Gemma Arterton learns the secrets of a perfect crab, fennel and chilli linguine

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This podcast may contain some strong language and adult themes. Hello, welcome to Dish from Waitrose, I'm Nick Grimshaw. And I'm Angela Hart. That's right. How are you, Angela? I'm very well, thanks for yourself. I'm good, yeah, I'm all right. When did I last see you? It's been a few weeks, I haven't seen you. I don't think since we last recorded, I haven't seen you in between. We were meant to see each other last night. Yeah. And I was excited. Yeah. And then as it got closer and closer to the time, I was like... It's all the way in West London. It's cold, it's wet, you've got to watch videos. Getting up early. You've got to get up early. And I loved that you said something like, are you still up for later? Fine, if not. And I said... Get him out, you see. And I said... And you took him? No. And then I said to Andrew and I said, did you go last night? She said, well, because you weren't going, I had to go. And I was like, yeah. So we both got both good friendships. Both failed. When you both failed. We'll go and see it another time. We'll go and see it another time. We'll see it another time, afternoon. We'll go and see an exhibition. Exactly, we'll do it another time. We'll go another time, yeah. Oh, I know I went to talk to you about... I went to the Brits Awards. Yes. It was in Manchester, of course. I know I'm getting older now. Because the train journey there and back... It was better than the Brits. Was a highlight. It really was a highlight. So I've never done a posh train, like an Orient Express situation. Oh, I see, yes. So this was like the Belmond Pullman. Lovely. Which is like the UK Orient Express experience. I've cooked on one of those trains. Well, that's what I wanted to know. Because the food, so they slowed it down. So you went and had like a three course lunch. I blew my tiny little mind. I loved it. But I was like, are they cooking on this? It's a nightmare. It is. Because it's fast as well. Honestly, it's... Em and I did it. And we... Where did we go? I think it went down to Kent or Bach. And it was the four courses. And I think it was like 100 and something people. And there were two tiny kitchens. I kid you not half the size of this table. It was just... And also the kitchens weren't near each other. So Em and I were constantly running up and down like arrangers. And Em said to me, I'll just just never make me do that again. Please, never make me do that again. It was just horrible. And you know, and honestly, you've got to respect the guys who do it all the time. I could not believe it, yeah. They know what men need to do. But we should. I would love to do it because when I was a kid, I interrailed. And the best experiences, you get in, go on in London and you sleep and you wake up in Switzerland. As you see all the mountains and the scar. And it's amazing, that sort of feeling. So we should do that. Anyway, the train has firmly docked into Dishton station. Because we've got great guests for you. Gemma Arterton is going to be here. I just want to say hi to her. She's very excited. We actually hosted an award ceremony once. Me and Gemma Arterton hosted the British Fashion Awards. Oh, nice. I can't remember what year. Was it good? Was it successful? Hello, me and Gemma Arterton. Well, I'm just checking. No, it was. I mean, have you done it since? No, it was a one-off. Very weird, very weird. But Gemma's going to be here to talk about a new show, Secret Surge. Secret Surge, did you watch? I did watch it. Did you like it? I did, I got into it actually. I've always wanted to be a spy. Well, we should ask her who'd make a good spy out of me and you. Because I was thinking when I was on that train, I would be a spy. I'd like to do that sort of spy. But you know, it feels quite like Agatha Christie being on that sort of train. I feel like you're going back 40 years wearing a nice hat. Good suits. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I see what a spy you are. Not now like running around. No, not now like James Bond London. No, no. Well, Gemma will be here to talk about that. But in other news, she's also a baker. Yes. She apparently makes a great lemon meringue pie. We've been having a few more desserts, I feel, this season. Oh yeah, we're having a dessert today. Yeah, we're not allowed to say it's a rarity anymore. Are we not? Because we always say it and then it's not that rare. But before we get Gemma in, what is seasonal, Angela Hartnett? A Malfi Lemons. A Malfi Lemons. They're banging season now. You've just had Seville oranges, got blood oranges now, still for another month or so, and then a Malfi Lemons. And these will go probably through for the next few months. But they're unwaxed lemons. They're really amazing flavour, nice and large, and they're just delicious really. And you can do so much. You know what to do with the lemon. Yeah, we do know what to do with the lemon, but just pretend we don't. OK. What would you do with this specifically a Malfi Coast lemon? Well, the other things that are coming into season now, asparagus and peas. So I do a lovely just boiled, simple asparagus with butter and then freshly grated lemon rind on it and some parmesan. You can do a lovely lemon butter chicken, which I think is fantastic with it. Or a Cacciatore, which is with lemon, rosemary and garlic, where you basically just cut the lemon into pieces, just squeeze that on with some white wine, and that helps cook the chicken. Or lemon and peer risotto, which is another great thing. But they've got real sweet, fragrant flavour. They're not as acidic as your bog stand lemon. And the other thing is you can really eat the pith. You know you always say you don't, but when you cut in half, it's a really thick pith. And so you can make lovely little, you can take the skin with the pith and then boil them three or four times in sugar water. And then you can caramelise and make them like a sort of lemon candy as well. So there's loads you can do with these lemons. And the classic, obviously, from a Malfi is a lemon cello. Are we going to use lemons today? Yeah, I've made lemon posse for Gemma. Oh, yes. Let's get Gemma one. Gemma Watson. Hi, Gemma Watson. Hi. Hi. Welcome. Oh, hello. How are you? Nice to see you. So excited. Gemma, I love you. Gemma, it's a cool man. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. I'm just doing really well. Yeah, I'm having to be let out for the day. Yeah. I've got two kids now and it's just hard. It's a hard day. How old are they, Gemma? Three and five and a half months. Oh, wow. One new. Angela's soda bread. So I make soda bread. I know. Is that why you made it? Yes. OK, let's welcome our guest then, please. Angela, let's do a brilliant actor who is here to spill the secrets about her role as an MI6 agent. Yes. In return, we're going to help her unravel the mystery of her, and I quote, claggy, crabling greenish. It's Gemma Artisan, everybody. Hi. Welcome. Hi, Gemma. Gemma. How are you? Oh, I'm so ecstatic to be here. I'm so happy. Thank you so much. Oh, thank you for coming. I was very happy that you were coming to us. Because I was saying to Angela, I was like, there's a time when I saw Gemma Artisan, all the time. Out and about. Flaming. Clubbing on the radio. And I said there was a time we hosted the British Fashion Awards. We did. We did. And she said, did it go well? Did you do it again? And I said, we weren't invited back. Just the ones. Just the ones. Maybe we weren't fashion enough for the Fashion Awards. We weren't. No, we weren't. I'm sure that's not true. Anyway, it's great to see you. It's great to see you. I'm so happy that all three of us are hosting the Fashion Awards this year. How goes that? How goes that? How are you, though? How is life for you? Great. Yeah, I'm really well. I've just had another kid. And so, I mean, the thick of that. But it's all lovely and getting back into it again. You know, going back to the past, you know, but it's all good. It's all good. Yeah. You're managing. Yeah. It's great. You don't look exhausted. Power of the paintbrush. Power of the sailors. Thank you so much. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. You've never made bread before? Never made bread before. The soda bread I do like, because it's really easy to make. It's literally flour, two types of flour, wholemeal flour, normal flour, bicomlet of soda, and buttermilk. And they add a bit of salt and touch of sugar. And you just mix it all together and straight in the oven. There's no proofing, there's no room to rise and bat it back. And it's really, really good. It's easy to make. I love soda bread. Yeah, it's good. I know. I've got to find a gluten-free soda bread recipe. A cracker, which initially was like, I don't want to eat that. I've eaten 600 of these today. You make that as well then? I make it. Yeah, so my husband's Irish, so I'm an honorary Irish person now. And people do say so. We spent a lot of time in Ireland and, oh, the best is when you go into a bakery, they just made it that morning, you take it back with you. But it's so easy to make at home, because as you said, you don't have to wait for anything to prove it. Oh, it's just brilliant. And you can just use your hand to mix it. You don't even need a spoon. No, no, no. Just mix it all together. Hey, we're going to talk about your plagi-crab linguini, which by the way, they're Gemma's words, not mine, before we do though. And we are going to start with a glass of a vermontino. But cheers, Gemma. Thank you. And welcome. And thank you so much. We did it. Cheers. Oh, cheers. Oh, yeah. That's lovely. Yeah, nice, mineraline. That's what you want. That will be fantastic with what we're having today, because we're having our crab linguini. But before we talk about, well, your brand new show that we need to talk about, Secret Service, and before we talk about the linguini, we always like to do our likes and dislikes of our guests. First on the list of loves was Anything Crunchy. Yeah. Anything Crunchy. Yeah, I just love crunch. It's funny because I would veer away from sloppy food. I don't really like sloppy that much, but good crunchy anything. What sort of things are you veering away from in the sloppy arena? Yeah, mashed potato, risotto. Yeah, not so much anything that's kind of runny, like a runny egg or, you know, I want it to have a bite. I want to know that it's a bit cooked. Don't like raw meat and everything like that. I like a crunch. You also love ginger. Mmm. How are you having your ginger? I like it neat. Yes. I like to munch on ginger, raw. I like that hit. But any form, crystallized, pickled, you know that. What's the ginger that's in the jar, that one? The pink one. The pickled one. Pickled ginger. Oh, that's delicious. Any ginger. Any ginger. Ginger biscuits, ginger nut. Yes. Biscuit. Love. The Gemma Artson dislikes were dill. Oh, gosh. I hate dill. No, dill. You hate dill. Sorry, dill, but I hate dill. Do you know what caused the dill? It snuck in something by surprise. No, it's just, it's inexplicable. I just, because I like pickles. Is it too fragrant, see? It's very pungent. Even the smallest amount, you can really feel it, can't you? Yeah. Yeah, when we asked you what you wanted today, you said you wanted a pasta, but you wanted, I loved how you wrote it, you know, a simple but delicious pasta like you'd get in Italy. Oh, but when, I mean, when you go to certain places in Italy as well, and the produce is so good that you don't need to do much with it at all, and you can't replicate it really outside of that place, you know, I just have such strong memories of eating a tomato there and crying because it was unreal. It's so good. Yeah. And so making, yeah, a simple pasta. Can't beat something like that. Yeah. Is there anything that you love to make at home that is quite just for you and the rest of the family are like, oh, I can't believe we're having that? Basically anything that I make. My poor son just, I could just see him just be like, oh my God, not again. What are we having? What sort of things, what do you like to cook at home? I do, do you know, it's funny, I love to bake. I love to make things that are methodical and take time. My husband's an amazing cook. And do you think that makes you cook less? Yeah, yeah. I have to admit, you know, main course, that's not my forte. I remember when we first got together, cooking him this curry, and it was absolutely disgusting. It was a cabbage curry, but it was like, Sri Lanka, you know, like it was meant to be good. But I chopped it too big and it was so disgusting. And last week I said, let me do the roast today so that I just get back into it. And he went, no, it's all right, I'll do it. Maybe I cookings a terrier. Do you have a plan, guys? She was like, none of me, no, you're right. And do you miss living in the, how long have you been in the country now? Four years. And is there anything that you miss or anything that you think country life does really well, that the city doesn't, and anything that you're missing from being in the city? Yes. So you can't get good sushi where we are. Right. On your doorstep. No. Miss, we always talk about that. You just get it like that. It's a gastropub vibes. So that's why I asked Angela to do pasta today, because I don't think you can get good pasta around where we are. But you do get good roasts. Oh, yes. Can't have it all. Can't have it all. So we extend that. And we don't get like delivery or anything. And we used to spend so much money when we moved to London on takeaways. And now we don't ever get takeaways. You know, it's weird. Rory does all the cooking. We've got Rory. You don't need to deliver it. Yeah. Yeah, we've got Rory. That's all. Yeah. The pasta has arrived. Tucking because it's mild. Yeah, you start. We'll go claggy. It's beautiful. And OK, so we are having what is that the Angela crab with caramelised fennel and red chili linguine. So yeah, it's based on a crab linguine. But what we do first is we take a fennel, slice it very thinly, put in olive oil in a pan and cook it down very slowly for about 10 minutes. So it starts to caramelise. So you put it in a pan with a shallot, caramelise it with the lid on for about five minutes and take the lid off and it will start to brown. And then at the same time you cook your pasta. So it's all going on at the same time. And then you add your chili to your fennel, some lemon rind. Once your pasta is cooked, you toss all that into the fennel and the chili mix. And then you add your crab, touch of lemon juice and basil. And I've added a little bit of parsley as well. And then we've made a little bit of pangra tarts. I was going to say there's a little crunch on there. So we added that on top. Thank you. That was hard for me because I had a fork from there. But I wanted to learn and carry on. No, get in there and get involved. So that sounded really quick and easy. For me, I always think fennel is something I've got cooked for ages, but no. Because it's sliced very thin. So you do it on the mandolin or by hand if you're worried about that. So very thin. Very thin. Get that in, get that caramelised. Get it cooking down with the lid on or parchment paper to seal in that sort of steam. Cook very quickly for about five minutes. Take the lid off and then it caramelises up, you see. Not claggy. Not claggy, how do you think? Obviously the last bit is the cooking water. And honestly, I mean, I've done it times where I've never added cooking water. And I've literally cooked for my family once. I was about 20 of them. And we're all in Italy. And my friend who was with us, Salvatore, he goes, he's like this, so you forgot the cooking water, I see. Because he was right. It's alright. Because I had and it would all sort of start. It's that last minute thing. But did you not add it because you were distracted or because I think that's what I would do. I would get too busy in there. Oh no, we've got to serve now and forget that bit. I think you forget it. I think sometimes you don't add enough. So I think the key is what you said. Sometimes it says a couple of ladles. But a couple of ladles, quite a lot of water. I always add a little bit. And the other key is serve it and eat it. Get it out. Get it out. So how do we avoid what Gemma has experienced? And I've experienced where it's going to be claggy. I think it's having the right ratio of crab and whatever you're doing in your dish to pasta. You know, having enough that it covers and smothers it. I don't know whether you do, either of you do this, but don't precook your pasta. Always cook it fresh. Then don't drain it or wash it off with cold water or anything like that. So straight in there. And then always straight away, I add a little bit of the cooking water. And also cook it slightly less. Right. And the instructions may say 12 minutes. Cook it for like 10 and a half. And then the last 30 seconds or minute and a half, you cook it in the pan. And that's what the cooking water you see. Do you use brown meat and white meat or just the white? In this we just use white. Yes. But you can use brown as well. Because I think sometimes with the brown, there's the risk though that it can get claggy. And I think that's where I've... I prefer just white meat if I'm honest. I prefer brown on toast. Brown on toast. You love it. There you go. And we... It cooked crab. Or raw crab. It's raw crab. Yes, it just cooked in the pan for a second. But what you've done is you've pre-cooked it in the sense that you've boiled the crab and you pick all the meat from it. When you buy it in supermarkets like Waitrose, it will come in a little tub and it's pasteurized and stuff. But if you're doing your crab at home, you know, you've semi-cooked it because you're cooking it to get all the meat out and then you re-cook it. And we'll reheat it rather in the pasta. Right. Right. And so anything else that you would add to this? You could add a bit of garlic. A bit of dried chili. But I think you've got enough ingredients there. It's like Gemma said earlier, the thing about Italian food is less is more. You don't want to start adding more ingredients. They don't like that. They don't need it. They don't need it. Three or four ingredients maximum. That's what they like. They don't need it. Beautiful. You have made a pangrotato for you and Gemma. Because crunch. Yeah. How do we do this again? Bread crumb, pan-fried. Pan-fried in a touch of butter, olive oil, and you can season it up with a clove of garlic, which you remove, or a bit of rosemary, and you can add a little bit of lemon if you want. Can we pre-make pangrotato to have in the fridge and then you can just chuck it in? You can leave it outside. Is there any bread outside? No. Well, I mean, you can leave it in your kitchen. Out on the doorstep. That's what you're made of. If you put it in the fridge, it could go soggy again. So you leave it outside. So yeah, if you're having this the next day, you can make it the day before. It's easy. Yeah, it's not a big deal. Or keep it in your larder. Yeah. It's really good. This is beautiful. If you want to try this dish at home, all the ingredients in today's show are, of course, available at Waitrose. Yeah. You can get the recipe on waitrose.com. The wine pairing, Minerally. It's so Minerally. So Minerally. Yummy. It's like a gravel drive away. Delicious. Delicious. It's a vermentino. Which is considered the perfect pairing for a crappasta. Perfect pairing. Do we think that? It's all meant to be. Say if you weren't at the back of King's Cross right now, Gemma. Where would you? Where would you? Think you were. Think you were. Like where would we like to be doing this? Like a crab linguine with a glass of white wine. I think. Oh my gosh. Where would you like to go? Go on. Go on. Well, we were talking about it earlier. Because yeah, America is a great place to be. I mean, if I could be in a mouth here all the time. Yeah. It's the most stunning, beautiful. There's a great restaurant in Sicily called La Pineda. And it's on the beach. And if you eat there at a certain time, by the time your meals finish, your feet are just covered in the sea. And that's the sort of restaurant you want to be eating. Because you're just literally in the sea. We could dip them in the river. We could dip them in the river. We could dip them in the river. We could dip them in the sea. We could dip them in the regent's canal. Louis Kurtz, yeah. We could dip them in the regent's canal. Louis Kurtz, yeah. We could dip them in the regent's canal. Louis Kurtz, yeah. We should talk about your new show. Yes. Oh yeah. And Andrew and I watched. I watched it. You've watched it. Yep. We both thoroughly enjoyed. Secret service. Quite our kind of show. Is it? Yeah. Definitely. Definitely one for you as well. I know that you'd love a spy. I loved it. It was a great team. We have the director, James Marsh. It's kind of like a big deal. He did Man on Wire that won an Oscar and in theory of everything. And anyway, I loved him. And we had this wonderful cast and also the producers I worked with before on this other show I did called Funny Woman. So it's like a nice family. Yeah. And yeah, I got to play. She isn't a spy, but she's a spy handler. So she trains spies. Right. And it was really fascinating actually delving into that world, which is a real world. Like these people that work for MI6, which is different to MI5, which is something I learned. What is the difference? MI5 is home turf. MI6 is international turf. Everything and more. Did you know that? I did know that. Did you? Yeah. Wow, I just thought about different floors. I did. They do have different buildings. Different buildings. There's a little bit of a lot to write. You want to be MI6. That's right. MI6. You want to be MI6. You want to be international. You're head of the Russian desk, aren't you? Yeah. And it feels like in those first two episodes you've just recently been promoted or they're just checking out how you're doing and stuff. Yeah, she's a sort of maverick, young, a youngest head of the Russia desk. High-pressured job, obviously, because of the, well, it's called the New Cold Wall. What's going on between with Russia at the moment and the influence they're having over certain nations and governments. So she's in this job and she's worked very hard to get there and she's passionate about it, but it's tentative. It's often that people leave and are fired in those positions often because it's such a high-pressure job. But I was saying earlier that I love that when... I've only seen the first episode, but you're in. Yeah. And I love that. Because I hate when I watch something and nothing happens. And people say, oh, what... It's a slow burn. And I'm like, we've got time for a slow burn. I like that we start and we are immediately in. And I also really like that it's not, you're not spoon-fed exactly. Like, this is the baddie and this is the goodie. No, no, no. You're just like watching, trying to figure things out. Like kind of like a good book, you know, like you're interested into what is, you know... Well, this is based on... This is a book adaptation. Well, there we go. So there you go. It is a series of books, Secret Service, by Tom Bradbury, who has done the adaptation, who's also the ITV News at Ten, Anka. Oh! And he's in it. Yes, he does feature in it. He's in it. Right. He's like, oh, I know, I put myself in it. Oh, my God, I didn't know that. But when I saw him in it, I was like, oh, my God, how big a hymn! It's him! And he bloody made it! And they get lots of people from ITV to be in it, to make it feel legit. Yeah. Robert Peston and like GMB people. Yeah. I think that's fun though, because it makes it feel legit. I love that. I always hate when I'm in a drama, and not in one, watching one. I was going to say, what's going to happen? But when I'm like well into a drama, and then they've got like rubbish graphics that the news wouldn't have. And I'm like, just use the news one. Use the real people. Use the real people, please. Yeah. And it also felt like I knew you in it. Well, that's nice in a way, though, that you say that, because she's meant to feel... Because sometimes you watch spy shows, and they're kind of like unattainable people. But these people that work for, you know, secret service, are real people that are living amongst us, and they have, you know, they have lives, and they have kids, and families, and relationships, whatever. And to make it feel real. Yeah. When can we see the rest, because we're now we're in. When can everyone who's listening, and watching, when can we see it? I'm so sorry, I'm going to have to wait to the end of April. I think it's the end of April. Okay, end of April on ITV. Yeah, like on ITV. Yes. And ITVX. And ITVX. And ITVX. And we actually looked in into some of the key qualities that you would need to join MI6. Oh, God. Because never too late. You never know, Nick. You never know. And these are sort of towards the top of the list, the things. So let's look at these, Ang. Curiosity. Yeah, we're curious. Yes. Yeah. Trustworthiness. I think we're all trustworthy. Yeah, we're trustworthy, I believe so. Problem-solving skills, no. No, that's why I'm a bit rubbish. No. Really? Problem-solving people problem-solving. Like if you said to me, oh, by the way, blah, blah, blah, I would be able to empathize and chat you through it. I'm not sure I would be able to, if you gave me, I don't know, I'm trying to think of a problem that a spy would have. Like basically. Well, no, that's why I'm saying you're caught somewhere. Oh, no, do my editing in a spy. Courage. Do you courageous? I don't think I am. I'm not sure in the heat of the moment that they said, I'm not sure if everything will kill you, that Widbos wouldn't go, what do you need to know? I'm not a fan of the way we would. Big fan. You know, they'd have a little of my dog Betsy, and they're like, she's going, I'll tell you everything, what do you need to know? Yeah, I think we'd be rubbish. Yeah. If we thought harm was coming to something we loved or someone we loved. I'd just tell them anyway. Yeah. I'm also a daydreamer. I think you've got to be quite in the room. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Show me. You've got to be like, sorry. You're too sl�tting out. She's being held above a cliff. Can you say that again? No, you don't mean you've got to be... That would be so strange. You're such daydreamer. Yeah, I'd be bad. Yeah. Discretion. Mmm. That's where we wouldn't be good. Mmm. I see, I think you'd be good at that. I think you'd be good. No, I'm not. I'm too transparent. No, maybe you're still a good actor. And I'm like, no, she is good. In real life, though, I blush really easily. But then I guess if you're a spy, you can just pretend to be another character. Yeah. You knew your whole life. Yeah. Because you're lying to everyone you're meeting, but then you've also got a life like... Your family and friends. Your family and friends. Yeah. Right, it just couldn't do it. I'm too much of a gossip. Yeah, but guess what? Guess what's happening in Russia? Guess what's happening in Russia? Yeah. You've also had a very successful career on the stage as well. Yeah. Would you do the stage again? I would love to. Was it something you would like to do again? Yeah, it's always going to be there. I love it. And yeah, I'll get back there. I just think it's so terrifying. Actually, you know what's funny, though? I love that. And then when it opens, so you rehearse. That's my favorite thing ever, rehearsing. Then you get it up and you do the technical bit and you, you know, test it out. Press... And then you have press night. That's terrifying. Yeah. And then it's open. And I'm like, oh, it's open now. Right. Just doing it now. But I like this. You like the idea of the adrenaline. Yeah, I like that. Yeah, that's where you go. I like that. And when I was doing a long run of something, which I found really hard because I'm not good at the things that, you know, time consuming, I was writing to a lot of people that I found iconic to invite them along just so I'd get that buzz knowing they were in. Oh, wow. So I would have... So how did you write to it? Michael Cain. Oh, wow. And I'd be like, oh, so and so is in the audience tonight. And all the actors backstage were going, oh, you want that, you know? Oh, you want that? You want that? Yeah. Oh, there it is. Yeah, because you've got to f***ing do it. Yeah. Yeah. And wasn't one of your first, if not your first, was it at the Globe? Yeah, it was. Which is incredible to have done that. It was. Maybe that's why you like the fear. It was the baptism of fire. Yeah. They're right there, the people, and they can touch you. Yeah. And you're battling with pigeons and whatnot. Yeah, because it's open air, isn't it? Yeah. During the day, if you're doing a matinee, they sit on the top. Yeah. And we had a bun fight in our show. They were brioche. We had a brioche roll of fight. And they knew that that it was going to, after a while, they knew it was going to be there at that time. So they congregate at the top and then come down and get the brioche. But that's when I had my serious monologue. Okay. So I used to get really f***ing annoyed and appear to him. I'm doing Shakespeare. Yeah. Yeah, move. Move. Back into serious monologue. Wow. And then do you have any pre-show things that you have to do? Are there any superstitions or anything that you always like to do before you take to the stage? You know, that's funny you ask, because I used to be a little bit anal about warming up and making sure I was, you know, you know, I do yoga before and I get all myself warmed up and do the vocal exercises and all the tongue exercises. But actually, now I think I just want to have fun and get loosey-goosey. Some of my thank yous so much. That's all right. I love yous. Delicious. So we used to play and with Tanzin Greg and Rupert Friend and Harry Lloyd years ago, and we used to play this game called Bum Slap before the game. Oh, before you go on stage. So we wouldn't necessarily warm up, but you'd be on stage before, you know, the audience come in, obviously, and you have to run around and smack each other's bum. Basically, you have to smack as many bums as you can. And it was the best warm-up ever because it got you all, oh, yeah. And then you were like, you know, you were loosey-goosey. I think I'd rather do Bum Slap than any of the old rituals, anyway. That's good one for us, Ang. Next time we do dish. Bum Slap. Little Ang Bum Slap to get us going. We'll see how it goes. We'll see how it goes. Oh, my God. Desserts. Oh, come on. There you go. Little lemon plus it. Come on. Oh, I'm betting that's very tangy. Oh, that is good. Oh, yes. It's a bit runny in the centre. That's what we want, isn't it? That's a bit of a bite, yeah. Mmm. That is so good. Mmm, that is so good. So tell us what we have here, Angela. So we have the best lemon posset. It's a recipe by Martha Collison. And lemon posset is one of the most simplest desserts to make. It's so good. Because it's literally double cream, sugar, lemon juice. That's it. That's it. And it's just having the right quantities. You boil your cream, add your sugar in there. You can put a bit of the lemon rind in there to enhance the flavour in the double cream. And then you add about 90ml of lemon juice. And it's the chemical reaction of the cream with the lemon juice that sets it. So you don't need anything like gelating or anything to set it. And then you've set it. You either make it the day before, set it overnight or three hours or something like that in the fridge. That's a good dinner party. And then I've grated a little bit of lemon rind and then we made some homemade shortbread on the side. That's good. But it's inspired by your lemon meringue pie. Oh, nice. So tell us about that. Well, lemon meringue pie is one of my favourite puddings. Yeah. Desserts. Because I do like making pastry. Right. But I also love the curd, making the curd. Getting the meringue right and all that, you know, that's the trick. For me, that's the tricky bit. It's not an easy dessert to make. I've made it lots of times when the meringue starts to wobble when I cut it. Yeah. And I don't know what I've done, whether I've overbaked the meringue or I haven't done the right temperature. But my mum always makes a great lemon meringue pie. Do you do a deep meringue or a kind of medium? I sort of try and do a deep one, I think. Yeah, that's hard. Yeah. But I think that is all the timings of making sure your pastry comes out and then you put your curd in, then you've got your egg whites going and stuff. But you can't rush it. Because I did it once where I cooked it and then went to cut it and it hadn't set. So it literally went all over the plate. And that was in front of my family. Oh, no. But they were very fine. They were like, oh, it still tastes delicious. But you know, I haven't... And my mum just, you rushed that, didn't you? Oh, no. She knows mum is harsh, Chrissy. She knows, she knows. She knows. Gemma, it is time for your fast food quiz. Tell us your favourite way to eat eggs. Over easy. Over easy. Over easy? Over easy. I was like, oh. Over easy. I was like, what? Over easy. Yes. I was like... I was like... I was like, what? I was like, what? I was like, what? What? That would be some weird fetish. I was like, whoa, OK. I was like, what? What's your favourite sandwich, Ben? Peanut butter and jam. What's the best form of potato? Well, I have thought about this. I had the best potato ever in the Innish man, this island off the coast of Ireland, and they just grow them there with seaweed and it was insane potatoes. Oh, wow. We like seaweed butter and stuff. No, so the islands of Innish islands are off the coast of Konamara, and they grow the potatoes there with seaweed as the fertiliser. Oh, so tiny. They have soil there, but they just serve them boiled with butter. Oh, wow. Oh, dear Lord. Oh, I love the good taste. That's good. Can we just say that is an answer? That is an answer, yeah. OK, a seaweed bird. Listen up, let's go. Island off of Ireland. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. We want them now. So people can just say chips. Yeah, exactly. And you got next. What's your favourite crisp? Redy salted chip sticks. Oh. I don't know if you can get them anymore. Can I do a little chip stick? Redy salted chip stick. Great packaging, do you know what I mean? Yeah, see-through-y, stripy. Yeah, see-through-y, yeah, that's right, yeah. What is the best cheese, Gemma Ardson? You've got to pick one cheese. Stinky Bishop. Oh, nice, yeah. Lightly strong cheese this year. I do, and I like the one that smells the house out, you know. And very soft and runny. Yeah, yeah, that's good. And potato. What's your favourite pasta dish? I think it's crab linguine, although I do like a very simple tomato pasta. Nice. But no, I'm going to go with that. Crab linguine. I love it. Finelancer. Finelancer. Finelancer, crab linguine, correct. What is your favourite item on a roast dinner? Roast potatoes. And what's your favourite dish from your childhood? Oh, I'm sorry. No, no, do you know what? I think my mum actually did these, she'd called them potato pies. They were jackpotatoes, but you bake them, bake, bake, bake, bake, so they're nice and crispy. Then you scoop out the insides, mash it all up with loads of butter and milk and cheese, cheddar cheese. Put it back in the oven, sprinkle a bit of cheese on top. And that was my favourite thing ever that she cooked. That is the way to do it. Gemma, we come to the end of the show question. For your chance to win the Waitrose Goody Bag as Weald on the Banger Bahatness. It's a little bit too low. We've only got two wheels. We didn't even trolley. All you've got to do is answer this question, Gemma. Oh, God. To win the Waitrose Goody Bag, please tell us in as much detail as you care to give, what is the best strategy when it comes to a hotel breakfast buffet? What are you eating first? What are you eating last? How long are you there? So, you order your coffee. In that time, you go up and have a look at the buffet. Have a look. Come back. Look at the hot menu. OK, I'm going to have that on the hot menu. Order that when they come with the coffees. Then go over to the buffet because you know what's coming. Do you know how much room in your tummy you need? And then just get everything from there. So, you order your coffee, you order your coffee, you order your coffee, you've got food on the plate. and then just get everything from there. That's the correct answer. The feeling bag is yours. I love the mythology of that. I love that. One of the things I hate about breakfast buffets is the hovers. Oh, yeah. You know, you just want to go there and get what you want, but you don't want the person with the plate hovering. Yes, hovering. Hovering. Get out the way. Yes. I need to get my cheese that I never have for breakfast. Yes. Yeah, yeah, totally. I definitely have things that I'd never would have for breakfast. Yeah, it's true. Yeah, like, yes, I'm ham. Yeah. Why not? It's half seven in the morning, yeah. We'll have a bit of cheese and ham. Yeah. We'll jam it in the goodie bag is yours, of course. Oh, thank you. And Gemma, thank you so much. Thank you so much. That was really fun. Thank you. I round of applause to Gemma Arston, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Massive thank you to Gemma Arston for joining us on dish. Before we go, we love when we get messages from you guys. So we thought we'd finish today with an email from Laura. The title of which was just love. Oh, Laura. That's the subject. Love, love. So I get an email from you, Andrew. Love, love. Hi, Andrew and Nick. I just want to tell you both one absolute joy is to listen to your podcast. I just discovered it this month and I've been binging it nonstop. Since listening to the podcast, I've been totally inspired to give cooking a go. To put it into perspective, last year I made a Betty Crocker birthday cake for a mate. There are three ingredients in a Betty Crocker cake mix. I forgot the eggs. I put it back into the oven, just flour and milk. 20 minutes in, I remember, I'd forgotten the eggs, so I took it back out, scrambled it all together again with the eggs and shoved it back into the oven. My friend said it tasted like cement and proceeded to throw it up into the toilet. Nice. Not a successful time with Betty Crocker. Since dish has come into my life, I have hosted a five course dinner party and my guest told me that at least three of the five were edible. So that's good. So she's improving. Two to go. Thank you for all the doing. Keep the podcast coming. Well, thank you so much, Laura. And that is... Oh, bless Laura. We get in there. That's going the right direction. Yeah, she's trying. She's trying. I love that. Yeah, well, that's all I've got to do to you. And shout out Betty Crocker. And if you do want to get in touch with us, you can email us, of course, dishatwictress.co.uk. Well, thank you and thank you, Laura. And we'll see you next week. See you next week. If that episode has left you wanting more, find us on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Just search dish. If you want to make any of the meals I cook on dish, head to weightrose.com forward slash dish recipes for all the ingredients and the recipes. Dish from Weightrose is a cold glass production. Weightrose, the home of food lovers.