Off Air... with Jane and Fi - Jane and Fi, your local MPs... (with Tom Kerridge)

Episode Date: June 5, 2024

In today's show, Jane and Fi chat about the hierarchy of pain, carriages for cats and things that grow in the dark. They are also joined by Tom Kerridge, chef and TV presenter, who speaks about his new cook book 'Tom Kerridge Cooks Britain'. If you want to contact the show to ask a question and get involved in the conversation then please email us: [e-mail] Follow us on Instagram! @janeandfi Assistant Producer: Hannah Quinn Times Radio Producer: Eve Salusbury Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I love it when you get a packet of crackers and it's got on the side a picture of a cracker with a slice of cheese. Serving suggestion. Just thinking, yes, all right! Oh, I've never thought of that. All right, Fanny bloody Craddock. Welcome to Off Air. Thank God she's back. I'm not here on my own. It was a struggle yesterday.

Did you have to do it on your own? Yeah, I just sat here. Did you just read out loud? Just had a period of silence. A bit of contemplation. Yeah, just a bit of contemplation. I think actually people liked it. I just barely said a word.

And then we hoved into an interview with, admittedly, with one of my favourite Irish writers, Colm Tabean. So it could have been a lot worse, but thank goodness he was here. So thank you for the holding, the holding. Thank you for holding the fort. Thanks for holding, absolutely. I had a migraine, migraine.

One of those proper couldn't get out of... I couldn't lift my head off the pillow, Jane. Oh, gosh, that's horrible. Yeah, but it's all good now because... Has it gone? Yes, it has gone. Has it? Okay. But I've got some new prescription drugs.

Super strength. And they're so super strength, you can only get six at a time. How did you get a doctor's appointment? My doctor was amazing. And I just want to say, I know that, you know, there's so much going wrong in the NHS at the moment, but our local practice, I'm going to give it a shout out, the Queensbridge Medical Practice are amazing.

So you type in your query, and I did that about 8.30 in the morning. Did you talk to the bot? No, I just filled in the form thingy online, and a doctor phoned back about 11 o'clock, super-zoomed the prescription over to the pharmacy, so everything was ready, note written to work and stuff. It was just superb. And I did take the time, Jane, during the phone call to say that, actually, because I think, you know, it must be really difficult

to work within the NHS at the moment to see all this stuff swirling around you too. So thoughts and prayers for anybody else who gets migraines, migraines. They're just such a pain. And you just don't know when they're going to happen. It's just really annoying. Well, that is the annoying thing, isn't it? And the fact that we can't even decide how to say the word is something

that has always irritated me as well. But when or how do yours start? Because I know everyone's different. Yeah, so I get a little funny tingling thing right at the top of my... It's like I've got an itch under my scalp.'s the only way i can describe it it's a little tingle and then my eyes go a bit funny um and and my main symptom actually is it then it's not really the headache it's just a really really powerful nausea it's very odd but it you know i've been

they haven't bothered me as much for years. I think it's very hormonal for women as well. Yeah. So, anyway, look. It's funny, isn't it? I get headaches, but not migraine or migraines, I don't think. And I would say that whilst I can soldier on with a pain in my tummy or an aching toe or something like that,

I am just knocked out by a bad headache i cannot cope with them i can't function i can't work i i feel terrible it's interesting isn't it well then maybe yours are no no no i just what i'm saying is i certainly couldn't so i as soon as i get a headache and i just get headaches i'm absolutely sure of that i have to take some painkillers i can't you can't it. No, I can't work through it and think it will go. I know some people will say, well, I had a headache this morning and it's gone. And I think, how

was it gone? Because I'm then so irritated by the fact that I've got a headache that I get tense and I'm convinced that makes the headache worse. I know exactly what you mean there. It's weird, isn't it? So if you stub your toe, you can spend the day with a really painful toe. In the hierarchy of pain, why is the pain in your head so much more unbearable?

Or maybe people are different. Because if every woman who had a period pain didn't work, there'd be a lot of people not at work. The whole country would fail. It hasn't failed. No, Britain's still thriving. Honestly, if you're not currently a resident, you want to come? Oh, no, you can't come. No, Britain's still thriving. Honestly, if you're not currently a resident, you want to come?

Oh, no, you can't come. No, you can't come. No, please don't start that. We're a politics-free zone. Oh, yes, sorry, we are, yeah. Adam Sage in the paper today. He's the Paris correspondent. Brings us news about a video by Atou France,

the French tourist board, entitled Winning Tips for Greeting the British, the Gestures and Rules of Welcome. Do you think this is going to go well for us? How does it proceed? It says things like politics is a sensitive subject that the British don't like talking about. That's not really true.

We love talking about it, we just don't say anything very interesting. As for the royal family, it's a subject that is, let's say, controversial. I don't think it is either. It's therefore better to talk about Oh no, please. Not the weather.

Oh God. The video also warns the majority of Britons only speak English, really right there, and are more likely to go into a shop with a sign saying English spoken. They also expect to find plug adapters in their hotel room, plus kettles, tea bags, milk and sugar. So there we go.

Doesn't seem a lot to ask for. Bienvenue à France. Imagine if the British Tourist Board put out a video that said that French can be very difficult. They really only enjoy lovemaking and wearing silk and smoking smoking and very slow songs by chanteurs yes uh and possibly all at once uh followed by a heavy meal um so that's yes you're right although i did i tell you about the um i was when i was on holiday in greece i found a an old british guide to g British guide to Greece in the house that I was staying in.

And it was just so dismissive and funny. And it was written, I think, in the 1960s. And it just had one very telling sentence that said, Greece is a very dusty country. You will need a clothes brush. I just thought this is fabulous. Do you remember the interview that you did with Hilary Brant? Yes, the traveller

I thought some of the things that she said about her earlier travels were quite telling as well just about actually how much more sensitive we've become to other people's cultures There's no need to beat Egyptians with sticks on trains Generally speaking, I don't think that's a great idea there's no need to beat Egyptians with sticks on trains I would generally speaking I don't think that's a great idea but actually what I remember about Hillary is

how and this is another it's an illustration of how things have changed how accepting she was of the very real peril that she was in oh it was remarkable frankly from men and I think I think that has got better,

that we wouldn't take as a matter of course the fact that someone was likely to have a go at raping us when we went travelling. Yeah, and that you'd had a good trip because that hadn't happened to you. Yeah, anyway, I thought she was a great woman. Oh, no, she was amazing. You know, but we judge, you know, times have changed. We judge people through a different prism and lens now, don't we?

I thought it was a fascinating interview, so I'm not dissing her at all. Can we have a book club reminder, please? We certainly can. Our book club, book number seven, is Susie Steiner's Missing Presumed. It is a crime fiction novel. It features an amazing detective called Manon Bradshaw. We think you're going to really enjoy it. Both Jane and I have...

You've read her book. I know you sent me a copy. I haven't read it yet. Oh. Oh, children. Some other members of the team have read it and loved it too. And she worked for The Guardian for years,

I think, actually, as a book editor. Right. And there's something about the calibre of her writing which is just so spot on. So I really, really hope that people enjoy it too. If you'd like to get hold of a copy, we're going to give you a really good kind of six weeks, maybe even seven weeks to read this one

because it's summer holiday time. There is an election and everyone's just very busy. Oh, we've got the men and everyone's just very busy. Oh, we've got the men's Euros coming up as well. And we've got the Paris Olympics. Paris Olympics, yes. There's actually, I mean, I do love sport, and there's actually a lot to look forward to.

There's so much to look forward to this summer, Jane. Yes, no, there is. We featured yesterday, in your absence, the slalom kayak woman, young woman that you'd interviewed. Oh, yes, yeah. And she was really engaging and I really hope she gets to compete in Paris. It would be fantastic. So that is what I love about the Olympics,

all these sports that you don't even know exist really and, you know, unless it's your kind of area. Well, you end up staying up. I know we won't have to for Paris, but staying up half the night to see somebody in a really obscure shooting event that, if you're honest, you didn't know. But they're British. The thing is, they're British.

Things noticeably improved for us when we changed our moniker to Team GB. Why don't we call ourselves the GB team? We could, yeah. Why did we change? Do you know? No, I don't. Some will know uh jane and fee at times dot radio now people are still emailing in um there was one about morris dancers today apparently there've been some morris dancers loose in my neighborhood thank you to that individual no i didn't see them and i'm extraordinarily glad about it uh but lots of people emailing about

dogs in prams so we'll get onto one of those in a minute. But I just wanted to mention this from Anonymous. Thank you for actually giving any thought to carers and the issues that we face. My situation is I'm a sole carer for my mother, who's nearly 90, lives three hours away. She has no other family who can realistically help and is increasingly confused.

But she's also independent, opinionated and determined and actually bloody difficult much of the time. I drive up and down to see her while sorting online shopping, trying to arrange emergency plumbers from 200 miles away, answering up to 18 phone calls a day from her and trying to support her in her own home as she unravels into sporadic but regular confusion and memory loss. Now this is where it gets really hard. She refuses to concede

to a carer even if I could get one. She won't move locally and there isn't really any affordable suitable accommodation anyway and she can't move to where we live. She doesn't want to leave her friends and it's too expensive here anyway. Right right you probably don't want to do politics but immigrants keep our care sector just about going though at breaking point cutting the numbers are you joking and where was social care in that tv debate last night it wasn't even mentioned uh complete silence on it well too anonymous um you won't be alone and i know that there'll be a big hug of sympathy a wave of audio sympathy or virtual sympathy coming your way because i suspect lots of people will just think oh god that is me or that could be me quite

soon or that has been me in the past um yes we did mention on the radio show today that there'd been no mention of social care in the sunak starmer debate last night but in fairness there was only an hour and there is a limit to what they can cover yes but i think well we we'd spent quite a lot of the program didn't we talking about social care right from the very get-go of the election being called and it turned out that neither of the two main parties really have a policy. So that turned into a story for a day in the election cycle. No news, nothing to see here. Go back to your homes, your care homes, any home that you can find, and do it yourself seemed to be the message.

But the Liberal Democrats do have a policy. And actually, Ed Davey, he has spent a lifetime caring, hasn't he? For his parents and then his grandmother. His partner has MS. His partner has multiple sclerosis and his son has special needs as well. So he's got an awful lot to say about it. We said this was going to be a politics-free zone.

Well, we don't, but it's important, isn't it? It is important. It's actually really important to note the party that has talked about an issue which matters dearly to lots of us. So, look, fair play to them because they've actually said it. And we don't have the manifestos out yet

so who knows what they may bring. When are they coming? Well I don't know this. There aren't even candidates in some seats. You think the manifestos are stuck at the printers? It's not too late. Maybe one of us could stand. Oh good lord. Okay. Which cities haven't you been rude

about? Because my colleague and friend Ian Dale found that he couldn't represent Tunbridge Wells. Would we have to now mention every single other possible candidate and broadcaster? I think Ian Dale has such a keen interest in politics and such an understanding of it and is immensely hardworking. I hope if that's his political will,

at some stage he gets another chance. Am I allowed to say that? No, I think you are. And also, look, we certainly, I certainly say some really stupid things on this podcast and if someone were to go through everything I'd ever said. Oh, me too. Gosh, yeah. Let's not do that. Michael would like to chide us, and if someone were to go through everything I'd ever said. Oh, me too. Gosh.

Let's not do that. Michael would like to chide us, and that's probably me, actually. So I'll take this one on the chin. On the 3rd of June, you were hypothesising on dogs in pushchairs, which you judged a weirdness. Is it a huge stretch to consider an older or infirm or indeed incontinent dog that is unable to continue to physically undertake the walks that they always have but at the same time enjoy being out

and spending time with their owners. So rather than a weirdness, it's actually a kindness to a beloved family pet. Let's hope if we get into the same position in older age, we are not left languishing at home alone whilst our loved ones enjoy themselves outside without a second thought. Best wishes.

Best wishes. Sorry wishes i was a bit drunk there i'm gonna go best wishes uh from michael um sometimes i think you just have to admit michael that uh you're wrong about something and i'm happy to admit uh i i hadn't given that enough thought actually so next time i see a little buggy with a pug in it i'm gonna stop and have a chat well that's funny you mention it uh because there's little buggy with a pug in it i'm going to stop and have a chat well that's funny you mention it uh because there's an email here about a pug in a buggy so this is wonderfully produced this podcast can i say the seamless it's absolutely seamless it's it's knitted together like the poor old folk who put together the buyer tapestry they must have put

in some long hours. They didn't have the European Working Time Directive back then. Well, they didn't even have electric light. Oh, God, actually, that's true. Wow. Sometimes you've just got to acknowledge the wonderful things that were achieved. Stonehenge. I don't.

Although I still think, yeah, OK. Jane doesn't think much of Stonehenge. I just think other civilisations seem to be a little ahead of us anyway this is from Pete could do better see me after class my mother-in-law already a pug owner

who walks him three times a day has taken into her care her daughter's pug who has a rather lacklustre approach to daily exercise in fact I am this pug. In fact, the pug in question would simply refuse to go on any walks. Much to my mother-in-law's chagrin, she had to do something. So she bought a dog pushchair in order to walk both her pugs

together. She really doesn't want to come across as a mad dog woman pushing a pug in a buggy. And she still dies inside when people stop and stare as she genuinely hates the attention yet she does it because it just brings so much joy to maud the pug who can now enjoy new and exciting different scents and smells a dog needs this mental stimulation just as much as physical exercise my mother-in-law is willing to put up with the embarrassment of pushing a dog in a pushchair, knowing the joy it brings to Maud. I mean, listen, Maud's got your mother-in-law

over a bloody barrel. She's as happy as a bug in a buggy. I'm going to start saving for what is going to be an enormous carriage for Nance. You won't be able to see me pushing it. It'll be so large. And she'll be there very much like, you know, the woman at the front of a ship. What do you call it?

A bowsprit. She'll be there. Yeah, fantastic. So, yes, I was wrong about that then. So thank you to everybody for correcting us. Can I just say a very big hello to Vicky? She was one of the, I think we gave her the Richard Coles book in Sheffield

on Friday night. Because she shouted out, I've got four greyhounds. She got four greyhounds and she did shout. And I also need to thank Nicky who sent me a really nice birthday card. Thank you, Nicky. And also gave me a bar of chocolate.

Well, thank you, Nicky, because she gave me one too. Well, you should give it to me because it's not your birthday. No, I'm going to keep it. Because you kept the Tom Kerridge book. That's true. Tom Kerridge is our guest today, by the way. Yeah.

So, Vicky, you then posted up a fantastic picture of her with four greyhounds and that is a woman after my own heart. Dennis Healy and his mad eyebrows were my very first political memory, writes Sarah Seyelasset, who joins us from northern Norway, way, way up in the Arctic Circle. Oof! I remember thinking how hideous they were

whilst wondering why on earth he'd allow them to get so out of control. It was definitely, definitely the days before eyebrow bars, wasn't it? That was also, those were the days when men were simply not judged on their appearance. Not at all. And so no one would say, well, he looks bloody ridiculous. Why doesn't he do something about it? It just didn't happen.

I'm sure it didn't happen. I could be completely wrong. But I'm really glad that this emailer has given us her first political memory. And we need to open this up because we're doing it in our interviews at the moment aren't we and it's fascinating yeah it is fascinating everyone has a slightly different answer different age different country whatever it might be so please do tell us your earliest political memory just something that maybe just engaged you with this this world of politics so that's one to yeah tell us about it jane and fee at times dot radio just to Just to continue Sarah's email,

I would have been under 10 years old when I first saw him on the news back in the 70s. I couldn't concentrate on anything else. Every time I saw those creatures atop his eyelids, they were all consuming. Maybe his wife found them appealing. Well, you never know, do you? Something to grip onto.

His wife, I remember his wife's called Edna. Sarah says, I'm originally from the bustling metropolis of Southend-on-Sea. You squint a bit, you're in northern Norway, aren't you? Susan says, I remember a real frisson of excitement

and I can recall this too, in the classroom on a Thursday morning as Jackie magazine came out. It used to come out just once a week, wasn't it, Jackie? It was a big day. I think it was once a week, was it? Thank you, Hannah. Or was it once a fortnight? Anyway, people are still sending us their magazine memories, so thank you for them.

Jackie magazine came out and we crowded around other girls in the classroom as we craned our necks to find the problem page uh kathy and claire of course uh to find out how far we should go with our boyfriend or uh what to do if like some correspondence to kathy and claire you felt uncomfortable around your uncle oh dear yeah uh but the question that used to crop up very regularly to Cathy and Claire was, where, and this speaks of an age of such innocence, but where do you put your nose when you kiss? Oh, God, Jane, that's such a...

That used to come quite regularly to Cathy and Claire. Such a sweet question. I'm not asking it now. I can show you if you'd like. It was just, I always thought they answered it very sensitively. But it's so sweet. It is really sweet. People were sweet in those days.

But now... Now we get headlines like this. Yes. Just read the headline. It's from a paper we don't really approve of. We... Oh, that one. Remote Brazilian tribe are given the internet

and are now viewing graphic porn, falling for online scams, and they're hooked on social media. I know. We covered this on the programme today and there isn't a sigh deep enough for this story, actually. What have we done? What have we done?

I don't know. What are we doing? What have we done? Anyway, Susan has fond memories of the three gifts on the front page of Jackie. It might be, she says, an obscenely bright pink lip gloss, chem has fond memories of the three gifts on the front page of Jackie. It might be, she says, an obscenely bright pink lip gloss, chemically reeking of strawberries to make you, quote, irresistible. P.S., she says, the Tesco blueberry advert has got me in stitches

because it keeps mentioning that blueberries really help people. I have visions of a smiling person emerging from their loo thank you susan um yeah i i actually don't associate blueberries with that i always go for peaches genuine tip that genuine tip i think you were away the day that i recorded that routine and I've really, really missed you. Oh, yeah, okay. Oh, dear. Joe says can we not just buy a bloody tote bag? No.

No, because that's no fun for us at all. With a promise to tell a friend about you. No, Joe. Because we don't trust you. Oh, deary me. Although, I would have to approach a stranger as all my friends are great fans. Well, that's a very nice thing to say.

Yeah, I mean, the tote bag thing continues. We're going to give another couple away at the end of this week. Oh, deary me. And then, I don't know whether we'll ever revise it. There are still three enormous, great big boxes of them in our office. I thought some men came to remove the boxes.

Did they? Oh, it was yesterday somebody called in about them. Okay, right. And this one comes from Catherine who says, I just caught up with Jane's first episode back after her holiday last week and the recollection of holidays pre-mobile really struck a chord. Friends I shared a house with in the late 1990s returned from a trip to lanzarote in early september 1997 to be told by the gatwick airport

cab driver that diana had died imagine they had no idea and it's just so weird thinking back to those times catherine and i mean we just never get them again we our world has just changed the news is immediate I think and it's terrible isn't it to get too kind of um down in the dumps about everything to do with the internet but but the news like that I think we just get so used to it don't we it doesn't have the impact it should have it's a dread that was a dreadful dreadful thing that happened. And the fact that now, if that happened, everybody would know about it within seconds.

All over the world, including our friends in that tribe. Yes, they would. And everybody would have an immediate conversation with somebody about it, which I think would be a bit kind of shocked and sucky teeth in and maybe a bit trite. And I don't think we would take it in in the same way and treat it with the same reverence

and allow it to have the right impact on us. It's interesting you say that. I mean, obviously, I agree with you fundamentally that everybody will know everything and they'll know it immediately. But I bet there are still people in Britain who don't know that we're having an election. You do always get these amazing... You know, there's however many percent of the population know they didn't know it was on.

For whatever reason, they have just been able to totally disengage from anything going on in the ether. I don't know. Maybe somebody out there doesn't know. Gosh, well... It's July the 4th. They know now. What was it they used to say? Vote often. Vote early, vote often.

But that was applied to it. We won't go there. Well, I have been there, but we're not going there in this podcast. Hannah's looking utterly bemused. But it was an expression associated with a particular place, wasn't it? Yes. Which place? Right. So quite a few of you had thoughts about Dune McKeegan. which place right

so quite a few of you had thoughts about Dune McKeegan and actually a couple of people have said why didn't you have a chat about the interview afterwards because so much stuff was raised in it shall we just be really honest Jane and say sometimes because we're doing the live show and the interview goes out

in the live show and then sometimes we come in after the show to do the podcast sometimes we're doing it before we don't always have had we haven't always had the chance to both listen to the interview in order to both have a conversation yeah about it before we record the podcast so maybe that's something we should think about doing because sometimes i can imagine that you do just want to hear a little bit more than just what we call in the trade a back anno. I love it when you just gently tweak the curtain of show business and just allow people a tantalising glimpse of what really goes on here.

So glamorous. But do read that email because it raises... I mean, you're right, that interview did raise some interesting points. And while you're doing that, I'll just refer briefly to Andrew, who says, I was wondering if Friday's event in Sheffield was recorded, will it be made available? I think the answer is it is going out, isn't it? Yes, because you and I are both on holiday

in separate locations, undisclosed. I'm just at home. Week after the week after next. Yeah. So we're going to pop the Sheffield podcast out in two sections, aren't we? Oh yes, because two sections. Two whole sections.

Section one is the Reverend Richard Coles and section two is questions from the audience. It was very funny though. Well, we thought it was. It was a really good evening. Thank you for asking, Andrew. Yes, that will come your way. Final one from me comes from Becky,

who says, I was saddened there weren't any comments regarding Monday. Yes, you've done that bit. Just get on to what was actually in it. I'm reintroducing the topic, Jane. I see, sorry. With Duma Keekan. So, as sleep seems elusive, I thought, here's my chance to write in. What a wonderful, thoughtful woman with a strong sense of her own worth.

I hope there are more women like her filtering through the entertainment industry. As someone who often has a hissy fit when watching TV series from any of the streaming services, when 20 minutes in, everybody's clothes seem to fall off for a full-on sex scene. These scenes are invariably added not as plot development

but as a rather pathetic attempt to keep us watching. The family invariably roll their eyes as I launch into a tirade about how these endless sex scenes put pressure on young women actors, which Dune illustrated may not know how to avoid or restrict and possibly fear losing work should they refuse them. She also made me reflect on how an actor who may have been the victim of rape themselves

may feel of us to act a similar scene for our entertainment. What a truly horrific thought. Perhaps we should be more thoughtful in our viewing choices. I can't say that I will be successful in this, as I do like a crime drama, but I'm going to give it a try. And Becky says, I'm not a prude. I'm fine with sex scenes when it's relevant to the plot, but obviously just voicing these ideas tends to land me

in Mary Whitehouse territory. Welcome into our house, Becky. There's loads of room. I wonder whether it might be time to revisit what Mary Whitehouse had to say. I know she was so mocked at the time, really mocked, but I wonder whether she might have perhaps had, I don't know, perhaps she made some good points.

I used to dismiss her. I used to think she was a silly old bat. But you do wonder, and I think she did have some opinions, some views that wouldn't go down very well in my tofu-scoffing world, the one I now inhabit, crop-haired, radical feminist, or whatever I'm supposed to be. So our guest is Tom Kerridge.

Now, Tom is someone we've met before. He's actually, I think he just seems like a really genuine bloke. He's so funny and he's articulate and I think he's the real deal. For what it's worth, I think he's 100% authentic. He's got a new cookbook. It's called Tom Kerridge Cooks Britain and it says on the cover it's going to be a major television series. Major, OK?

Not a minor, not an insignificant, but a major television series. I love those little bits of puff, you know, that they put on contents. I love it when you get a packet of crackers and it's got on the side a picture of a cracker with a slice of cheese. Serving suggestion. You just think, yes, all right! Oh, I've never thought of that. All right, Fanny bloody Craddock.

Anyway, Tom Courage's book is really good and I think anyone who loves proper British ingredients will enjoy making some of the recipes in the book. Now, there is no formal introduction to this, as you may have gathered by now, because he and I were talking as the interview started on Times radio so let's just join the conversation tom carriage is here you might even be able to hear him yeah i wonder waffling on no no far from it tom i asked you a question you were answering it so it's entirely my fault uh it's jane garvey and fee clubber on

times radio until four o'clock when john peanut takes over tom carriage is a chef he's a restaurateur and he's the author of a new book which is all about um celebrating british food actually in british ingredients and it's called cooks britain tom carriage cooks britain now you came in armed sensibly with some delicious shortbread yes and some strawberries thank you i mean what more could you want in the afternoon story shortbread cream, the problem with cream is it doesn't travel across London very well in a bag, in a rucksack. So, I mean, surely somebody here could get you some cream. Well, you would think, wouldn't you?

So I guess strawberries, are they the epitome of the British summer ingredient? Do you know what? They really are. There's a couple of ingredients that I really do think stand out for Great Britain and what we are. And they're vegetable and fruit based. For me, asparagus at the start of the season, when that comes through in spring and you just go,

use those little shoots because it's the best asparagus you get in the world is British and it's amazing. And the understanding of how long it takes to grow, it takes two years before the asparagus comes in this these little spears and they're normally in funny little fields that are in rows that and they just stick through the ground some of it quite sandy soil so that the water drains off because it doesn't like it doesn't like a wet foot is what i learned from one of the farmers and farmers on my travels it doesn't like a wet foot so the water has to drain and so but it's amazing. Asparagus and then strawberries.

And arguably, Scottish strawberries are the best. Oh, that's going to cause offence. If you want to take Tom on there, and I'm not sure you should, 0333 003 2353. Go on, Tom. But there is a reason for it. And I learnt it on the last year's travel

of doing this TV show and book. When you go there, there's a reason why Scottish Strawberries are the best. It's longer sunshine hours. So when they are in, in Arbroath when I was there, when they're growing in the polytunnels and the sun comes up earlier, sets later, they have longer in those warming tunnels. And then at night time, there's this beautiful sea breeze

that comes up off the cliff face and cools them all down. The tunnels are facing the sea breeze that cools them down. So that sugar ripening process is longer and then it cools down. That's a beautiful description. And it constantly, and that softening, soft grow, like longer sunshine hours, then cool down. That makes a big difference to the sugars and it's absolutely amazing. It's arguably why Scottish red fruit is some of the best,

if not the best in the world. Okay, you've said it and I'm going to take it from you. The book is essentially about taking proper good British ingredients and making them the heart of a dish. Yeah, so it was a case of finding simple ingredients and it's all kind of based around this food truck that I took and I went on these travels and I went and visited producers and farmers and going to see these spaces. And then this food truck's got this lovely little pizza

oven in the back of it and a little barbecue set up but you can't be too complicated with the food that you're going to cook in a field so I go there find the produce cook something with it create something super tasty and nice using the produce they got it's really old school kind of like tv and book you remember when I first started cooking, Gary Rhodes, Rhodes around Britain did that lovely celebration of British produce and farmers. And then Rick Stein did something similar in Land Rover.

And it's a similar sort of thing of just going, actually, we remember why the food and the produce here is amazing. We have four very defined seasons. And, you know, you talk about, we said asparagus and strawberries there, but, you know, you go through the root vegetables and you go through those winter dishes

and you start seeing the fisheries. And even yesterday, I was out in the North Sea in a fishing boat and you just go, this is unbelievable. Our coastline is fantastic. Our produce is amazing. So when you come to writing those recipes, they had to be quite short and concise

because it's something you're cooking there, which then transpires to it. It's actually quite easy to do at home. So you can do them at home. It's about celebrating that single ingredient. Okay, well, there's a lovely one here that I'm definitely going to do. Salmon with Cajun spices.

Just looks really, really good. Salmon can be a bit dull. It needs tarting up a bit, doesn't it? Yeah, it's very rich. It's very, it's quite high fat content. So it can take big spice in. That one's got Cajun spices. But if you haven't got Cajun,

it's fine, do it like a barbecue rub or a jerk seasoning or a curried spice all of that salmon will take it on really nicely now am I right in saying you're one of the people from the world of business who signed that letter in support of the Labour Party you are yeah yeah did you watch the debate last night sadly I was on a plane back from Scotland last night however I have seen some of the fallout from it and I started watching little bits and bobs of it about midnight last night. Okay, well, the first question was from a woman

who really was, she was talking about the cost of living crisis. She was batch cooking furiously at the weekend so she didn't have to put her oven on and her pans and everything on the hob during the week when things were more expensive. Do you, I mean, that's real. That's her lived experience

and it will be the experience of some people listening right now. Do you think politicians properly connect with people in that situation? I think they try. I think there's probably a whole team around them that try to make them look like they do. I think there's some that are closer

to understanding it than others. I think there's, you know, there's some politicians that really do are into the grassroot levels of where they live, where they, who they represent. I think, and that's across all parties. I think some of them really do try to understand. However, sometimes I think that the world of politics and the world of media, it's only everything becomes, you forget about the grassroots, you forget about individuals and you think about numbers and you think about what's going on on screens and poll ratings and it suddenly becomes, actually, and I'm sure pretty much every politician,

I would have thought or I would hope gets into politics at the beginning to be about helping people and trying to make their communities better, whether you agree with their methods of how they do it or not. But you would hope that most people that go into politics start off because they want to make their world and people's worlds and lives better. Now, you have said in the past that you were on free school dinners at school. Things were very different then.

And I think I remember, but I could be wrong, that the children at my primary school on the free dinners had to sit at different tables and indeed had to queue in a different queue. And it was just like free dinners, that's where you sit there. Was it like that when you were at school or were things a bit kinder? No, no, no, I think it was like that. However, the school that I went to, there was a lot of people that were in that situation.

So it wasn't something that was so dissimilar to everybody else. But it does become... Free school dinners and free school meals, it does become quite alienating. You can feel that there is a stigmatism to it. I firmly believe that we should have free... The word free shouldn't be in there. It should just be school dinners and everybody should have one.

It should be part of food education and it should be a part and parcel of a child's life. Because it does make a big, big difference to the whole of the education system and learning i suppose you know disruptive kids are more likely to be more disruptive because they haven't eaten them you know their malnutrition there there is a there is a learning curve to this that then they in turn kids that have got the meals you know they can afford to have them they have eaten they have you know their education afford to have them they have eaten they have you know their education will be helped when teachers can concentrate on teaching the whole of the class there there is a bigger long-term picture to this however you know i do understand

that as part of a policy there's lots of other things that weigh down on government you know there's so many other things as well that need fixing but this is one of them that i do think it's a long-term strategy and it's something that should be listened to by whoever comes into government there are parts of britain where in fact children at primary school do get free dinner there are in london yeah in london yeah absolutely um can we just talk very briefly about the fact that you do get stick because you have campaigned on food poverty and then your critics were saying well look at the prices in this restaurant yeah um i, that happens quite a lot.

How do you respond to those criticisms? I don't respond at all. I pay no attention to it because if you can't understand the difference between one being a professional and top of your game and being somebody who comes from, that there's a level of what happens, there's a reason why something in a restaurant is that price

is because that's what it costs. And if it's very easy journalism and I think for people to criticize the price of day boat amazing fish served in harrods for example which is you know the most amazing incredible shop in the world in the most expensive city in the world in the greatest food hall in the world with the most incredible projects of course it's expensive served by professional staff compared to a backstreet chippy in in Gloucester where the food the fish has probably been at sea frozen for a year like it's very very different produce and if people um don't understand and can't tell the difference between someone who comes from a single parent background and grew up on estates in Gloucester to making a profession

and then there's a professional level that cost comes into it the same as whether you're a dentist or a lawyer or an architect or just because you're a chef things cost more and somebody who then campaigns for free school meals they're two very very different things one is a social understanding and one is a professional um positioning and they're two very very different parts so i don't respond i mean there's no point i mean people just like to argue and shout about stuff don't they when like if you stood back in the reality of it you understood it then you wouldn't argue are you willing to enter our election booth yeah okay yeah let's go ready yes um first political memory um so i was thinking about this last last night and I think my first political memory was, I think, the miners' strikes in 1984.

But I didn't really, I was 11 then, and I didn't really understand the political connotations of the situation and just realised that everybody where I lived and where I was around was on the side of the miners, and everybody, and you go, okay. But actually then the first one that really affected kind of affected me because I started paying it the year later was the poll tax and all of a sudden I was 17 and the poll tax and the poll tax riots and the understanding of how that kind of disproportionately affected everybody um in terms of I suppose being bought down from um ratable values of what your

house would be rented for compared to it being per capita per person in a house all of a sudden had a big made a big difference to people from where i grew up where i was living how i was living so that was my threat and i was 17 i wasn't able to vote but it was at that point where you start going actually this is where i remember this is where i remember that actually decisions about things are now beginning to affect me i left home when i was 18 and i could vote and i was then renting a house, so I was having to pay poll tax and all of these things and they suddenly become, they became real.

So probably the poll tax issues. Okay, good answer. And the first election you do remember voting in? It would have been 1992, I think it would have been that election. So that was when John Major won. John Major, yeah, John Major won, yeah. Okay, and what matters when you decide how you're going to vote? The bigger picture.

Like the situation and the space that we're in. I never think of me first. I always think of the people, colleagues, friends, people that, you know, staff that I work with. But it's always been the same from when I was 18 through to now I look at communities and everything around us and what needs improving and who's going to be the right people to do that for us okay and are you willing to tell us I think we could probably guess based on the letter you signed but how will you vote this time I shall be voting for the Labour Party yeah I mean I'll come clear I voted for the labour party from it's my background it's where i'm from it's my understanding and it's

i've always been very supportive of of people and communities um from a working class background and i think that party stands and understands more um myself and my background and my family and the people that are around where i grew up more than a conservative government can i ask you for a top tom kerridge chef's tip yeah if we're on the sofa on friday evening watching the next political tv debate starts at 7 30 features seven candidates goes on for an hour and a half. What would you suggest, maybe from your book, we should be eating? There's quick pasta dishes that are really nice,

because I'm sure you'll be riveted to the television. Don't want to miss a minute, Tom. Exactly. You can get some fresh pasta in a pan, cook it for around about, I don't know, five or six minutes in the same time. You can chop up some asparagus and a bit of broccoli, pan fry that very quickly pour the pasta in a little bit of pasta water a little spoon of mascarpone or like cream cheese some grated parmesan over the top there you go job done very very quickly easy under 10 minutes lovely sounds amazing i always forget

you can pan fry veg is it still good for you it's the best way of doing it like actually with a little bit like i like chopping it i hardly ever boil veg at all like you could even when i say pan fry you could just put a little splash of water a little splash of oil in the bottom of a pan and put it in and like kind of like imagine you're frying it and it steams it cooks it that quickly and then it's not boiling out all these juices actually the juices it's cooking in is its own water so the flavor is enhanced it's cooking its own nutrients and its vitamins it's not boiling out all these juices. Actually, the juices it's cooking in is its own water. So the flavour is enhanced. It's cooking its own nutrients and its vitamins. It's by far the best way of cooking. Do you know, in the last 30 seconds,

you've transformed my life. That's what I'm going to be doing. Yeah, honestly, it's the best way. Particularly green veg, like broccoli or asparagus. Chop it up quite small and just throw it around in a pan. It works so... And you'll find that it goes really vibrant green as well. It it so much more it gives it 20 percent more energy i put the veg on to boil last for tonight uh last thursday should be done by the time i get yeah yeah nice mash it

is then okay yes i think it will be mashed everything and actually i can't help noticing tom you are wearing a joy division sweatshirt now you seem like a really i'm not going to say happy go lucky but a man who's happy in his own skin are you a Joy Division sweatshirt. I am, yeah. Now you seem like a really I'm not going to say happy-go-lucky, but a man who's happy in his own skin. Are you a fan of Joy Division? I do like Joy Division. The great gloomsters of the 1980s. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Love Will Tear Us Apart. It's a great track.

It's a great song. It's a great track. An atmosphere, brilliant track. Yeah, I love I love the darkness in the light. I love when it comes to art, when it comes to music, when it comes to... I like hidden darkness in things. I mean, yeah, I love Joy Division.

I think they're great. Well, we're here for the hidden darkness, aren't we? He probably likes mushrooms. Yes. I bet you do, Tom. Oh, I love a mushroom. That appalling suggestion there from Fiona that Tom Kerridge may be a fan of mushrooms. Well, they can grow in the dark, Jane, and it's wrong.

It is wrong that something grows in the dark. Yes, you're absolutely right. I don't understand it. Have you ever come across anything else that grows in the dark? Bats. And anything else? No. Just bats.

Okay. Feed lover there. Right, that was Tom Caron-Kerridge and his book is called Cook's Britain. I'm sure, I'm almost sure, we've got a great guest for tomorrow. Any idea? Our guest tomorrow is Harlan Coburn,

the crime writer. Oh my goodness. Yep. And so I'm going to put to him some of the points raised by Dune McEachin and it's something that we have asked all the crime novelists who've come in about, isn't it?

Just about the cutting up, not necessarily of women, but just about the need for what seems to be an increasingly macabre plot line about how humans die. And I'm endlessly fascinated by that and what it does to your brain if you're writing it and actually just where it comes from in your imagination uh so plenty to talk to harlem about he is probably i would say in the top five uh crime writers in the world oh yeah he is a massive huge uh guest so looking forward to meeting him very much indeed and scared as well but yes well don't be

too scared. Jo is on a walking holiday at the moment. She's on her own and she's in Norway and it just won't stop raining. So, Jo, we're with you. I know we are with you because you're listening every day. I do hope the weather improves. I know it's not all that significant.

She's 25. She's on day four of a ten-day solo holiday in western Norway on the trails. But she just sounds fantastic, doesn't it, though, actually? Well, it does. But also, I would say, Jo, you know, just bail if you need to. I've bailed from a couple of holidays and felt unbelievably empowered by doing it.

Have you? It's terrible. The medical spa one. Oh, yes. I just had to get out. Yes. Oh, and just on the. The medical spa one. Oh, yes. I just had to get out. Yes. Oh, and just on the coffee, the cost of coffee conversation,

M is in Cambridge. £3.90 for a coffee. We're up to £4.10 for a medium mocha in Cambridge. Actually, seriously, we are, we're going to be under the next government,

whoever may form it, living in the land of the five-pound coffee. It's redonkulous, Jane. Cheers. You did it. Elite listener status for you for getting through another half hour or so of our whimsical ramblings. Otherwise known as the hugely successful podcast

Off Air with Jane Garvey and Fee Glover. We missed the modesty class. Our Times Radio producer is Rosie Cutler, the podcast executive producer. It's a man. It's Henry Tribe. Yeah, he's an executive. Now, if you want even more, and let's face it, who wouldn't, then stick Times Radio on at three o'clock Monday until

Thursday every week, and you can hear our take on the big news stories of the day, as well as a genuinely interesting mix of brilliant and entertaining guests on all sorts of subjects. Thank you for bearing with us, and we hope you can join us again on Off Air very soon.