I enjoy exploring quieter, unknown places: Ruth Goodman

The historian will present the show ‘Inside the Factory’, premiering on December 16, which highlights the skill involved in making food

The fifth season of ‘Inside the Factory’ on Sony BBC Earth takes one through the skill, scale and technology involved in making one’s favourite food. The show features MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace, who gets exclusive access to the largest factories in Europe and uncovers the astonishing processes that keep high-volume manufacturing on track, television presenter Cherry Healey investigates the science and innovation behind each product and historian Ruth Goodman reveals how it was invented and popularised. The Indian television premiere of the show is on December 16, 8 pm. In an interview with Metrolife Ruth, the presenter of the show, talks about how she got interested in food, museums and heritage attractions.

What is the best part about working in your field of interest?

Everything has a history, every tiny thing you do from the time you wake up to the moment you go to sleep. I find it fascinating to spend time researching and hunting out the reasons. I feel like a detective and a detective about people. It’s very much about trying to learn to understand people who live in these places at different times. How they think, how they approach problems, how they solve problems — it’s just fascinating and way better than a soap opera.

Where has your work taken you?

Mostly within Britain but sometimes I get to go somewhere else as well. We go to places that are often ignored, big palaces and the churches and the sort of posh settings. So we get to look at the places that many people don’t even know about. The quieter places, unknown places and to some places where ordinary people live but they can still be really interesting, exciting and different.

What have you discovered about yourself and your skills while working in this field?

I think the more you look around, the more you learn and the more you learn, the more you realise that there is even more out there to be learnt. It’s an ongoing process of discovery and even when you think that you’ve cracked something, somebody shows you something then you know there is always more to find out. The most exciting thing in life is to be learning and I am very lucky that I could learn so much about endless social history.

Do you think India is doing enough to preserve its heritage and museums?

I would love to see India doing even more to preserve its heritage. I think the past helps you move into the future. I would love to see India doing more because it has a such a rich, vibrant and exciting culture with so many different layers of understanding the meaning. There’s so much that is waiting to be explored.

Have you visited Bengaluru? There are heritage spaces that are being taken by modern structures? What do you think about this trend?

It’s always sad when something goes but it is also difficult if you just preserve structures that make no room for the modernity. Heritage structures certainly give us a sense of the past and take one through the history of the structure. Trying to find a balance between the old and the new is always difficult. Citizens need to understand and impress upon the powers that be to preserve structures that project the history of the city or state. There must be discussions, arguments and debates that help understand and strike a balance between the old and new.