BBC foodie Leyla Kazim has travelled the world in pursuit of the tastiest cuisine – but she’s come across a few eye-opening offerings too in her time. The MasterChef critic shared all in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, ahead of her debut on Coast to Coast Food Festival tonight.

While the life of a food critic might at first appear to be all about Michelin-starred restaurants, Leyla’s career has seen her investigate some far more gory cuisine, too – including one dish that was like “chewing a baby’s finger”.

The presenter told us: “In Greenland, a delicacy that they like to have in the pub is raw whale blubber!”

She continued: “It was actual cartilage and it feels like chewing through bone.

“I can only describe it as what it would feel like to chew through a baby’s finger, because it was the size and consistency of one.”

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Leyla was slightly perturbed by her experience, but wrote it off as normal, reasoning: “Every country has some sort of food culture.”

She added: “That’s the only thing they have with beer – we have crisps, they have whale blubber!”

Meanwhile, though Greenland might not have been her favourite food destination, she was very impressed by Japan.

“Their base standard is so high – even if you go to the corner shop, you can get really good food,” she reasoned.

Some of her other foodie experiences have included making wine – “not from grapes, but from aniseed”.

Born to a Mauritian mother and Turkish Cypriot father, she has been introduced to a diverse range from foods from early on in life.

This week, however, BBC viewers will be able to see her encounters a little closer to home as the presenter, who was born in Sidcup, Kent, gets to grips with the best of British cuisine.

The aim of the programme is to “champion home-grown produce and put the UK’s local food festivals on the map”.

Presenting duo Edith Bowman and Colin Murray will be teaming up with Countryfile’s Sean Fletcher for a show that collaborates with the country’s top foodies, including Leyla herself.

During the show, she aims to find out more about one food that has been sadly missed by consumers in recent weeks due to shortages – the tomato.

Leyla discovered that, even before the panic buying, tomato seeds are so valued that they are worth more than gold, with just 1000 seeds setting back the buyer by £1500.

She will be visiting a “tomato nursery” to find out exactly how they nurture their 16-metre high plants to produce 30 million tasty treats every year.

Meanwhile, although whale blubber might be the meal of choice over in Greenland, Leyla is opting to discover a more conventional snack close to home – crisps.

She will be visiting Splattenridden Farm in Cornwall to find a team pulling up a tonne of spuds every minute.

From cheese to mustard, and much more besides, the show is expected to be a veritable paradise for British foodies.

Coast to Coast Food Festival will debut tonight at 6:30pm on BBC Two and will also be available on iPlayer.

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