Dame Meera Syal is starry-eyed for our summery fish, fennel and saffron stew

The latest great Dame to join our party! Dame Meera Syal is an award-winning actress, comedian and writer, who sat down with us on the scorching-hot day of the solar eclipse. It’s a busy time for Meera ahead of the release of her life story, Vigilauntie: A Memoir - Innit?, and the opening of her new play, The Children. So, imagine our surprise when she arrived with home-baked goods in hand! What a legend. Meera is a firm believer in the power of food to get people talking and sharing stories, which is exactly what happens in our time with her around the Dish table. There are loving stories about her proud and supportive parents (including the secret to her mum’s saag paneer), and how Meera’s bakes bring new acting casts together. When discussing her rich and warm memoir (out on 3 September), we take a trip back to the groundbreaking work of Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42, where she played a grandmother to the man who’d become her husband: Sanjeev Bhaskar. It’s a feast of an episode, with a cooling mango & passion fruit frozen lassi to start, followed by a summery fish, fennel & saffron stew, a recipe by Eleanor Maidment. This is paired with a bottle of Altos de Torona Albariño by the Waitrose wine experts. We then have double dessert, including hug-worthy tahini, cherry and cardamom meringues and Meera’s own (and very yummy) lemon polenta cake. Don’t worry, we did get the recipe! You can watch full episodes of Dish on YouTube and on Spotify. All recipes from this podcast can be found at waitrose.com/dishrecipes The recipe for the summery fish, fennel & saffron stew was created for Waitrose by Eleanor Maidment. The recipe for the tahini, cherry and cardamom meringues was created for Waitrose by Benjamina Ebuehi. ' A transcript for this episode can be found at waitrose.com/dish If you want to get in touch with us about anything at all, contact [email protected] Dish from Waitrose is made by Cold Glass Productions 00:00 - Coming up on Dish 00:50 - Welcome! 01:20 - Nick Grimshaw is Dish Guy! 04:45 - Let’s speak about saffron 06:26 - Dame Meera Syal is here! 08:10 - A Lassi cheers! 08:45 - Life at the moment for Meera & superstitions 12:49 - Dame life! 15:37 - From baking to food growing up 18:23 - Meera’s food likes 22:40 - Meera’s food dislikes 24:11 - Stew is served! 27:47 - Wine pairing 28:11 - Meera’s new memoir ‘Vigilauntie’ 32:45 - The Kumars at No. 42 34:28 - Queen Elizabeth II approved! 36:18 - Goodness Gracious Me 38:39 - Time for dessert! 39:21 - Meringues are Meera approved! 39:47 - From meringue mishaps to chewy tips! 41:19 - Time for Meera’s lemon polenta cake 42:43 - Reminiscing on some of Meera’s milestones 46:16 - Fast food quiz 47:50 - End of the show question Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:08Nick Grimshaw?

  The heart of Mexico beats in every glass of Don Julio Tequila. 100% Blue Weber Agave, grown in Mexico. Your margarita deserves an award-winning tequila at Waitrose. Find out more at donjulio.com. Select a store subject to availability. Over 18 only, please drink responsibly.

• 0:30Speaker 01

  Ah, now this is living. Tuesday night chili con carne with Tilda Rice.

• 0:36Speaker 02

  Call that living. This is living. Chicken stir fry with Tilda firecracker rice.

• 0:41Speaker 01

  Okay, I see your stir fry and raise you. Tilda sticky rice poke bowl.

• 0:46Speaker 02

  Poke bowl, mate. Tilda coconut rice, lamb curry, poppadoms, chutney, the lot.

• 0:52Speaker 01

  Whoa, okay, now we're definitely living.

• 0:56Speaker 02

  Tilda, cook like you mean it, live like you mean it.

• 1:02Nick Grimshaw?

  Coming up on Dish with Dame Mira Syal.

• 1:05Speaker 03

  I mean, it was a bit weird that the man I would go on to marry was playing my grandson, but.

• 1:08Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, there is that. That's acting, isn't it?

• 1:12Speaker 03

  That's acting. You move swiftly from there.

• 1:14Nick Grimshaw?

  Is there anything you have to do or superstitions before a show?

• 1:18Speaker 03

  Apart from a really big poo.

• 1:19Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, big poo. But we heard that it was Queen Elizabeth's favourite show.

• 1:26Speaker 03

  And she was asked, what are you watching at the moment? What's your favourite programme? And she said, I rather like that Kumas at number 42. That old lady, she's so funny.

• 1:33Nick Grimshaw?

  I'm obsessed with that.

• 1:38Nick Grimshaw?

  Dish from Waitrose is a cold glass production. This podcast may contain some strong language and adult things.

• 1:51Nick Grimshaw?

  Welcome to Dish from Waitrose. I'm Nick Grimshaw.

• 1:55Angela Hartnett?

  And I'm Angela Hartnett.

• 1:56Nick Grimshaw?

  Hello, Angela Hartnett. Waving, I'm waving. Because you can watch it.

• 2:02Angela Hartnett?

  Hello.

• 2:03Nick Grimshaw?

  If you're watching, if you're listening, I'm waving. Hello. Do wave on the radio.

• 2:10Angela Hartnett?

  Do you?

• 2:10Nick Grimshaw?

  Good morning.

• 2:11Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, bless you, con socks.

• 2:13Nick Grimshaw?

  We do that on the phone as well.

• 2:14Angela Hartnett?

  Probably, yeah. Yeah, I give a wave.

• 2:16Nick Grimshaw?

  Bye. And how are you, Ange?

• 2:18Angela Hartnett?

  I'm very well, thanks. I'm good, and you?

• 2:20Nick Grimshaw?

  I am good, yeah.

• 2:21Angela Hartnett?

  Back from your holes?

• 2:22Nick Grimshaw?

  Yes, back from holidays.

• 2:23Angela Hartnett?

  Good times?

• 2:24Nick Grimshaw?

  Great time. Went to Los Angeles.

• 2:28Angela Hartnett?

  Los Angeles, lovely little place, isn't it? Never been.

• 2:32Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, yeah, it's okay. But listen, when I got there, we landed on like the Friday. We went out for dinner on the Friday night. And as we were leaving dinner, or the table next to us were leaving, actually, they were like, sorry, I just want to say, we love Dish. We love Ange.

• 2:53Nick Grimshaw?

  And I was like, oh, I forgot it's on here.

• 2:56Angela Hartnett?

  I forgot it's on here.

• 2:57Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, I never thought about that.

• 3:00Angela Hartnett?

  I know.

• 3:01Nick Grimshaw?

  And then we were like, that was weird. And they were like, we love Ange, we don't want to interrupt your dinner. And I was like, oh, okay, bye. So we had our, they were really nice. And we went to bed, woke up the next morning at like, genuinely, like half four.

• 3:16Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, of course.

• 3:17Nick Grimshaw?

  And then waited until like the supermarket opened at six, going for a juice. The lady that made the juice was like, oh my God, Dish guy. Where's Ange? And then all people came out like, hey, Dish guy. Where's Ange?

• 3:32Angela Hartnett?

  Do they expect us to travel together?

• 3:33Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, I think people think we're together as a couple, yeah.

• 3:37Angela Hartnett?

  At the hip.

• 3:37Nick Grimshaw?

  But yeah, I forgot Dish was on. Anyway, so much Dish chat.

• 3:41Angela Hartnett?

  Lovely.

• 3:41Nick Grimshaw?

  I went to this great thing at the Hollywood Bowl. It was like the music of Wes Anderson films. And queuing up to go in there and people were like, oh my God, Dish guy.

• 3:50Angela Hartnett?

  Dish guy, I love the way you're Dish guy.

• 3:52Nick Grimshaw?

  Hey, welcome back to Dish guy. Dish guy and chef Ange.

• 3:58Angela Hartnett?

  They would say chef Ange. You're also spotted, we have a little listener email.

• 4:03Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, yeah.

• 4:03Angela Hartnett?

  Hi, Nick and Angela.

• 4:04Nick Grimshaw?

  Yes.

• 4:05Angela Hartnett?

  We have just come back from an amazing family trip to California. And on the way home, we queued to check into our LA, London Heathrow flight behind Nick and Meera. I was desperate to say hi and let you know that I downloaded the latest episode to listen to on the flight, but decided to leave you at peace on your holiday instead. And so now we're home, I'm curious, was it chicken teriyaki or macaroni cheese for you? Love the pod, Sarah.

• 4:34Nick Grimshaw?

  Thank you, Sarah. Hi, Sarah. Well, neither, because I have to have the gluten-free option.

• 4:39Angela Hartnett?

  But is it not really neither because you were up in business?

• 4:42Nick Grimshaw?

  No, thank you.

• 4:46Nick Grimshaw?

  No, thank you, Angela.

• 4:47Angela Hartnett?

  So you were sitting in economy, were you?

• 4:49Nick Grimshaw?

  I did the middle.

• 4:52Nick Grimshaw?

  But yeah, no, I had like the gluten-free, whatever meal that was.

• 4:56Angela Hartnett?

  What about Meera, what did he have?

• 4:57Nick Grimshaw?

  I have no idea.

• 4:58Angela Hartnett?

  No idea.

• 4:59Nick Grimshaw?

  I'm not paying attention to that.

• 5:00Angela Hartnett?

  Okay, all right.

• 5:01Nick Grimshaw?

  No idea what he had.

• 5:02Angela Hartnett?

  Neil and I always have a little look.

• 5:03Nick Grimshaw?

  Do you?

• 5:04Angela Hartnett?

  What are you choosing?

• 5:05Nick Grimshaw?

  You can't remember what meal Neil had on your last flight together.

• 5:09Angela Hartnett?

  I bet you I can. I had the chicken salad thing. Actually, you're right, I have no idea what Neil had.

• 5:15Nick Grimshaw?

  I knew it.

• 5:16Angela Hartnett?

  I'm trying to think, I can absolutely, I was sitting next to him and playing cards, but I can't remember what he ate.

• 5:21Nick Grimshaw?

  And hey, today we have a great guest.

• 5:23Angela Hartnett?

  Very exciting.

• 5:23Nick Grimshaw?

  Dame Mira Syal is going to join us on Dish. She's written a memoir called Vigilante, a memoir in it, which, Ella, she's rehearsing right now for a new play. We've also got to talk to her about Goodness Gracious Me and the Kumas at number 42.

• 5:38Angela Hartnett?

  She's written more books. One of her books is on the national curriculum. Anita and me.

• 5:43Nick Grimshaw?

  Absolutely. So we've got a lot to talk to her about. Before we welcome Dame Mira Syal in, what are we going to talk about ingredient-wise?

• 5:50Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, so we have saffron.

• 5:53Nick Grimshaw?

  Ooh.

• 5:54Angela Hartnett?

  Ooh.

• 5:55Nick Grimshaw?

  Ooh.

• 5:56Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 5:56Nick Grimshaw?

  I know you've presented it on ice.

• 5:58Angela Hartnett?

  Ice cube, well, that, we're steeping it, you see.

• 6:00Nick Grimshaw?

  What do you mean?

• 6:01Angela Hartnett?

  So basically, when you get saffron, you need to basically dilute the flavour of the saffron, in a sense. So the best way to do it is to grind it, is you crush down these saffron flakes or shards, if you like. And that will give you more flavour, increase the sort of the surface area and unlocks all the aromas. You can either do that and then pour hot water onto it.

• 6:21Nick Grimshaw?

  Yes.

• 6:21Angela Hartnett?

  Or you can do it over ice cubes. And apparently, if you do it over ice, what it tends to do is lock the flavours into a more concentrated liquid, as opposed to when you do it with boiling water.

• 6:31Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, yeah. So what would I put saffron in? It's making me feel like the Spanish dishes.

• 6:36Angela Hartnett?

  You can put it in things like paella, you can put it in lots of fish stews, things like bouillabaisse, you can put it in risottos, it goes well with chicken, saffron rice, saffron chicken, lots of things. It's got quite an intense flavour, I find, and I think you know when saffron's in a dish.

• 6:53Nick Grimshaw?

  Yes.

• 6:53Angela Hartnett?

  But I think it can really balance with other things. You can put it in calories.

• 6:57Nick Grimshaw?

  And then, so how much would you use today when you're doing your stew?

• 7:00Angela Hartnett?

  Literally, I'm going to use a pinch.

• 7:02Nick Grimshaw?

  A tiny bit.

• 7:02Angela Hartnett?

  Nice pinch, so probably, you know.

• 7:04Nick Grimshaw?

  Half of that.

• 7:05Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, no, less, even a quarter, yeah. It's very, look, that, yeah, that's quite a lot.

• 7:10Nick Grimshaw?

  Wow, okay. I can't remember what I bought it for, but I definitely remember buying it.

• 7:15Angela Hartnett?

  We put it in the chicken for Nick Mohammed, we had saffron in there.

• 7:18Nick Grimshaw?

  Maybe that's what I bought it for.

• 7:19Angela Hartnett?

  To make that, yeah.

• 7:20Nick Grimshaw?

  Okay, well, let's welcome our guest. Time to welcome Dame Mira Syal to Dish.

• 7:28Nick Grimshaw?

  Hi, Mira, how are you? Nice to see you.

• 7:31Speaker 03

  So much pleasure.

• 7:32Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, my God, thank you for coming.

• 7:34Speaker 03

  Oh, two, now. I brought you some flowers.

• 7:37Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, my gosh, that's so incredible, they're beautiful.

• 7:40Speaker 03

  Well, you can't come to someone's house and be fed and not give them anything.

• 7:43Nick Grimshaw?

  That is so nice.

• 7:45Speaker 03

  And I've made some lemon polenta cake.

• 7:47Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, fabulous.

• 7:49Speaker 03

  So I chose polenta because I know you can't have flowers first.

• 7:52Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, my God, thank you so much. We're going to put that with our dessert.

• 7:55Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, you're going to have a dessert? Well, thank you, that's okay. Come on in and we'll get you, get you sat.

• 8:01Speaker 03

  Thank you very much.

• 8:03Nick Grimshaw?

  Thanks, Mira.

• 8:04Speaker 03

  Well, it was a very last minute thing because I'm in the middle of rehearsals at the moment.

• 8:08Nick Grimshaw?

  Don't you cook a lot when you're, or bake when you're learning lines and rehearsing?

• 8:13Speaker 03

  I do. It's a weird thing, I don't know. It's one of those things that if, sometimes when you're doing something else, something practical, it kind of goes in better, I don't know why.

• 8:25Nick Grimshaw?

  That could not be me.

• 8:29Nick Grimshaw?

  Shall we welcome our guest, Angela?

• 8:31Angela Hartnett?

  We shall indeed.

• 8:32Nick Grimshaw?

  Are you ready for a serious guest today? A dame, another dame on the show. And we have had some, some great dames. We've had Barry, Lumley, Leaf. I don't think you can surname a dame.

• 8:46Angela Hartnett?

  No.

• 8:46Nick Grimshaw?

  I think you've got to give the full name, please. Another legendary dame, please. Mira Syal is here, everybody.

• 8:54Nick Grimshaw?

  Dame Mira, hello.

• 8:57Speaker 03

  Hello, welcome.

• 8:58Nick Grimshaw?

  Welcome to Dish.

• 8:59Speaker 03

  Thank you, I am thrilled to be here. Oh, my goodness. I love your podcast, I love food, I love being cooked for, it's such a treat.

• 9:07Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, well, thank you for coming. We were dead excited you were coming to see us. We're starting with this, which I feel like we should have now because it's frozen. And it's when we're recording, this is like 35 degrees. So we're having a frozen mango and passion fruit lassi. It's a Ravinda Bhogle recipe and it is Greek yogurt, mango, some passion fruit and lime. That's good.

• 9:29Angela Hartnett?

  And Ravinda, I know, is passionate about mangoes. She loves mangoes.

• 9:34Speaker 03

  I love Ravinda and I love Jaconis, she's a genius, so I'm not surprised it's her recipe. Thank you.

• 9:40Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, yeah, that's good.

• 9:43Angela Hartnett?

  That's delicious. Really good.

• 9:45Speaker 03

  Delicious.

• 9:46Nick Grimshaw?

  How are you? How is life for you at the moment?

• 9:47Speaker 03

  Busy.

• 9:48Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah?

• 9:49Speaker 03

  Busy, yeah, I'm in the middle of rehearsing a fantastic play called The Children.

• 9:55Nick Grimshaw?

  Yes.

• 9:56Speaker 03

  With a lyric, Hammer Smith, which opens the same day that my memoir comes out, so.

• 10:00Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, wow.

• 10:01Speaker 03

  Yeah, I know.

• 10:01Nick Grimshaw?

  Great timing.

• 10:02Angela Hartnett?

  It's a busy day for you.

• 10:04Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, busy day. And how did you enjoy this bit before, like the learning of the lines and getting your character ready, all of that bit? And you're apprehensive now because it's still a bit of, you know, a few weeks away.

• 10:15Speaker 03

  Yes, we're still in the honeymoon phase. And then about a week before we get into the theatre, we'll be in the, can't do it anymore stage. And then when we're in tech, it is, I can't even act anyway, why am I doing this? I should have been a doctor.

• 10:36Speaker 03

  And then you get on there and the magic starts. Or not, but still, it's that thing, it's that thing, that relationship with the audience. I mean, you don't get that with anything else. And it is addictive and magical when it works. So you just have to go through the, you know, this wiki bum bit.

• 10:57Nick Grimshaw?

  The bit before, yeah. And then, once it starts, do you have that every day? Are you waking up some days being like, oh, my God, I've got the theatre tonight? Or is it, once it starts, you enjoy it?

• 11:08Speaker 03

  Yeah, you don't think you get into a routine. You know, you become very close to the cast. It's like your substitute family. You get your routines, your rituals. You know, actors are very superstitious, so you've all got our little things.

• 11:19Nick Grimshaw?

  What do you have? Is there anything you have to do or superstitions before a show?

• 11:23Speaker 03

  Apart from a really big poo.

• 11:24Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, big poo.

• 11:27Nick Grimshaw?

  It's, it helps.

• 11:28Speaker 03

  Always has, always has, darling. You don't want to go on full.

• 11:34Speaker 03

  I always make, it's just a thing I do, but I always make a playlist for my characters. Because I think music is the quickest way into someone's soul. And if you know the music they listen to, you kind of know who they are. So I play that in the dressing room. And then I have a little meditation-y thing before I go on, which is mainly calming. It's breathing and calming because it's so easy to let the adrenaline just, you know.

• 11:57Nick Grimshaw?

  Got to manage it.

• 11:58Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, but that must keep you going throughout the whole season, the adrenaline and reacting to the audience. As you say, if everyone's a different night, isn't it?

• 12:05Speaker 03

  Yes, but I did read something really interesting and I kind of realised why, you know, a lot of creatives are a bit mad and actors are even more bonkers sometimes. Is that the body doesn't know the difference between an imagined emotion and a real one.

• 12:18Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 12:19Speaker 03

  So when you're doing Hamlet for three and a half hours every night, your body thinks your dad really did die and you're gonna, and you're gonna go around and kill people and then you'll be killed.

• 12:29Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 12:30Speaker 03

  So it.

• 12:31Nick Grimshaw?

  No wonder they're a bit out there.

• 12:34Speaker 03

  It's a lot to put on the body.

• 12:35Nick Grimshaw?

  Daily fear, like, they don't know it's like, I don't know, I've got to interview someone famous. They think it's like you're being chased by wolves. Like, that fear, they don't, he doesn't know, yeah. Like, that is the same. Do you get that, Ange, before you've got something big coming up? Do you ever wake up and be like, oh, I can't do this?

• 12:53Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, every time I go on the podcast, no.

• 12:57Angela Hartnett?

  No, but, I mean, of course you do. I get nervous, I think. And I, I know when I, I know my level, if you like. I know what I'm really good at in food and I know what I need to work at. So you make sure you know what you don't know. Does that make sense?

• 13:10Speaker 03

  Yeah, but the great thing is you never stop learning.

• 13:12Angela Hartnett?

  No, that's the best thing, isn't it? I agree, yeah.

• 13:15Nick Grimshaw?

  That is key.

• 13:16Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, I think the moment you sit there and think, I know it all. Which always amazes me when I go out with friends and go, what's good on the menu? What's that? I said, I do not know everything about food. Can we just establish that, you know?

• 13:26Nick Grimshaw?

  What?

• 13:27Angela Hartnett?

  Yes, why not?

• 13:29Speaker 03

  Can I just say that is, I absolutely expect a female chef to say that. I don't think many male chefs think that way. They do think they know it all.

• 13:38Angela Hartnett?

  I think you're probably right there.

• 13:39Speaker 03

  They think they can do it all with a blowtorch and a bit of fire in their hands.

• 13:42Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 13:43Speaker 03

  Do you know what I mean?

• 13:44Angela Hartnett?

  Blowtorch themselves.

• 13:49Nick Grimshaw?

  Now, we should talk about the dame element. Like, when do you like to be addressed as a dame? Do you like to be addressed as Dame Mira? When is it coming handy?

• 14:01Speaker 03

  When's it coming handy? Well, I can drive my sheep over Westminster Bridge.

• 14:05Nick Grimshaw?

  Well, that's very handy.

• 14:06Speaker 03

  Which is really handy.

• 14:08Nick Grimshaw?

  You're always doing that.

• 14:08Speaker 03

  Always.

• 14:09Nick Grimshaw?

  I think sheep, I think Mira.

• 14:11Speaker 03

  I mean, I haven't, I don't really use it. And it's all still a bit of a, ooh, when people do use it. And inevitably, I think of pantomime dame because I feel like that's my level, really. But I suppose it's very symbolic. It's very symbolic because, I mean, I write about this in the memoir. So the year I was offered my, my first award, which was an MBE. And that was the same year that I'd taken my dad back to the home that he fled in Pakistan in 1947 with the partition of India. So my dad was a refugee. He ended up in a refugee camp at the age of 13 with his seven brothers and sisters and they lost everything. And it's, you know, I think 2 million people died. That's only the ones they recorded.

• 14:56Speaker 03

  Biggest mass migration in human history so far in the 20th century. And I'd had a visceral experience of what empire had done.

• 15:04Angela Hartnett?

  Of course.

• 15:05Speaker 03

  To my family and how it affected my dad and the whole intergenerational trauma thing that comes down to. And then, you know, a few months later, I was offered a member of the British Empire. And it does make you go, whoa, oh, this is a bit of a mind what you want to do about this. And it was my parents' reaction that completely changed my mind because they were absolutely overwhelmed by how in one generation, a refugee from empire could have a daughter who got acknowledged by the same system. And my dad had a memory of when he was a kid, standing at the bars of this beautiful big house, watching the Memsabs dance, walked around the lawn into an area. They weren't allowed in as Indians.

• 15:48Speaker 03

  And we visited that same building and we went back and it's now a, the public library.

• 15:53Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 15:54Speaker 03

  And belongs to the people. And he went, well, who would have thought that?

• 15:58Angela Hartnett?

  Did they come to the palace with you?

• 16:00Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 16:00Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, amazing.

• 16:01Speaker 03

  Yeah, it was. And actually, so it was for them. It was like, this bit of the empire is for you.

• 16:06Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 16:07Speaker 03

  And for your journey and all the sacrifices you made so I could fly, you know?

• 16:12Nick Grimshaw?

  Incredible that you had that and they were there to, you know, witness it and be there and go along with you.

• 16:17Speaker 03

  I know.

• 16:18Nick Grimshaw?

  It really is.

• 16:18Speaker 03

  Although it was somewhat mitigated by the fact that my mum referred to it as the MEB,

• 16:25Speaker 03

  which is everyone from my part of the world knows is the Midlands Electricity Board.

• 16:33Nick Grimshaw?

  I love mums, I think about that.

• 16:34Angela Hartnett?

  I love it, I love it.

• 16:35Speaker 03

  So fabulous, thanks, mum.

• 16:37Nick Grimshaw?

  Now, one thing that you do have in common with our fellow dames that have been guests, Prue Leith and Mary Berry, is baking. You've come today with baked goods, which I can't wait to try. Ready for that a little later on.

• 16:49Speaker 03

  So nervous.

• 16:50Nick Grimshaw?

  No, it's gonna be good, it's gonna be good. But you do like to bake when you are on projects, for you to get in your mindset and to learn lines, but also for the, for the crew and cast and stuff, yeah?

• 17:00Speaker 03

  Yeah, I do. I'm one of those people that, you know, bring in, it's a kind of real bonding thing. What food is, isn't it? I think that's one of the quickest ways to break down barriers is just like, I made you something and something sweet.

• 17:12Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 17:12Speaker 03

  I was always fascinated by baking because coming from a Punjabi family, we don't bake.

• 17:17Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 17:17Speaker 03

  There's no concept of an oven and baking in our cuisine. So I swear to God, I thought, and I think my mum thought, that the oven in our little cooker was to store pans.

• 17:30Nick Grimshaw?

  Love that.

• 17:31Speaker 03

  Because that's all I ever saw it used for. It's like when someone told me, no, you cook things, it blew my mind. I know. And I grew up in a little mining village in the black country. And so much of my upbringing revolved around food. I mean, food is so central to my whole experience as a sort of kid. We had fresh Indian food every night that my mum cooked and she held down a full-time job. And then our weekends were full of aunties and uncles coming with, you know, a dish each. So no one had, it was called Kitty Party, I used to call it. And so no one had the pressure of making a whole meal. It was just like, the point is, let's get together.

• 18:07Nick Grimshaw?

  Get together and let's eat.

• 18:08Speaker 03

  And it was the pans on the table, no frill, no fuss, get the plates out. We pop a bit of kitchen towel, everybody helped themselves, you know?

• 18:16Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 18:16Speaker 03

  And I just, you know, the memory of that communal experience and the friendship and the family. And I thought, this is what food is for. And I think more importantly for us, and particularly for my parents, food was a way of keeping the motherland alive. Because they were so homesick and it was really hard to get the ingredients. I mean, my, my, they used to have to drive miles to find pepper. This was the 60s in Britain. Can you imagine? You know, trying to find garlic was like trying to score crack.

• 18:46Angela Hartnett?

  Do you know someone who's got some?

• 18:49Speaker 03

  It was madness, but it meant that much to them. And so, and when they ate that food, they were eating.

• 18:56Angela Hartnett?

  They were eating home in a way.

• 18:57Speaker 03

  It was memory, it's memory and right and history. And my mum used to make this for me and.

• 19:03Angela Hartnett?

  Have you got all your mum's recipes?

• 19:05Speaker 03

  I do.

• 19:06Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, that's amazing.

• 19:07Speaker 03

  We made her, I haven't got my mum anymore sadly, but we, we, this was, you know, during Covid, got to write down all of our favourites. Even, but, you know, Indian mum, it's like a pinch of or a handful.

• 19:18Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, yeah, yeah.

• 19:19Speaker 03

  Or a bit of that. It's like, how much, mum, how much? Just tell me.

• 19:24Nick Grimshaw?

  We always ask our guests to give us their food likes and dislikes. Mira, let's go through yours. One thing I'd love to start talking about is bread. You said it's the one carb that you truly love.

• 19:36Speaker 03

  I do.

• 19:36Nick Grimshaw?

  It's bread.

• 19:37Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 19:37Nick Grimshaw?

  And I loved as well that you sort of used tea and toast as a sort of valium, essentially.

• 19:43Speaker 03

  Yeah. You know me so well.

• 19:47Nick Grimshaw?

  I think I'm paraphrasing, but it would take the edge off or to ground you.

• 19:50Speaker 03

  Yeah, that is so true. That is my meal of choice, meal. But to me, it's a meal.

• 19:56Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 19:56Speaker 03

  When I come back from doing the show or in rehearsals, it's just like the thing that is just gonna make me feel better is brilliantly, you know, lightly toasted bread, really good butter and a strong cup of tea.

• 20:08Nick Grimshaw?

  It's very like you're at home, that is.

• 20:09Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 20:10Nick Grimshaw?

  Very nice. Yeah, I feel like when you're talking about that, I'm imagining like a little bit of a blanket, it's raining outside.

• 20:15Speaker 03

  Sitting in front of the fire.

• 20:16Nick Grimshaw?

  We're alone.

• 20:19Speaker 03

  No one's at home.

• 20:19Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, that is nice, yes. And we also found out that you could not live without cheese in most forms.

• 20:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, I love cheese.

• 20:27Nick Grimshaw?

  Love cheese.

• 20:28Speaker 03

  I love, especially strong cheese.

• 20:29Nick Grimshaw?

  Strong cheese. Do you have like a favorite, a go to?

• 20:32Speaker 03

  Parmesan.

• 20:32Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 20:32Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, right.

• 20:33Speaker 03

  A really, really, you don't need much else if you've got a really good Parmesan. You just need a good bread, some olive oil and some really good tomato.

• 20:40Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 20:41Speaker 03

  I mean, what else do you need?

• 20:42Nick Grimshaw?

  What else do you need? And we also have here things that you love, tomatoes, olive oil, seafood, savory crunchy flavors. You put garlic and cumin in anything.

• 20:52Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 20:52Nick Grimshaw?

  I think that's correct.

• 20:53Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 20:54Nick Grimshaw?

  And you also love curry leaves in anything.

• 20:56Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 20:57Nick Grimshaw?

  And huge fan of Indian food, particularly street food, although now I have to stay away from deep fried stuff.

• 21:02Speaker 03

  I know.

• 21:03Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 21:03Speaker 03

  Can't eat that anymore.

• 21:04Nick Grimshaw?

  Um, but also cha is a favorite and pretty healthy.

• 21:09Speaker 03

  It is actually, yeah.

• 21:10Nick Grimshaw?

  Is that like the puffed rice situation?

• 21:12Speaker 03

  Yes, but I make it at home, but I get chickpeas and boiled potatoes, chopped masala, pomegranate seed.

• 21:19Angela Hartnett?

  Yes.

• 21:20Speaker 03

  Lots of coriander on the end.

• 21:22Nick Grimshaw?

  The likes continue into Punjabi flavors, ginger, turmeric, cumin, grammasala, dishes like sag paneer and stuffed paratha. You make a sag paneer, right?

• 21:32Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 21:32Speaker 03

  I do.

• 21:33Nick Grimshaw?

  Was that your mom's recipe?

• 21:34Speaker 03

  Yes, it was my mom's recipe.

• 21:36Nick Grimshaw?

  Can we share? We don't need the, the measurements. But what do you think makes it so good?

• 21:40Speaker 03

  Well, she lightly fries the paneer first.

• 21:43Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, so it has a light, a little crust to it slightly.

• 21:46Speaker 03

  Exactly, yes. We don't like squidgy paneer.

• 21:49Angela Hartnett?

  Okay.

• 21:49Speaker 03

  So she lightly, she used to lightly fry it in oil, cumin seeds, garlic or mustard seed, it's one or the other. Depends if you wanna crunch or not. Then she'd make the masala, the dhabda. And then she'd add chopped fresh spinach.

• 22:02Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, yeah, that makes a difference.

• 22:04Speaker 03

  And so it's almost like a stir fry if you, and so it's, it's very light and fresh, it's not like heavy.

• 22:09Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 22:10Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 22:10Nick Grimshaw?

  I love sag paneer.

• 22:11Speaker 03

  Yeah, me too.

• 22:12Nick Grimshaw?

  Maybe we need that one day on Dish, yeah.

• 22:14Angela Hartnett?

  Excuse me about that.

• 22:15Nick Grimshaw?

  Your great list continues. Also love tapas.

• 22:18Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 22:19Nick Grimshaw?

  You like to do that, you prefer to graze.

• 22:21Speaker 03

  I do, I love loads of different little dishes and flavors that you can pick and choose. I'm not very good on the full blown three course, you know, heavy thing. I hate over rich, over fussy food.

• 22:32Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, I'm with you on that, yeah. Sashimi and capaccia you love.

• 22:36Speaker 03

  I do.

• 22:37Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, has that been something you've always enjoyed?

• 22:39Speaker 03

  No, I didn't eat prawn till I was 18.

• 22:41Nick Grimshaw?

  Uh huh. And now you like all the raw stuff.

• 22:44Speaker 03

  You'd have told me when I was, you know, under 18, that I would like raw fish, I'd go bog booger off, never gonna eat that. And I love it.

• 22:52Nick Grimshaw?

  Love it, yeah. And on the sweet side, we have here a fondness for cardamom and rose flavors.

• 22:57Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 22:58Nick Grimshaw?

  And desserts and drinks.

• 22:59Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 23:00Nick Grimshaw?

  And then also, as you will see on our menu today, your favorite dish is marrakech.

• 23:03Speaker 03

  But yeah, it's gotta be chewy.

• 23:05Nick Grimshaw?

  Chewy.

• 23:05Speaker 03

  It's got to be that magical thing that I can never get right, because I have tried, which is that it's crisp on the outside, but it's really got texture. And you feel like you're eating a very chewy cloud.

• 23:16Nick Grimshaw?

  Yes, yeah. But when I got in, you'll be pleased to hear, I heard, I thought it was drilling, where it was Ange making marrakesh.

• 23:25Nick Grimshaw?

  So they've been, they've been whipped, so it's gonna be chewy.

• 23:28Angela Hartnett?

  I hope so.

• 23:29Nick Grimshaw?

  Gonna be chewy.

• 23:30Speaker 03

  I am so excited, I'm so excited.

• 23:32Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 23:33Angela Hartnett?

  Otherwise you have to be nice and go, oh yeah, it's really chewy.

• 23:36Nick Grimshaw?

  We'll be like, how chewy is this? Um, the dislikes list was, was just as good. You said anything with skin on?

• 23:45Speaker 03

  I can't bear it.

• 23:45Nick Grimshaw?

  Anything with a skin on?

• 23:46Speaker 03

  The fact it's called skin is bad, isn't it?

• 23:49Nick Grimshaw?

  So like.

• 23:50Speaker 03

  You might as well say scab, anything with a scab on, I wouldn't eat.

• 23:53Nick Grimshaw?

  You want to, so like, sort of like, what, a vegetable with a skin on, like an aubergine?

• 23:57Speaker 03

  No, I mean, the skin on.

• 23:59Angela Hartnett?

  Like milk and custard and stuff like that.

• 24:01Nick Grimshaw?

  Right, okay, right, yes.

• 24:03Speaker 03

  I can't, even the, no.

• 24:04Nick Grimshaw?

  It's skin free a dish today.

• 24:06Speaker 03

  Yeah, good, good.

• 24:07Nick Grimshaw?

  You said anything vaguely awful like?

• 24:10Speaker 03

  Yes, even the, I mean, I don't eat meat, I'm a pescatarian, but yes, when I've, I've unfortunately once saw some tripe and I've never forgotten it. I've never forgotten the look of it.

• 24:21Nick Grimshaw?

  Your email of likes and dislikes finished with a really beautiful paragraph that reads, I don't really like heavy, over rich foods, all the fuss that goes around fine dining. I think the best cooks are usually women, correct? Yet most of the fated top chefs are men. I love the harrowing cooks, all those mothers who rustle up miracles with limited ingredients and time are my inspirations.

• 24:44Speaker 03

  That is very true. I'm glad you read that out.

• 24:46Nick Grimshaw?

  Love that bit.

• 24:47Speaker 03

  I wanna be cooked by, by those women that are, like you said, the heroine chefs that just, thank you, oh god, how beautiful.

• 24:54Nick Grimshaw?

  Absolutely.

• 24:54Speaker 03

  But look at, like, I've got six ingredients in my pantry and I've got four kids to feed, what am I gonna do?

• 24:59Nick Grimshaw?

  What are we gonna do?

• 25:00Speaker 03

  I mean, that's cooking to me, that's creativity.

• 25:02Nick Grimshaw?

  Absolutely, absolutely.

• 25:04Speaker 03

  This looks amazing.

• 25:05Nick Grimshaw?

  This is very for me, I feel.

• 25:07Speaker 03

  And it smells amazing.

• 25:13Nick Grimshaw?

  The food has arrived.

• 25:14Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 25:15Nick Grimshaw?

  That looks so good, Angela.

• 25:17Angela Hartnett?

  Thank you.

• 25:17Speaker 03

  It really does.

• 25:18Nick Grimshaw?

  So what have we got here?

• 25:19Angela Hartnett?

  So we have a summary fish stew, fennel and saffron stew, and it's a recipe by Eleanor Maidment. And your base is garlic, fennel and shallot, so you finely chop all of those in olive oil. Sweat that down for about 10 minutes. You can have a little bit of color, a little bit of caramelization. Then you add your fennel seeds, your chopped tomatoes, cook those out for a couple of minutes, then add your white wine and allow that to reduce right down. So let it evaporate totally off. And then add your chicken stock or fish stock. And then you add a little bit of saffron. So basically you ground your saffron in the petal water and then you add that in.

• 26:00Angela Hartnett?

  And then you allow that to sort of cook for a few more minutes, then add your cod and cook all your cod in that beautiful broth, you see.

• 26:06Speaker 03

  Oh, it's just, it's divine. And you can taste every single layer of flavor.

• 26:12Angela Hartnett?

  And then you can serve it with crusty bread, a little bit of garlic aioli, which I didn't make, but it's available at Waitrose, lovely.

• 26:18Speaker 03

  Absolutely, I'm going in. And the bread's warm.

• 26:22Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh my god, this is so, this is delicious. I love this sort of thing.

• 26:26Angela Hartnett?

  But it's, it's really, but it's exactly what you were saying, describing, it's, it's not lots of ingredients, but it's ingredients that all work together. You don't mess around with them, it's very quick to do.

• 26:35Nick Grimshaw?

  I love this, Angela.

• 26:36Angela Hartnett?

  You love this, love it.

• 26:37Speaker 03

  I love it.

• 26:37Angela Hartnett?

  Bless you.

• 26:38Speaker 03

  I love it.

• 26:39Nick Grimshaw?

  It's so delicious, so tasty.

• 26:41Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 26:41Nick Grimshaw?

  And so light and easy. Mmm, we're like, so easy.

• 26:45Speaker 03

  I mean, yeah. I'm not, I'm not gonna be polite.

• 26:49Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 26:50Nick Grimshaw?

  No, I'm wanting to eat this.

• 26:51Speaker 03

  I could not fancy anyone who didn't like food.

• 26:54Nick Grimshaw?

  No.

• 26:54Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah. Well, you'd have a problem.

• 26:57Nick Grimshaw?

  No, I think you would, yeah. All that indifferent, like, mm.

• 27:01Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 27:02Speaker 03

  No.

• 27:02Nick Grimshaw?

  No.

• 27:03Speaker 03

  Even the way that somebody eats food, you know, it's like, oh, I can tell how sensual you are by.

• 27:07Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 27:11Nick Grimshaw?

  Wow, that is good. And saffron, what, I've never really cooked with saffron. I feel like I have once, because I've bought it, but it goes, works really well with like fish dishes, doesn't it?

• 27:20Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, it does, yeah. And you can have it with meat dishes, like the classic one in Italy is the Milanese, you know, you do this lovely saffron risotto. But it's quite a distinct flavor, you, you need to have it balanced with the dish, because otherwise I think it'd be too overpowering. But you just need a little pinch.

• 27:34Speaker 03

  I use it in biryani, scudan biryani.

• 27:37Angela Hartnett?

  That would, yeah, that would be brilliant in that.

• 27:39Nick Grimshaw?

  And then how long are we doing the cod in, in the stock?

• 27:42Angela Hartnett?

  Between about, depending on the thickness of the cod, five to seven minutes, not much longer.

• 27:46Speaker 03

  I always overcook my fish and it comes out rubbery and very disappointing.

• 27:50Angela Hartnett?

  Also, remember, fish carries on cooking like a meat does. You know, you, you know, when everyone's saying you're resting your meat, because you're allowing all the juices to rest.

• 27:57Speaker 03

  I did not know that.

• 27:57Angela Hartnett?

  The fish, because it's still got the heat, it's retaining the heat and it's in a broth.

• 28:01Speaker 03

  Oh, god.

• 28:02Angela Hartnett?

  So it will carry on cooking for another sort of 30 seconds or something. So whenever we cook fish in a pan, we always just put a spoon of the cooking oil over it.

• 28:09Nick Grimshaw?

  And then that.

• 28:10Angela Hartnett?

  And then that carries it on cooking for the next sort of 30 seconds, you know.

• 28:14Speaker 03

  That is an excellent tip.

• 28:15Nick Grimshaw?

  And then would you only do cod with this, Ange? Could you do this with anything else with that?

• 28:18Angela Hartnett?

  I think you need a meaty fish, you could do it with prawns, but I don't think it'd be good, I think a meaty fish, like monkfish, I think something chunky. John Dory would be really good with it. You know, that's a good, you know, a nice thick piece. And you could add a little bit of more seasoning, like a bit of chili into it and really spice it up, I think that would work for it as well.

• 28:34Speaker 03

  That would be nice, yeah, that would be very nice.

• 28:36Nick Grimshaw?

  If you wanna try this dish at home, all the ingredients are available in your local Waitrose, of course. Or you can get them online, you can get the recipe online, waitrose.com/dishrecipes. There's a wine pairing as well, Ange.

• 28:49Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 28:49Nick Grimshaw?

  What is the wine pairing to go with our fish stew?

• 28:52Angela Hartnett?

  We have a lovely Albarina, it's a Spanish wine, which is a great pairing, because it has all those aniseed floral notes, which work well with the fennel and the saffron that we have in this fish stew. And it cuts through the richness of it. Would you like wine?

• 29:04Nick Grimshaw?

  No.

• 29:04Angela Hartnett?

  No?

• 29:05Speaker 03

  Too early for me.

• 29:05Nick Grimshaw?

  No, too early.

• 29:06Speaker 03

  I'm off, I'm off to see the eclipse after, it might just push me over the edge if I, uh.

• 29:13Nick Grimshaw?

  I'd love to talk to you about your memoir.

• 29:15Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 29:16Nick Grimshaw?

  Vigilante.

• 29:17Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 29:17Nick Grimshaw?

  And memoir in it. And it's gonna be out next week. We can't recommend it enough. And I love that the spelling is key to what this book is about. It's not vigilante in your... If you're listening to this, you'll have no idea what we're on about. If you're watching this, you will see. Tell us all about the idea, the concept of the title, Vigilante.

• 29:38Speaker 03

  Vigilante or vigilante, if you wanted to give them all of a clue. Which my daughter came up with that title, which I thought was genius. I suppose the aunties have been a very central part of my life.

• 29:51Speaker 03

  When I was a little kid, growing up, you know, first generation immigrants born here. The aunties were a huge presence and they were like... Well, we used to call them the Illumin aunties, which gives you an idea of their, you know, their power. And you would be policed, watched slash loved by this big group of matriarchs who... And you mentioned your aunties. This is not uncommon. A lot of people grew up like that. But there's this whole bunch of women and they're all entitled to tell you off, cuff you when you're naughty, wipe your nose and tell you how to live your life.

• 30:25Speaker 03

  I've had them. And they scared me a bit when I was younger because a lot of their edicts were meant to shut little girls down and frighten little girls. So the title of the first chapter is, "Don't sit with your legs apart", because that was said to me all the time when I was a kid. Because I was a tomboy. But, you know, don't laugh too loudly, don't show off, don't look at boys, don't do that. That's not respectable. I mean, the whole thing about girls carrying the family honour. And I'm talking about some of them, not all of them are like that. And I used to... They used to frighten me. And what also frightened me is the lack of potential, the unfulfilled potential that I saw in them.

• 31:06Speaker 03

  So you see these vibrant, amazing women that were really strong, who were leading really little lives, had horrible husbands or doing shit jobs they didn't want to do or were just overwhelmed by being in the country. And had so many missed opportunities. And I think a lot of women of that generation did. So I'd look at them and I'd go, "I love you, but I don't want to be you. I don't want to wake up at 50 and feel like my whole life's gone because I didn't break out or I didn't say what I felt or I didn't follow that silly little dream." So in a way, they spurred me on. But then, of course, I became an auntie. And then you have to reassess what that label means. And that's when I began to realise how strong they were,

• 31:50Speaker 03

  how a lot of the things they said, you know, were from love and fear. And that they were actually just trying to look out for me. And now I think you can be any kind of damn auntie you want to be. It's about you defining what womanhood means to you, keeping the best of your culture and getting rid of the patriarchal misogynistic rubbish that has nothing to do with culture. And that's the process I had to go through. And that's sort of the spine of the book.

• 32:16Angela Hartnett?

  And it's also the closeness then of the aunties, isn't it, I think? Because that's, you know, and I think again, it is, as you say, it's that generation. Because I think my mother and her sisters, and then my grandmother and her, they would all talk to me as if I was their daughter or I was their granddaughter. You know, they'd have no qualms about saying exactly those things. I remember, "Oh, it's my aunt, you're gonna get rheumatism." I'm going, "Brilliant, what's that about? What have I done there? Your hair's wet, you know, why don't you put clothes on? You're gonna catch a death." You know, and they'd always be saying stuff. And you'll think, "You're not my mum, but you had to take it anyway. It didn't matter what they said to you." It really resonated with me, a lot of what... And also, I loved the airmail when you talked about that. That brought a tear to my eye when you talked about how your mum would receive a letter and if the corner was off, it was sad news.

• 33:00Angela Hartnett?

  I just thought that was so... Because my mum's always written and I remember the airmails. But I think if I said to a kid in my restaurant now, "What's airmail?", they wouldn't know what it is.

• 33:10Speaker 03

  They'd have no idea.

• 33:11Angela Hartnett?

  It is, no.

• 33:11Speaker 03

  Can you imagine, they were so lonely, you know, it was 1960, 61. We don't think about it now. We just pick up the phone and we can talk to anyone, anywhere. They didn't have a phone. And even if they had one, they couldn't afford an international call. So the airmail letters were the only thing you had. And of course, if there was some terrible news, somebody you loved died, you wouldn't know about it for two weeks.

• 33:32Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 33:32Speaker 03

  But you get the letter and it was a little sign that they'd tear the corner. So you knew before opening it, you were gonna read something really sad so you could brace yourself. And I found that so moving. Yeah, I'm glad that resonated with you.

• 33:45Nick Grimshaw?

  We should talk about some of the things that people will have fallen in love with you, Elva. We need to talk about Goodness Gracious Me, talk about the Kumars as well. In Meet the Kumars, at number 42, you played a grandma. But you were age of 40 when you played a grandma in that show.

• 34:00Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 34:01Nick Grimshaw?

  That was ridiculous.

• 34:02Speaker 03

  I know, I know, but it was such a good part. I couldn't say no to it. I need less makeup now, obviously, a lot less.

• 34:10Nick Grimshaw?

  As if.

• 34:11Speaker 03

  And it was true. Well, I got cast, basically, in a nutshell, because the character needed a lot of improvisational skills. And they did audition much older women, you know, age appropriate women of that age. And they just weren't... They couldn't do the improv, probably not in the training they had at that time. And once I'd seen the parts, and I thought, "This is the best part. This sort of hand grenade of a granny in the middle of this Indian family, who is the exact opposite of what people think old women should be. Provocative, mischievous, flirty, you know, internet savvy. Gets away with flirting with every male guest because you can, because you're a granny. And I've been mad to turn this down."

• 34:55Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 34:56Speaker 03

  I mean, it was a bit weird that the man I would go on to marry was playing my grandson, but...

• 34:59Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, there is that.

• 35:02Nick Grimshaw?

  That's acting, isn't it?

• 35:03Speaker 03

  That's acting. You're in a role.

• 35:05Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, we'll move on from that. Yeah, but I mean, some incredible guests on that, some great guests that we've had on Dish as well. Gordon Ramsay, Graham Norton, Mel B, Helena Bonham Carter. The Dish of Dish, Martin Kemp.

• 35:17Angela Hartnett?

  Martin Kemp, love Martin Kemp.

• 35:19Nick Grimshaw?

  The Dish of Dish, yeah, we were lost in the eyes of Martin Kemp and stuff.

• 35:24Speaker 03

  And Donny Osmond, my crush.

• 35:26Nick Grimshaw?

  Donny Osmond, Donny Osmond. But we heard that it was Queen Elizabeth's favourite show.

• 35:33Speaker 03

  Apparently.

• 35:34Nick Grimshaw?

  Really? I'm obsessed with it.

• 35:36Speaker 03

  I know, this wasn't said to me, but it was said to Sanjeev. I wonder if we can talk about it now, she's no longer with us. But apparently, yes. And she was asked, in fact, the report... No, it wasn't Sanjeev, it was a reporter who then passed it on to Sanjeev, who was interviewing her match.

• 35:51Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 35:52Speaker 03

  And just as a finishing question, "What are you watching at the moment? What's your favourite programme?" And she said, "I rather like that Kumars at number 42, that old lady, she's very funny."

• 36:00Nick Grimshaw?

  I'm obsessed with that.

• 36:02Speaker 03

  And so when I met her next, which I did luckily, I said, "I absolutely know why you like her. She's an older woman with agency and I think you know a bit about her."

• 36:14Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, yeah, cool.

• 36:17Speaker 03

  Actually, the shows that really last are the ones that are universal. Do you know what I mean? It's like, it was about a family at the end of the day. We've all got them, we've all got embarrassing families, right? And I think that's why that format just works so well. And we never wanted to embarrass the guests. We were gonna be a typical Indian family who, when you get a guest, your guest is God.

• 36:39Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, of course.

• 36:40Speaker 03

  You feed them and you pet them and you praise them. We might ask you to unblock the downstairs loo as well. But go with it.

• 36:47Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, just go with it.

• 36:48Speaker 03

  Go with it. So the guests couldn't do their usual spiel like you do on other chat shows. They were completely... That look of shock was real because they never met us before they walked in that door. We had the cameras rolling. And that was the thrill of it. I mean, to get a job that is sort of, you know, you're on screen, but you're actually also a theatre performer. Because you don't know how they're gonna respond. It was just brilliant, brilliant to do.

• 37:10Angela Hartnett?

  And it was great for every generation.

• 37:12Speaker 03

  It didn't feel like something your mum watched. You could all watch it as a family. And that's what was brilliant about it, I loved it.

• 37:18Nick Grimshaw?

  We would watch it as a family, yeah. We also, I mean, we've got to mention Goodness Gracious Me.

• 37:22Speaker 03

  Oh, my gosh.

• 37:22Nick Grimshaw?

  We must. I mean, when I knew you were coming on, it was like, my brain was just drawn to the, "We're going for an English sketch", because I was thinking of a dinner and going for an English... And I remember, I actually remember watching that with my brother on the telly and like, us both like howling about like the...

• 37:37Angela Hartnett?

  It's the best.

• 37:38Nick Grimshaw?

  "I'll have the blandest thing on the menu."

• 37:39Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 37:40Nick Grimshaw?

  So...

• 37:40Speaker 03

  Plenty of plates of chips.

• 37:42Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 37:44Nick Grimshaw?

  It was so good. I mean, what are your memories of starting out in that? Because it started on Radio 4, right?

• 37:50Speaker 03

  Yes, well, gosh, it just, it took so long to get on because people didn't know what the hell it was. To be fair, neither did we. But the concept of Asians being funny was just not on anyone's horizon. "Oh, no, you're the doctors, you're the shopkeepers. You're not cool and you're not funny." And so when we first approached the BBC to do it, I mean, he says, he swears he never says this, and maybe he didn't, but the producer's first words were, "Are Asians funny?"

• 38:18Nick Grimshaw?

  Well, that's in the book, yeah.

• 38:19Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 38:19Nick Grimshaw?

  Are Asians funny, yeah.

• 38:21Speaker 03

  And maybe that was the subtext of what he said. But anyway, and I thought, "I don't blame you because what else have you seen of us on television, anywhere? The image of us is just, you know, so stereotyped."

• 38:31Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 38:33Speaker 03

  And so we didn't know ourselves, but we were all doing comedy in different places around London. There was this huge underground South Asian comedy scene from first generation like us, but it was just ours, nobody else had seen it. So we just piled our stuff together. We put on a live show in five days at the Riverside Studios, invited the producer along and he went, "Oh, I can see what you mean." And to his credit, he said, "It's not my culture. I don't know what some of the words mean.

• 38:59Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 39:00Speaker 03

  But I can see that other people do and I can see that some of it is very funny." And to their credit, they never interfered. And Going for an English is the sketch that everybody remembers because most people's relationship or meeting of a South Asian person would be in an Indian restaurant. Actually, if you didn't have mates who were South Asian. And it, all it did was turn a mirror and go, "We do see you."

• 39:23Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 39:23Speaker 03

  "We do see how you behave in the restaurant."

• 39:26Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 39:26Speaker 03

  We do. But then we also took the piss out of ourselves. And that's why I think it was quite a joyous show and why it's still relevant and remembered.

• 39:34Angela Hartnett?

  Right, I'm going to get dessert.

• 39:35Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, my God, are we actually gonna have dessert? Oh, my God.

• 39:40Speaker 03

  Oh, thank you, that looks amazing.

• 39:42Angela Hartnett?

  I'm hoping it's chewy.

• 39:46Speaker 03

  Oh, my goodness.

• 39:47Angela Hartnett?

  Not sure I'm quite delivered, but let's give it a shot.

• 39:49Speaker 03

  And it's cherry, how did you know that I love cherries? Did you just, you just psychically pick that up, didn't you?

• 39:55Nick Grimshaw?

  We just knew.

• 39:56Speaker 03

  It's so beautiful.

• 39:58Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, my God, looks so good, Ash. Shall we do this meringue?

• 40:01Angela Hartnett?

  And then we have...

• 40:03Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, my God, Mira's cake.

• 40:04Speaker 03

  Mira's cake. I mean, if you hate it, if you hate it, don't say it on camera.

• 40:10Nick Grimshaw?

  I will eat it and I will like it. Oh, I think it's gonna be chewy.

• 40:14Speaker 03

  Oh, yes.

• 40:20Angela Hartnett?

  You happy?

• 40:24Angela Hartnett?

  Sorry, I've just cut it.

• 40:33Angela Hartnett?

  Oh my god. Huge fan, so very happy. Oh, there's some steak home now.

• 40:41Nick Grimshaw?

  Wow, that is good.

• 40:42Angela Hartnett?

  Isn't food great?

• 40:45Nick Grimshaw?

  That is so good, Ange. He's almost like, oh, is there tahini in it?

• 40:50Angela Hartnett?

  I put tahini in the cream. Cause I'll be, I'll be honest with you.

• 40:54Speaker 03

  Genius, yes.

• 40:55Angela Hartnett?

  There were a few little mishaps when I made it this morning. Well, one, I was supposed to have put the tahini through the meringue and I forgot to do that. And then I, we'd weighed the sugar wrong. Anyway, there was a few little things and when I first tasted it, I said, these aren't chewy enough.

• 41:09Speaker 03

  You made a second batch?

• 41:10Angela Hartnett?

  Well, no, then Sarah and I had a little, you've got serving, I'm not serving, you've got serving, anyway. And now I said, you know what we'll do? We'll put them back in the oven for another thirty minutes and we'll try them. So that's how we, we've worked out how to make them chewy. We just put them in the oven and let them thirty minutes.

• 41:25Nick Grimshaw?

  They're delicious. They're almost like caramel.

• 41:28Angela Hartnett?

  Yes.

• 41:28Nick Grimshaw?

  They are.

• 41:29Angela Hartnett?

  And so that's saying, you know, so now we just have to figure out to make that into a recipe that works.

• 41:35Nick Grimshaw?

  Do the recipe twice.

• 41:36Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, do it twice.

• 41:37Speaker 03

  What is the secret though?

• 41:39Nick Grimshaw?

  They are so caramel.

• 41:39Speaker 03

  They are. What's a secret to getting a chewy meringue? Is it a long time on a very, very low heat?

• 41:45Angela Hartnett?

  I think it's long and low and I think, and there is a way of you, you do, there's tricks, tricks you can do. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice, add some corn flour into it. We've all done that where we thought, I've forgotten about it. We've forgotten the meringue and then that's when it's, it's most chewiness, I think, cause you've slightly overcooked it.

• 42:01Speaker 03

  Cause I've seen a recipe where you actually put the oven on high, turn it off, put the meringue in and leave it overnight.

• 42:09Angela Hartnett?

  And did that work?

• 42:10Nick Grimshaw?

  I've seen that.

• 42:11Speaker 03

  Ish.

• 42:11Angela Hartnett?

  Ish.

• 42:12Speaker 03

  It didn't, but it was very flat. It was chewy, but it was flat.

• 42:15Angela Hartnett?

  It's flat.

• 42:16Nick Grimshaw?

  That is perfect.

• 42:17Angela Hartnett?

  Okay.

• 42:17Speaker 03

  It's delicious. I love cherries.

• 42:19Nick Grimshaw?

  I'm gonna have some Mira's cake.

• 42:22Nick Grimshaw?

  So what have we got? A polenta and lemon?

• 42:24Speaker 03

  Lemon polenta.

• 42:25Nick Grimshaw?

  I'll take this, I'll take this one. I don't know why I did that. It's quite weird how it, oh no. Made a disaster there, guys. Oh, now I've got my plate in the car. So sorry, I'm so sorry disaster.

• 42:34Angela Hartnett?

  It's fine.

• 42:35Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh no, this looks good, Mira.

• 42:36Angela Hartnett?

  This does look good.

• 42:37Speaker 03

  That's it.

• 42:38Angela Hartnett?

  It looks really lovely and moist.

• 42:39Speaker 03

  Very nerve, I'm not even gonna look at you.

• 42:43Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh no, that's so good.

• 42:44Angela Hartnett?

  It's delicious.

• 42:44Nick Grimshaw?

  Mm.

• 42:45Speaker 03

  Is it really?

• 42:46Nick Grimshaw?

  It really is delicious.

• 42:47Speaker 03

  Is it really?

• 42:48Nick Grimshaw?

  I promise you.

• 42:48Angela Hartnett?

  That's really lovely.

• 42:49Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh no, that is really good.

• 42:50Angela Hartnett?

  And can you put a syrup on top after?

• 42:52Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 42:52Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, it's so good.

• 42:54Speaker 03

  Yeah. You make loads of tiny little holes. You've got to be really.

• 42:57Angela Hartnett?

  It's so lovely and moist.

• 42:59Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 42:59Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 43:00Speaker 03

  Yep.

• 43:01Nick Grimshaw?

  That's delicious. That, I'm gonna have to sip a cup of tea.

• 43:03Speaker 03

  Oh, thank you.

• 43:04Angela Hartnett?

  No, but that's, it's the perfect tea cake. It is.

• 43:07Nick Grimshaw?

  I like the texture.

• 43:08Speaker 03

  Good, good, good. Phew, what a relief.

• 43:10Nick Grimshaw?

  Wow, guys, you two should open a bakery.

• 43:15Speaker 03

  Do you know, that would be my dream job.

• 43:16Nick Grimshaw?

  Why don't you?

• 43:17Speaker 03

  A bakery slash bookshop.

• 43:18Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, my friend and I were talking about that. She wants to open a bookshop.

• 43:21Speaker 03

  A bakery bookshop and could we have a tarot reader on the side or a tarot reader or something? Those three things would be, I think there's something there.

• 43:29Nick Grimshaw?

  I'd love that.

• 43:30Speaker 03

  I do.

• 43:30Nick Grimshaw?

  Maybe I could do tarot.

• 43:32Angela Hartnett?

  You could do the tarot.

• 43:32Nick Grimshaw?

  You do the cake. Ange does meringues.

• 43:35Speaker 03

  Yeah. Do you do tarot?

• 43:37Nick Grimshaw?

  No.

• 43:40Nick Grimshaw?

  Have a learn.

• 43:41Speaker 03

  Just pretend.

• 43:43Nick Grimshaw?

  One thing we wanted to do was share some of your big headline achievements, but also I love the celebrating, like the sort of, the big, small stuff too.

• 43:50Angela Hartnett?

  Yes.

• 43:50Nick Grimshaw?

  Um, so for example, in, in twenty twenty-three, you were made a BAFTA fellow. Incredible.

• 43:56Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 43:56Nick Grimshaw?

  The highest accolade, um, but you're also excellent netball.

• 44:00Angela Hartnett?

  Yes.

• 44:00Nick Grimshaw?

  Love that. Excellent at netball. Yeah. You've been playing since you were eleven.

• 44:04Speaker 03

  I know. How mad is that?

• 44:05Nick Grimshaw?

  Love.

• 44:06Angela Hartnett?

  And you're still playing. Brilliant.

• 44:07Speaker 03

  I played last night.

• 44:08Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, I love that.

• 44:10Nick Grimshaw?

  Love that.

• 44:11Speaker 03

  I know. Still love it. Still love it. I mean, I'm slower now.

• 44:15Nick Grimshaw?

  But you're still doing it.

• 44:15Speaker 03

  I might be, I might be grading down to walking netball in a few years, but I'm still just about hanging on.

• 44:21Nick Grimshaw?

  Another excellent accolade to your first now, Lenita and me, so successful, it's used in the school curriculum.

• 44:27Speaker 03

  Yes, it is.

• 44:29Nick Grimshaw?

  You also have a very impressive collection of suns.

• 44:32Speaker 03

  I do.

• 44:33Nick Grimshaw?

  Like, not children, like suns in the sky. Cause I noticed your sun necklace before.

• 44:40Speaker 03

  I have loads of these. Well, psaraic ones that I've collected from all different places. I mean, they've taken years because each one's got a little story to it, but I'm just a bit obsessed with suns and sunflowers. I don't know, there's something about their happy openness of them, the fact that they follow the sun and that's what I had my wedding bouquet, just sunflowers.

• 44:59Nick Grimshaw?

  Just sunflowers. That's why you're buzzing for the eclipse.

• 45:02Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 45:04Nick Grimshaw?

  It's back, it's back, it's back, it's back. Um, you have BAFTA nominations for your TV work, also an Olivier Award nomination as well. Um, but more impressively, you said that you were a mermaid in a past life.

• 45:15Speaker 03

  I think I was.

• 45:16Nick Grimshaw?

  You think you were?

• 45:17Speaker 03

  I think.

• 45:17Nick Grimshaw?

  What's led you to being in this?

• 45:19Speaker 03

  Because the happiest place for me is in water. It's just, I just make the water whenever I can. Um, it's not holiday for me unless I can swim in the sea. And I don't know, I just, I, yeah, I'm half aquatic.

• 45:31Nick Grimshaw?

  Half aquatic.

• 45:32Speaker 03

  And I quite like the idea of never having to shave my legs again, so it's quite good to be a mermaid.

• 45:36Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, great.

• 45:37Angela Hartnett?

  No, but I'm like that. I need, if the sea's there, I have to go in it.

• 45:40Nick Grimshaw?

  Have to get in it.

• 45:40Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, same.

• 45:41Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 45:41Nick Grimshaw?

  What do you think you were in a past life? Because someone messaged me the other day saying, I think you were an ancient Egyptian. Because they said that the way that I talked about something, and they said they specialize in it. And they said, I think that's actually a hangover from your previous life in ancient Egypt. Obviously, I was like, immediate follow.

• 46:01Nick Grimshaw?

  My, my kind of person.

• 46:04Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah, so.

• 46:05Angela Hartnett?

  It was me that said that to you.

• 46:06Nick Grimshaw?

  Mira, a mermaid, me, some sort of ancient Egyptian.

• 46:10Angela Hartnett?

  I'd like to have think in my previous lives, I lived in the, the era of the Great Gatsby.

• 46:15Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, yeah.

• 46:16Angela Hartnett?

  Cause I love throwing parties.

• 46:18Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 46:19Angela Hartnett?

  I like that idea of dancing. I'd have actually smoked then. I'd never smoked in my life.

• 46:23Nick Grimshaw?

  You can't say like parties in a fag.

• 46:27Angela Hartnett?

  They all have those long cigarettes, you know?

• 46:29Speaker 03

  The look of it.

• 46:30Angela Hartnett?

  The really long cigarettes. But I've never smoked in my life, so I think I would have done that.

• 46:34Nick Grimshaw?

  Maybe that's what you're drawing you in then.

• 46:38Angela Hartnett?

  And I like the idea of you just hanging around and just sitting there, having a drink, talking to Zelda, as you do.

• 46:45Speaker 03

  Extending witty banter.

• 46:46Angela Hartnett?

  Exactly, yeah. I think the roaring twenties, that I think would have been a great era.

• 46:51Nick Grimshaw?

  Charleston.

• 46:51Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, love it.

• 46:54Nick Grimshaw?

  I can see it, I can see it. Um, also in your impressive list of incredible achievements, you worked at Black, you've had a number one single.

• 47:01Speaker 03

  Oh, well, it was a, it was a comic relief single.

• 47:05Nick Grimshaw?

  Still.

• 47:05Angela Hartnett?

  Still.

• 47:06Nick Grimshaw?

  Scrap that, you've had a number one single, yeah. And you also make an incredible lemon polenta cake.

• 47:11Speaker 03

  Oh, yes, luck that in, thank you.

• 47:18Nick Grimshaw?

  Are you ready for your fast food quiz? It's quick fire.

• 47:20Speaker 03

  Oh, right.

• 47:21Nick Grimshaw?

  Are you ready?

• 47:21Speaker 03

  Yes, go on.

• 47:22Nick Grimshaw?

  Okay, Mira, please tell us your favorite way to eat eggs.

• 47:26Speaker 03

  Poached.

• 47:27Angela Hartnett?

  What's your favorite sandwich filling?

• 47:29Speaker 03

  Oh, mature cheese, salad and pickle.

• 47:32Angela Hartnett?

  Nice.

• 47:33Nick Grimshaw?

  Uh, what's your favorite form of potato?

• 47:35Speaker 03

  I don't like potatoes.

• 47:36Nick Grimshaw?

  Don't like potatoes? No potatoes? What about a jacket potato?

• 47:40Speaker 03

  Oh, I like the skin.

• 47:41Angela Hartnett?

  The skin.

• 47:42Nick Grimshaw?

  Okay.

• 47:42Speaker 03

  Crispy skin of a jacket potato, thank you.

• 47:45Angela Hartnett?

  Love that. Favorite herb?

• 47:46Speaker 03

  Oh no, that's hard.

• 47:52Speaker 03

  Coriander.

• 47:53Nick Grimshaw?

  Um, do you have a favorite kitchen utensil?

• 47:55Speaker 03

  Yes, my thermomix.

• 47:57Nick Grimshaw?

  Oh, yes.

• 47:58Angela Hartnett?

  Nice, okay. What's your favorite fruit?

• 48:01Speaker 03

  Blueberry.

• 48:02Angela Hartnett?

  What's your favorite toast topping?

• 48:05Speaker 03

  Marmite and butter.

• 48:06Angela Hartnett?

  Marmite and butter, nice.

• 48:07Nick Grimshaw?

  Um, what do you think's the best nut?

• 48:10Speaker 03

  I think walnut.

• 48:12Angela Hartnett?

  That's very walnut. Uh, favorite ice cream?

• 48:15Speaker 03

  Mango sorbet.

• 48:16Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah, oh yeah, mango sorbet is good.

• 48:18Nick Grimshaw?

  What's your favorite childhood dish?

• 48:22Speaker 03

  I think my mom's pronty, stuffed pronty on top of the meal.

• 48:26Angela Hartnett?

  We want that.

• 48:27Nick Grimshaw?

  We do want that, yeah. We do want that, yeah. Um, finally, favorite condiment?

• 48:32Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 48:32Speaker 03

  Chili peanut sauce.

• 48:34Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, good one, yeah.

• 48:36Speaker 03

  It goes with everything. I put it on toasted sandwiches.

• 48:40Angela Hartnett?

  That's good, great on eggs.

• 48:42Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 48:43Angela Hartnett?

  Like that.

• 48:44Speaker 03

  Yeah, peanut's very good.

• 48:45Nick Grimshaw?

  Good one. You passed.

• 48:46Speaker 03

  Did I pass?

• 48:47Angela Hartnett?

  You did.

• 48:48Speaker 03

  That was like masturbating.

• 48:49Nick Grimshaw?

  Very much so.

• 48:52Nick Grimshaw?

  It's time for your end of the show question.

• 48:54Speaker 03

  Right.

• 48:54Nick Grimshaw?

  For your chance to win the Waitrose goodie bag. All you've got to do is answer this.

• 48:59Speaker 03

  Salsi.

• 49:00Nick Grimshaw?

  Question, salsi.

• 49:02Speaker 03

  Oh, salsi.

• 49:03Nick Grimshaw?

  Salsi bag to win the Waitrose goodie bag. A couple of questions.

• 49:08Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 49:08Nick Grimshaw?

  Uh, firstly, what is the Dame Mira method for making tea?

• 49:12Speaker 03

  For making tea?

• 49:13Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah. Um, full details on how to make it and what people do wrong in your opinion.

• 49:19Speaker 03

  Well, the water's got to be absolutely boiling. Yorkshire tea only.

• 49:26Speaker 03

  Let it sit for a bit, not until the tannins formed, but let it sit, don't whip it out already. Then put the milk in and put it in slowly so you get it to the color you want. And then give the tea bag a little tap with a spoon. Don't squeeze it before you remove it and that should be the right color.

• 49:43Nick Grimshaw?

  Nice detail.

• 49:44Speaker 03

  But it's got to be hot and it's like my man, hard and strong.

• 49:50Nick Grimshaw?

  Uh, and secondly.

• 49:52Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 49:52Nick Grimshaw?

  Uh, please could you share your recipe for the, uh, lemon polenta cake, please?

• 49:56Speaker 03

  Oh my gosh, off by heart. Oh, I can't remember. I think it's.

• 50:00Angela Hartnett?

  Lemon, lemon, polenta.

• 50:01Speaker 03

  It's lemon polenta and ground almonds and butter.

• 50:04Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 50:05Speaker 03

  And three eggs and, uh, the rind of three lemons.

• 50:10Angela Hartnett?

  Nice.

• 50:10Speaker 03

  Into the mixture. And then when the cake's warm, take it out, leave it in the tin, prick it all over. Very tiny little pinholes and make it with the juice of the three lemons, make the syrup with icing sugar. Let that cool a bit and then don't just slop it on, cause that's what people do wrong. Pour a little bit on gently and with a little pastry brush.

• 50:34Angela Hartnett?

  Glaze it over, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 50:35Speaker 03

  Keep doing it, it takes time, but if you want the juice to go right to the bottom, you've got to do that.

• 50:40Nick Grimshaw?

  Okay, there we go.

• 50:41Angela Hartnett?

  And that has gone right to the bottom.

• 50:42Nick Grimshaw?

  It's gone right to the bottom, it's perfect. I think the goodie bag is yours.

• 50:45Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 50:47Nick Grimshaw?

  That was good.

• 50:50Nick Grimshaw?

  The goodie bag is yours, although that is ours.

• 50:53Speaker 03

  Yeah, of course, absolutely yours.

• 50:55Nick Grimshaw?

  And Mira, thank you so much. That was so nice. You're brilliant. Thank you.

• 50:59Speaker 03

  My pleasure.

• 51:00Nick Grimshaw?

  A round of applause for Mira, everybody.

• 51:03Nick Grimshaw?

  Thank you.

• 51:07Nick Grimshaw?

  She's great.

• 51:09Angela Hartnett?

  She was amazing. I loved her. I loved her. I want to be her friend.

• 51:13Nick Grimshaw?

  Same. She is so nice to hang out with.

• 51:15Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah. And I think anyone I've spoken to ever about her who's met her, say she's so understated and just a lovely person.

• 51:22Nick Grimshaw?

  Yeah.

• 51:23Angela Hartnett?

  And I liked her thing that she has all these suns. You know, it's like all around her, you know, all have little stories. I think she's quite, um.

• 51:31Nick Grimshaw?

  I liked her outlook on her, the way that she sort of.

• 51:33Angela Hartnett?

  I think, yeah, she was brilliant.

• 51:35Nick Grimshaw?

  Loved her.

• 51:36Angela Hartnett?

  Loved her.

• 51:36Nick Grimshaw?

  Um, so thank you to Dame Mira Saeel for joining us. Before we say bye, we have a bit of dish business to attend to. Dishness, if you will.

• 51:45Angela Hartnett?

  Oh, crikey.

• 51:47Nick Grimshaw?

  A few comments to address and points of order. Firstly, in the Tom Holland episode, we had a lot of comments on YouTube about the Indian dessert you described. Which is like batter piped into hot fat. You couldn't remember the name.

• 51:58Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 51:58Nick Grimshaw?

  Uh, it was Jalebi.

• 52:00Angela Hartnett?

  Yes, that's what it is, yes.

• 52:03Nick Grimshaw?

  So lots of people saying.

• 52:05Angela Hartnett?

  That's what it was.

• 52:06Nick Grimshaw?

  That's what it is.

• 52:07Angela Hartnett?

  Yeah.

• 52:07Nick Grimshaw?

  Jalebi. Also from our Tom Holland episode, Bryony from Essex said, I found the conversation about the pronunciation of Lionel Messi.

• 52:14Angela Hartnett?

  Lino.

• 52:14Nick Grimshaw?

  Lino Messi.

• 52:15Angela Hartnett?

  Lino, Lino.

• 52:17Nick Grimshaw?

  Really funny. And I had to say, as a non-footbally type person, I also pronounce it the same way as Nick, even if it's the wrong way. Lionel Messi. Uh, however, after I finished listening to your episode, I listened to the latest episode of Louis Through Podcast with Olivia Wilde as the guest. And at the end, they spoke about celebrities with literary namesakes, Olivia having one, and then mentioned how Lionel Messi is actually named after Lionel Richie. So I Googled this and it's true. His mom was a huge fan apparently. So actually, I think the way that we pronounce it is correct, says Bryony. Uh, well, thank you, Bryony. If you do want to get in contact with us at Dish, you can email us [email protected] and Angela will reply to you personally.

• 53:02Angela Hartnett?

  I will.

• 53:03Nick Grimshaw?

  Um, but thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. We will see you next week with Daisy Edgar Jones.

• 53:13Nick Grimshaw?

  If that episode has left you wanting more, find us on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Just search Dish.

• 53:20Angela Hartnett?

  If you want to make any of the meals I cook on Dish, head to waitrose.com/dishrecipes for all the ingredients and the recipes.

• 53:29Nick Grimshaw?

  Email your questions, thoughts and suggestions to [email protected].

• 53:35Angela Hartnett?

  Dish from Waitrose is a cold glass production.

• 53:38Speaker 05

  Waitrose, the home of food lovers.