oh, wheels. Wheels. Sorry, last, wheels and testament. Yeah, that sort of stuff. Yeah, disability aids, funeral care, pension. So we get all that old stuff. Do a young couple get the same advert. Are you watching Normal Telly or are you streaming? It's normal telly. ITV. ITV. ITV, something like that. BBC or any other movie that's trying to go. I'm just moving into slightly delicate territory now.

13:10And I need you to tell me the truth, Lewis. Do you watch GB News? No. No, I've never watched it. Never watch it. Well, and it's not, it's on the property. So you'd be watching. I'm on the property. Yeah, the chase or something like that. Yeah, so for the choices on, I get them kind of a difference come through. Well, I mean, these, I mean, data, late, daytime, it's an older audience. Everyone's getting the same advert. You beginning to take it a bit personally, aren't you? I can tell. I am in doing it. You're thinking hang on a minute, hang on a minute. I might have a few miles on the clock, but I'm good for a few more yet. Exactly that. Yeah, well, don't worry. I'm sure surely a younger couple wouldn't be interested in them kind of. No, but they're less likely to be watching Telly at that time. Well, no, they are for two reasons. The main one being that the youngsters don't watch normal Telly Lewis. Yeah, you could be watching everything on the devices and streaming. So they're watching it when they want to watch it.

14:11So they'll be watching the eye player or even the ITV player. They won't be doing what you and me do, which is thinking inside, oh, it's six o'clock. It must be time for Richard Osman's House of Games. Or if I was with my mum, as I was, yes, they're always five o'clock. We must put the chase on. We're Bradley. Yeah, as I said, normally during the chase. The kids don't do it. The kids aren't watching it on normal Telly at that time. So all of the adverts are directed at the older consumer, but everybody is seeing the same adverts. Yeah, that's true. Otherwise, what are they going to do? You got you mean, yeah, it's just true. Yeah, no, I'll take your words for it. I was watching it in a hospital yesterday, full of old people. And it was the same adverts that you described. No, I was visiting Keith. It wasn't the old people like me. So that's it. I mean, that was like, how would they do it? How would they know how old you are if you're watching the television? They'd know if you were watching it on your phone, but not if you're watching it on your television. No, that's what I wanted. That's what I wanted. No, you're safe. You're safe. Ask me what my qualifications are. What are your qualifications?

15:11Spring chicken, mate, and I get the same adverts. There you go. There you go. Lovely stuff. And remember, as I bid farewell to Lewis, you can grab that phone line for yourself. 103, 4, 5, 6, 0, 6, 0, 9, 7, 3. Any questions? Or indeed answers to the two questions that are still on the board. John D'Amorant, and John, question or answer? Hi, James. Hi, John. I've got a question. It's about ingredients for casserole. Oh, yeah. What do you want to know? What are the points? I mean, you put a bay leaf in the beginning of a recipe or in a casserole. Then you add a multitude of different ingredients. Does anybody say, hmm, this is missing a bay leaf? You know, they don't seem to make any difference. So my question is, why do we use them? Umami. I'll bet you pardon. Umami. Iranu. No.

16:11Umami. Yeah. What's that? It's the other thing. It's an ethereal thing. No, it's the other thing. It's like we know what sweet is, and we know what sour is. We know what salty is. What's the other one, Keith? Sweet sour sour. Yeah, yeah. What's the fourth one? There's four. We know there's four. Sweet sour salts. Yeah, and what's the other one? Um, oh, come on. Sweet sour salt. Sweet sour salt. What's the other one? Okay, you should see the blank face is looking back at me, John. I don't know what it's like where you are, but this is like being in an aquarium. Does that count as imami? It bay leaves? Yes. And how would you describe the taste? Well, I just did. No, that's just a word. Umami.

17:12It's like it's a savoury, a subtle savoury, like almost like a kind of, I mean, I don't know if you can describe umami. I think that's the kind of point, but it is, your tongue is picking up on that. It's a meaty flavour. It's like a meat, what's the most umami thing you can think of? It might be a twiglet, for example. Umami. Umami. So it's like, I think a Japanese bloke discovered it about a hundred years ago. And we got the four, even though you were making only a member three of them, sweet sour. Someone would have sent me acid. Is it acid? It's not acid. It's savoury. Sweet, salt, bitter. Anyway, marmite. So if you put like a tiny, tiny bit of marmite in your casserole, you'd get a similar effect to a bay leaf. Are you saying it was bitter? It's bitter, sweet sour, salt, bitter. I'm not convinced. What do you mean you're not convinced?

18:12It's not, it's not a question of being convinced. It's umami. It just is. It's just umami. If you can't taste the thing, it's a little bit more. Okay, you got it from seaweed. You found it in seaweed. And it turned out that the tongue responds in a specific way to sweet sour, salt, and bitter. And it responded to this thing that he found in seaweed in a fifth way, in a different way. And that is called umami. And that is what a bay leaf delivers. Even though people had been putting bay leaves in stews for years before anyone knew what umami was or discovered it, the reason why they were doing it, it transpired, was because of umami. I'd like a second opinion. Fair enough, actually mate. I can't really argue with that as it goes. I normally get a bit prickly with it. With all those ingredients, um, you know, they're masked any subtle umami. I don't think they would. I think you underestimate how subtle umami can be.

19:12I mean, I'll tell you what, hand on heart. Make a nice ragu from scratch. Maybe not a chili because a chili is probably going to, I mean my chili recipe includes both bay leaves and indeed dark chocolate, which is a bit of a speciality of mine. But you make a top ragu. I reckon I could tell the difference. If you're really with one bay leaf. Yeah. It's why you put anchovies in my pack. I put anchovies in my pasta sauce sometimes as well. Well, I do too. Well, that's umami. You know, that's a salt. Now that's a salt. It's salt and umami. It's salt and umami. So if you made, let's do the experiment, right? You make two bowls of ragu. One with a bay leaf and one without. Okay. And then you've got three separate experiments. Have you? So you've got two bowls with the bay leaf. One bowl with and one bowl without. And then two bowls without the bay leaf. So you've got three separate taste tests.

20:14So now you wash your mouth out in between each one. You go, yep, they're the same. Yep, they're the same. They're the two that are different. And that is the umami one. I reckon I could do it. Well, that remains to be seen. It does. So indeed does the answer to this question. That's all I've got. That's all I've got. Yeah, that's all I've got. I think the dark chocolate is a bit umami as well in the chili. But I'll leave you to experiment with that. What was the question again? Why do we put bay leaves in food? I was like, why do we put bay leaves in food? I was three, four, five, six, six, oh, nine, seven, three. We've got a bay tree in our garden. So sometimes I put fresh ones in and I can never remember if you're putting a fresh one and you'd put it in more than you would have dried one wouldn't you? Because the water would be yeah, uh, dabbers in wealth and forest. Deborah, question or answer? Hi James, I've got a question for you. Yes. I'd very much like to know why snails and slugs are attracted to beer. I have a problem with them in my garden and can't get rid of them by, um, who may need this is on this is unbelievable.

21:19This is this is unbelievable. Oh, okay, go ahead. I know what the answer is to this. Are you sure? Oh, mommy. Oh, no, please. I see mommy. It is. It's just, this is the new Osmosis mate. This is the new Osmosis. It's umami. It's a, I, someone's asked this before and that the yeasty smell back to mami. We're back to mami. You see, umami, mami twiglets, the yeasty smell is, it, it reminds the slugs and the snails of like rotting, that rotting organic matter matter. Yeah. So it's umami. It's, it's like, are they called arthropods? It's like an umami for arthropods. Okay. I think I can accept that. That is why they like, that is actually why I don't know if it's umami or not, but it is about the kind of yeasty recreation of rotting, because it's not rotting, it's beer.

22:19Yeah. But it smells to a snail. It smells like something rotting. So they climb up the saucer, they fall in the beer and they, they die. They, yeah, but they die, don't they? Oh, yeah, they die. Yeah. So that is, I think it's umami, but it's definitely rotting matter. Okay. So, can I, can I just mention really, really quickly about a year ago, I called in with, you know, when you open the show and you see who, what we're in, yeah. Yeah. And I had a two question. My question was, who is help? Because when I'm going along the motorway and I see help on all these bridges, I went to shortage and I saw some fantastic. The American car wash, isn't it? The American car wash ensure that she was, it was all over that. Yes, that's the one. But then I heard on the radio that he's passed away. He has indeed. It's a brilliant graffiti artist for people who've got no idea what we're talking about. Yeah. And you didn't get on. You didn't get on with it. You didn't get on. And not really disappointed because I wanted to really those who it was. But then I heard it on the news like two days ago.

23:19Would you, um, he did the givepiece a chance thing on the shelf of by doctors. I turn it into a helps a chance taker. Um, would you like me? And don't be shy. No one else is listening. Would you like me to fire somebody? No, definitely not. Are you sure? Again would be great. Well, that's not going to carry it away. I mean, I'm happy to fire someone. I can't give away a game with it. No, I wouldn't ever want that to happen. All right. I can't fire anyone anyway. No, no. I'll accept Keith made me. All right. I'm going to take a round of applause for that because it's correct. Although the umami angle may, the umami angle may be fanciful, Deborah. Okay. And I hope your mum's doing well. You're very kind. She is. I know it's actually now that you mentioned it, especially shout out to everyone on the cardiology ward. This time at Reddich Hospital. She is in the ward, but she is, um, she is being extremely well looked after for which I am well for which we are all inexpressibly grateful. Thank you, Deborah. Josh is in Hackney. Josh, question or answer? I've got a question.

24:19Ariel. I would like to know why, um, Hinds, Blake, Beans, Tins don't stack. They do stack. Well, every brand of tin, so like soup or for different soup markets, they all kind of interlock. And Hinds, Beans don't, they just sit on top of each other and they kind of fall. Really? Yeah, 100%. I've been, I've started out myself. So I got, I got some out of the, uh, covered just a double check. They did, I think they did once. Well, so they don't stack with each other or with other brands. So now some tinned foods are cooked in the tin. Mm. And others are not. Do you cook, mm. I don't mean you cook them in the tin. Yeah. I mean the manufacturer cooks them in the tin. They're cooked in the tin and the tin is then sealed. So it could be that you are looking at different manufacturing processes here, but then you're going to point out that some own brand Beans do stack, aren't you?

25:22I don't have any home brand cleans, but like, God, thank the Lord, man. I know. But like, there's some, let me money saving things. No one should be forced to. But every, every tin I have, they almost are interlock. They kind of sit into each other and you could probably stack four, five, six and maybe today. No, I know. I know what a stacking tin means. I don't need to die. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, but the Hinds Beans do not stack. Yeah. Well, it's going to have something to do with the manufacturing process, but I don't, I know what it isn't. Okay. Umami. Exactly. It's on the board. Why don't, why don't Hinds Beans, Tins, Hinds Beans, Hinds Beans, Hinds, Amelia Cox has your headlines. 33 minutes after 12, we didn't give John and Warrington the credit he deserves for coming back with Iranu, did we? When I said, umami and he went Iranu, that's a Vic Reeves reference. I had it bubbling in the back of my mind, but I needed you to remind me. What was the other one we used to do? Is it Moon Jaro?

26:22So I can't remember what the other one, what was the other one they used to do? Vic and Bob, they do Iranu. And then there were two, anyway, that's why John and Warrington is a genius and is currently, despite stiff competition, probably, that's between him and Harry, I guess, um, in the lead for the game. There are currently two finalised free, which means you have got room for your own question. No, three, four, five, six, six, oh, nine, seven, three, or your answer to the question about the historical origins of rights of way, why you're allowed to walk on some private land or walk through some private land and not allowed to walk through other private land. And the 29th of February, does it appear that it used to appear, has it ever appeared on official documents or have you always been on a birth certificate in particular, particularly one from 19, oh, was it 1908? But anyway, 1906 more likely if it's a leap here. Anyway, now you are more likely to be encouraged to put now in March the first, if so, so, oh, farful, oh, farful, oh, farful. God, that's a lot of Vic and Bob fans out there.

27:24You'd hope so, I'm getting distracted by my messages, Keith, you're right, allow me just to turn that off. So we've got the 29th of February question and then we've got the, um, the Bayleaf question, which inexplicably, John wasn't happy with my answer, even though Umami is almost certainly the answer and, and then I answered the last one. So we're good to go. All right, 0345, 606, 0973, Joseph and Ronford, Joe, question or answer? Question, we didn't ask what was on time. You're telling me, right? You're not, you're not coming to this new, are you? No, I have been listening to you for years to walk along the northern part of the island. It's going to seem like I'm being rude now, but I'm not, the phone line's awful. So I'm going to try and fix the phone line and then come back to you. And, and unfortunately, if you'd wasted less time critiquing my waffle, we might have been able to get the question on the board quicker. Alternatively, if I'd spent less time waffling, then we would have already know what your question is before your phone line went south. David's in West, Darby, in Liverpool, David, question or answer?

28:25It's a question, James. Very on, David. It's a cat question. Oh, yes. OK. My cat is just sat on an oblong piece of paper. Oh, not on that. Not on that. Not on a long piece of paper white. And every time we put down a sheet of paper, the cat sits on it. Now, I watched YouTube do the day and a lady made a square on the floor out of tape and the cat sat in the square. Why the cat's like sitting on square pieces of paper or squares made out of tape? We did, didn't we do this quite recently? Am I the only one paying a debt? Obviously, you weren't listening. No, no, it's not your fault. It's not even I've had a sort of weird dream about this or I'm getting deja vu. Didn't we do this quite recently? It's a weird James about me, James. No, I wouldn't, actually. But maybe a cat. I think a cat. Well, did we do it and not get an answer? Or is anyone listening? I mean, not.

29:26I don't mean, no one cares or no one knows. All right. So why the cat sit on squares? White squares or squares made out of tape on the floor. So that would be the inside of that square would just be normal floor? Basically, yeah. And also the thing that it sat on as we speak was a drawing done by my grandchild yesterday on a large piece of paper. I'll belong and it sits on that. Every time you put a newspaper down, it sits on that. That's not the paper because the lady's proved that by just putting a pile of tape on the floor. And then the cat comes in and sits on that. Sit on that. Yeah. Yeah, you're on. All right. I like it. Good man. We'll try and find out. I'd mean if we haven't done it recently, then I've gone a bit bonkers. Or if we perhaps got the question on the board and didn't get an answer, that would explain me if I can't remember it. I like that. David, take care. To our 37 is the time. Let's go back to Joe. Right. We're no more beating about the bush. Joe's in wrong for Joe. Question or answer? I'm not going to be around anybody.

30:26Get on with it. Get on with it, Joe. I've got a question up in meaning to ask you for years. Oh, man. Because he knows so much. It's not made up. I was wondering. Yes. Can it be identified? Can you tell somebody has a good thing voice from their normal voice? What was that noise in the background then? My dog. Oh, OK. I think your dog was on the dog. Your dog was going, yes. No. No. Yes. He did. Just answer the brilliant question. I can't answer it. Your cheeky man. I can't. It's all about someone else might be able to. Can I ask you whether you, OK, hang on, say some more words to me. Hello, James. How are you? I don't think you have a very good singing voice. I don't think you have a very good singing voice. I don't think you have a good singing voice. I don't think you have a good singing voice. I used to.

31:26Problem is I'm hitting 17 hours. That's a boy. That's no, no. I think you probably. I don't know. All right. Do you think I've got a good singing voice? No. I think you're a bathroom singer. I've not even that really. Exactly. But I mean, you'd be quite rude about me anyway. I don't think you would have said something nice about me even if you thought it was true. James, I think you're brilliant. There we go. Give them a ball. OK. Broad. Broad country here. Yes. The best broadcaster on LBC at the moment. Absolutely. Good man. Can you tell from someone's speaking voice whether or not they have a good singing voice? I have no idea. 03560609733. Joe, stay safe. Tristan's in Guildford. Tristan, question or answer? Hello, James. I have an answer. Carry on. So it's about the Bailey question. I have a question. I have a question. I have a question. I have a question. I have a question. I have a question. I have a question. I have a question. I have a question. I have a question. I have a question. OK, so that Bailey is actually just a culinary herb. It doesn't have that. It's not actually anything to do with the mommy.

32:27The reason why? No. No. No, no, no, no. No. No. Mommy is in is part of the taste it creates like seaweed kelp is just kelp, but it's still got umami. I completely agree with that. You can't disagree with it. That's how good mommy was discovered in kelp. Great. discovered in Kelp. Oh no no you're right about that but I wouldn't say a bay leaf it adoris from the flavour of your mami. Delivers, delivers some mild umami when in a brothel or a soup I think it does but we don't have to agree with that. A little bit of mild umami, maybe a little bit of mild umami. Yeah, mild umami. But yeah it's used as a culinary herb just like rosemary, thyme, you normally chuck it in a like a slow-cooked dish because it basically the flavour and the oils and the leaf anchor out once you cook it for a long time. Like if you've ever gotten a leaf from a tree outside you said you got it at home. Yeah. You just take a leaf and crush it and rub it in your hands it will release all those oils and that's basically what you're going to get in your food. Um like like like rose me or something like that it's delicious

33:31isn't it? Yeah of course. Well I'm talking about the umami bit. Yeah or rather the the question was contingent upon the idea that if you didn't use it you wouldn't be able to tell. As in you wouldn't be able to tell if you didn't use that. Yeah so David doesn't think I think it was David. Was it David or was it it was John in more instant? It doesn't think that there's any point to it because he can never really identify whether it's there or not. Well how long is he cooking a stew before that's what I don't. Well I mean what would it deliver though? Because I need you to because I think there's only really one word that can describe what it delivers. Yeah so I mean so it creates that kind of like woody. Me too. Yes. Yeah. Umami. Not umami. No it's umami. Just give that very little bit. Is it sweet? No it's not. Is it sour? Is it sour? No it's not sour. Is it salty? No it's not salty. Is it bitter? Yes. No it's not bitter. No it's not bitter. You're cheating. No you did not get me there.

34:37It's not bitter. It's not salty. It's not sour. It's not sweet but it is a flavour. The flavour yeah. It's only known for the fish flavour. If only there were a name for the fifth flavour that was only discovered in 1908 by a Japanese scientist. Exactly but you can get umami flavourings mostly well from things like aged foods like parmesan, bit of satin tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms and all of those kind of bits and lots of that. Yeah it dried mushrooms even more umami than uh it's a truffle. It's a truffle umami. It's truffle umami. Yeah truffle would be considered as type of umami yeah. I love it. Qualifications. So I've I've worked in food for a long time and I run a social media content business that creates recipe videos. Sensational. Right well I mean we're going to agree to disagree about umami. I'll cook here at dinner sometime and then you can cook. I'm cooking too actually and then one with a bay leaf and one with a house. Exactly you can take one to work with you. Right. Rad of applause for Tristan. Do great. Lovely stuff take care 1243 is the time. Ross is in Dundee.

35:39Ross question or answer. I've got a question please. Carry on. Why the old evolving doors turn anti-clockwise? What? Yeah a revolving door when you walk up to them. Now I know what a revolving door is. Hang on let's let me picture it. So walking up to it doesn't that's clockwise. No. Goes that way. Yeah okay carry on. So the old one to clockwise now I have to met. Well I have to go anti-clockwise because you push them you don't pull them. But you can push them the other side. So yeah but we're all we're I mean it's biased to right-handed people. Well actually do you know what I have to confess that before I was an avid listener yeah you're you're sure I checked online okay but the end of the day gave me wrong information which is why I'm affluent today. Stranger things but I think obviously it has to go with the direction that the door user is pushing and because we're about 80% right-handed it's more in fact they might be 90% it's going to go to the right because you're going to push with your

36:41right hand. No I have to push it with my left hand because you're going to the right hand side right you're going to the right hand side to push it with your left hand. Well all right then the bias the right-handed bias is leaning you towards the right-hand side and you'll push whatever is in front of you regardless of what hand you're going to push it with. I don't think that's right. I was your theory. But somebody said it was to do with a say there's a road that you drive on and it's definitely in every county but that can't be right because that's not right for the UK. I think that they've all worked all all all revolving doors are going to go the way that you've described not they. Regardless of why. Well because because we're 90% right-handed. You must be in the front of it. You might have answered it but you know it must be. It must be. It must have all been doors. Well no I'm not I can't I mean I can't even begin to pretend that I'm an expert on revolving. No. I've been through a few. Yeah I've been through a few. But I can't I can't like claim to any form of expertise. No. So I'll put it on the board. I'll put it on the board and if it's not if it's not that I'll be very interested in the answer

37:43and if it is that I'll be very smug about having already provided it. Ross thank you it's 1245. So where's the ones that you least expect isn't it? A revolving door question is causing all sorts of rumpus and I just need to clarify something we're talking about putting bay leaves in your casserole not bay leaves. So whatever you do do not put bay leaves the sort of creamy whiskey liqueur don't put that in anything that is savoury and certainly don't message me to tell me the things that you have put bay leaves in that were massively improved by the present. So bay leaves two words bay leaf not bay leaves putting bay leaves in your chili cough for goodness sake. Ross is in banger. Ross question or answer? It's an answer. Carry on. It's the advertising on a televine. Oh yes. It depends. I'm going to give you the I'm going to give you the historical answer and I'll give you what's happening now. I'll give you the now actually first. The now is that your TV is watching you. So when you buy a new TV. Yeah. There's a screen you get that says do you agree to all of this and none of us read it. Yeah. But what it means is it can it then uses

38:47technology to see what you're watching. Quite literally it's taking screenshots of your screens you're watching telly and building up a pattern of who you are. Same not as you're telling. Same with lots of other technologies these days. Yeah. You haven't read the terms. Yeah. Yeah. So it's called automatic content recognition. So it knows when you're watching the football and it knows when you're watching the prices right or whatever it is that you're watching. And then it serves ads based on that historically though which I think was where you thought the answer was. So different different people watching the same program are going to have different commercial breaks on terrestrial television. Yes. Shut the front door. Shut the front door. Yeah. It's called automatic content recognition. You can go and google it after if you want. I don't doubt you. I'm not so you qualifications are yet. If you turn out to be an ice cream man then we might have to have worse but that's so I'm watching. I did you know I was watching two two people watching the same program on terrestrial television stations are going to have different adverts on a modern television that's the bit. Okay. If you've got one of these TVs where you've had to give permission at the start. Yeah. Before you even when you set it up it's a game. I can play Xbox on my telly. So

39:52I've obviously got all of that. So even in the same house two people in the same house with two televisions watching the same program could get different commercial break. No. No. Why not? That's the same TV on the same IP address. IP address. Crucial point. Carry on. Okay. So historically though it wasn't about time which you thought it was. It was about the type of TV you were watching. And so when they served football in the in history so when they served football on old TVs in the old days when you've got an air on top of your house. But they were making guests in it so they're saying well people watching football are probably going to drink larger or they're going to go in debt. And that's how they did it. They basically they're based it on the TV show you're watching. Yeah. No. I get I get I get I mean I don't know. It's a little bit more new onsen than that wasn't it. There'd be it wouldn't always be tailor made but that would be the general dry. It was a guest in us. Yes. Exactly. But in that case it was everybody watching football got the same ads. And then you've also got if you're watching daytime television on what we used to call satellite channels it's quite cheap to get adverts there. So you'll get adverts for quite you know small outfits and operations or people selling like you know military coins or

40:55something. I used my my friend used to watch a lot of rubbish and when I went around to see him he he would be watching adverts for like gold bullion and things like that. And that's just because it's quite cheap at that time of day and the audience is likely to be older. Although you know the plates with cats on all like the plates when the royals do something. That kind of thing. Yeah. That kind of thing. Exactly. And you find them on the back page of the radio times. Yes. That's a lot of money. That's a business. We've got the business. We've got the business. We've got the business. We've got the business. We've got the business. That's one of the most expensive places you could place in the ad. The back of the radio time. So they're not necessarily like I was thinking more of a local travel agent. Yeah. So I'm going to pop stuff on the cricket on sky news. And it's localized as well. Yeah. A little bit about the ads. So he won't only get he won't only get a funeral parlor. He might get days funeral parlor and he's telling him. So Lewis is getting adverts that sadly think he's older than he thinks he is. Yeah. Or he didn't read the terms of conditions when he said he's telling you off. There he is. There he is. So I can't still I mean I believe you but I don't believe you.

41:57Do you know what I mean? You can yeah. Well I believe you because you sound very convincing. And I'll ask you what your qualifications are. I'm a marketing consultant global one actually. If one should be really big about it. There you go. I've been doing it for 18 years. And so I believe I believe you but I can't believe that if the neighbors are watching the same program as me they can get a different adverts on normal ITV. Best things to do is get one of your kids or somebody to stand between the two ads and watch the same show and wait for the adverts. I mean it's it. I mean how many people knew that hands up everyone listening. You put your hand up now. If you knew that. It's called automatic content recognition and it's going to get more precise. You live and learn. So he's telling you he's literally watching him. Yeah. No I get it. Yeah. Round of applause for Russ. And making all of these decisions. Not just about adverts. I mentioned it the other day. My friend Alexis Conran has written a brilliant sub stack about this. He's fascinated by it. We used to do the the real hustle on the tally looking into into sort of more obvious scams and hustles. But this is just an interesting modern development that Russ has nailed down perfectly.

43:02There you go. Flip and EC Lewis. Bad news really for you. Raising opens and Ray. Question or answer? Arthur James. I mean someone who could tell a good singing voice was Jacquino Rossini who was the composer of William Tell. The Lumbar Lumbar Lumbar Lumbar. A figure or figure or figure or barber of Seville born in Pizarro in Italy in 1792 officially on the 29th of February. Wow. I don't know why you got a round of applause there but I mean because I get me not yet. You're delivering. So but do we know that was that on his birth certificate? Yes. Yes. Well I mean I've always known it was the 29th of February. Any biography of him straight away says born on the 29th of February and there was one kid's music book where they said you know he was he only had so many birthdays because I'm fortunate for him who's born on the 29th of February. But I don't know if this helps as established whether or not Nigel's granddad in 1906 was born on the 1st of March or the 19th of February 29th of February. There I can't help. Yeah, I don't know

44:06about that far. I will have another round of applause anyway but also you're a bit of a music buffer sense. Do you know whether or not you can tell whether or not someone has a good singing voice from their speaking voice? I don't know I always think it's I mean it always fascinates me the accent thing you know how people usually unless it's something like the proclaimers or a British people trying to sound American when you sing you can't tell the accent someone will have a broad scotish or Irish accent but you can't tell that necessarily unless it's deliberate. Yeah like you say the proclaimers are a really good example Mike Skinner as well the streets because around when he broke through most most sort of rappers and hip hop artists were all trying to sound American and he didn't he didn't make any effort whatsoever to sound anything other than exactly who he is but they're lovely stuff right I'll leave it on the board I love that as when I was a kid the William Tello would have struggled to remember who it was by but though what did it go on was it the lone ranger? That's right. Also also appropriately William

45:08Tello on television the series Conrad to Philip. I even set words to it. Come away with William Tello come away to the land he loves so well. But before my time that you're still going on DVD. I love the lone ranger though thank you Brian Zinwigen Brian question or answer? Answer please James. I think I know which one it is if you're in Wigan. Yep. Go on. Finds employee for 32 years. 32 years. 32 years. Yeah. Just a ride. I've got a retired now. Okay. All nice gifts as well. Anyway to get that to the cans. The reason the cans are not stuck in and they're very often fall over is because the the bottom of the can and the what we call the body of the can is one piece all like the lid of the top. Originally there were three piece two ends on the body then years and years ago when I was

46:11they decided to change the baby-free land over to make it a true piece can. Right. And that did away with the the weld in the center. So it saved a few quinted it? Well it's not just that. They wanted to get rid of any led or anything that could penetrate the product. Right. But eventually the whole setup became true piece. And there was a problem in the production line because there were forever falling over on the conveyors these cans. Yeah. Because of this round edge if you look at the bottom of the can it's not square at the top. Is it beveled? Is the word beveled? I don't think so. Well it's like a bubble. Yeah. It's a bit like a bit. So what they did they put a like a twister involved. Right. They turned the cans over before they hit the conveyor which eradicated that problem. It's a straight way. I mean what was the feeling at work at the time because everyone likes to stack their cans and you can't start. Well you do yeah I mean if they're in a in a pack you just put the pack that's true. You just stuck on the packs or things. Yeah because

47:15it's in the cardboard now isn't it? The cardboard. That's four on four or whatever. That was a problem and then they brought the the ring pull out as well. That that was a bit of a problem. Does that make stacking not impossible? You can stack some ring pull. I think I stack my tuna. That's true. Well you can stack them now because like I said the normally upside down going through the system and then the turn back again at the end because that's where they've got your production cord on the chop so you can actually tell that the actual minute the cut the can was filled. This is lovely. This is great. Qualifications. 32 years on the job. 32 years flipping. How hard was it to adjust your body clock when you came off 32 years doing? Well they really got into a body clock. What you did it for 32 years? Three, four years on the night shift and then you come off with a couple of days on normal hours. Yeah. And you go back again so you never really had a body clock. You've not got one I've been gone 15 years now. Yeah but you sound very well on it Brian. You learned doing well. Did you get a good stuff discount? We did at the beginning it was unbelievable at the beginning.

48:19A penny a can of baby food. That was back in 17 and that. Good Lord. When you left. And then there was a cry when they went up to true praise and it took 100% increase and it was ridiculous. What was it when you left? When I left I think there were about 10 trees. That's not bad. Is it? Did you get any benefits as a pensioner? As a high interventioner. Is there any special benefits for you? Well you get the option of going back to the shop when you go into the factory shop. There you go. That's one of my favourite answers in a long time. I very rarely get anyone quite as qualified as you Brian. Have a round. You want to count as plus my eyes, gems over the years. I can't be phenomenal. Billions. Billions literally billions. I'm glad there it is. I've almost certainly eaten a can that you would have handled. I'll be honest with you. After the first shift, my eyes closed when I got in bed and I could not get them. Can't believe you. I'll just go again and again and again. I'll do it all again. I'll be honest. I'll do it all again. Great

49:20camaraderie as well. On a production line. Great camaraderie I think. It was brilliant. It was a pleasure. Lovely stuff. Thank you Brian. You've ended off a really enjoyable show in absolutely cracking fashion. If you missed any of it, you can listen. Oh, hang on. Oh, no. I've got to pick a winner now. Oh, it's got to be Brian. It's got to be Brian, isn't it? It's got to Brian. If he wants it, if he doesn't want it, give it to someone else. If you missed any of today's show, you can listen back on our free global player app or the LBC app where you can also stay up to date with all the latest news videos and opinions. Ranger podcasts, James or Brian daily. Best bits from my show every day. LBC app free. App store. Now, Throbrick 4. Now, Chef Ogerty. This has been a global player, original production.