The pot washers
The little heard voices who wash the world's dishes.
Do you know who’s washing your dishes?
Emily Thomas talks to pot washers from around the world, about what they love and loathe about life at the sink.
A kitchen can’t survive without the pot washer, yet we rarely give them a second thought, lavishing all our attention instead on the chefs. But maybe we should. Being a pot washer, dishwasher or kitchen porter as it’s variably known, can be the first rung on the restaurant ladder, and many a great chef started out with a scourer in hand. But the job also attracts those who have very limited opportunities in life, and this means they may be more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
(Photo: Man scrubbing a kitchen sink. Credit: BBC/ Getty Images)
Last on
Clip
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A restaurant's unsung hero
Duration: 01:29
Broadcasts
- Thu 18 Apr 2019 02:32GMTBBC World Service Online, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa only
- Thu 18 Apr 2019 03:32GMTBBC World Service UK DAB/Freeview
- Thu 18 Apr 2019 04:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia, Americas and the Caribbean, South Asia & East Asia only
- Thu 18 Apr 2019 10:32GMTBBC World Service except West and Central Africa
- Thu 18 Apr 2019 17:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
- Thu 18 Apr 2019 21:32GMTBBC World Service except Europe and the Middle East
- Thu 18 Apr 2019 22:32GMTBBC World Service Europe and the Middle East
- Sun 21 Apr 2019 07:32GMTBBC World Service
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