Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - Georgio Locatelli

Episode Date: June 3, 2026

Ciao to all of our listeners, and benvenuto to our next guest, the fabulous Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli! We’re so excited to be part of Giorigio’s big announcement that he is set to be the new judge on Celebrity Masterchef on BBC One later this year! Mum took up the challenge of cooking for this Michelin star chef, and she even had a helping hand from the master himself. Not only is Giorgio an incredible chef, but he definitely needs his own Italian travel series too - we heard all about the very best places to visit in Italy, food spots in Sicily, where to find the very best olive oil, that his grandparents lived past 100 and you won’t want to miss his tip on how to find the best tinned tomatoes in the supermarket! Thank you for a gorgeous evening Giorgio, we can’t wait to see you in action on Masterchef later in the year.Listen & watch Table Manners here - https://tablemanners.komi.io/Follow Table Manners on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tablemannerspodcast/TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@tablemannerspodcastFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/tablemannerspodcastYouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@TableMannersPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Taver Manors. I'm Jessie Ware and I'm here at Mum's house. Hi. Mum and I are both looking a little... Freshly turned. Went on holiday last week. Yeah. Had the best time. It was wonderful. I forgot how well we got on. I know. Why did we get on so well?

Because we couldn't do the podcast. There was no cooking. I think I was very kind to you this week. You were kind. I looked after you. You did? You did? Yeah. Shout out Pelagoni in Zikin. My goodness. We had the best fun. I made a new best friend.

Oh my God, Penny. The fabulous Penny. Do you want to tell all the listeners that are of a certain age? So Penny started way in. And for the older people who listen, they will remember this fabulous boutique within Harrods that was completely dark with purple lighting. I've just found my best friend Alex,

who used to go there all the time as well. We love Penny and her gorgeous daughter. Kate. and we met, we made, we fabulous friends. We did, it was so fun, my daughter won Sailor of the Week. Sailor of the Week.

Hang on, like, because I have never, I'm not a boat gal. No. I did do Sunrise paddle though, Michelle's very pleased with myself. I got up at 5.30 in the morning. Yeah. Sam, because I've got such bad eyesight,

said that he saw a dolphin or a seal. We thought we saw dolphins. They were actually, do you know how attention-seeking tuna is? Yeah, they dance around with their silver. I was like, oh my God, because I'm blind, it's dolphins.

And I was like, wow, Pelagoni really seeing us off with the fireworks on the last sunset. No, they weren't dolphins, they were tuna, flapping about. It was like Fantasia need to be playing in the background. It was like the fountains at Disney. It was about 20 of them. It was mad. Yeah, it was great. Anyway, had a great holiday.

Phil rested, feel ready to go. I didn't do any windsurfing or both. We did nothing like. that. But we did eat well and we drank well. Yeah, it was, it was amazing. So, ready to start this podcast. Right. So I got back quite late last night. I know we did get back late. Got in at 12, watched you on Jules Holland and was thrilled because you were amazing. Thank you, mum. So I got up and I prepared everything for dinner today so that we could, because it is a Michelin Star chef. Yeah, we have Giorgio Locatelli coming on, who is a famous,

Lundstar chef who is also the new celebrity master chef judge with Grace Dent. So great gig. Such a great gig. Yeah. So he's coming over. What have you got on the menu, Len? So I've made a herb-crusted rack of lamb. The last time I heard about a herb-custed rack of lamb was with Nigella Lawson.

I've made a different crust. Okay. New potatoes with asparagus mixed in. Yeah. Jersey Royals, actually. and then I've done ribbons of courgette, which we were inspired by the old windmill in Zirkinthos, which was shout out to Pannos and his wife who's just had a new baby.

And great cooking. They had in their kitchen, they had every cookbook that we've got, but they had my friend's dusty knuckle. They had Easter Belfridge in there, Yotam, they had Honey and Co. It was so lovely to see all these cookbooks. And Pannos is really doing amazing kind of fusion, exciting food. Also the orange and cream ice cream and the lavender and honey ice cream were amazing.

Spectacular. But we were inspired by this. It's kind of ribbons of corsette with a pesto lemon and olive oil dressing and pine nuts and feta. And then what else are we having? And then a gorgeous lady called Victoria told me about a fab. Pavelova. You were sitting on the sunlangers next to her. Yeah.

And she said her friend recognised my voice because it's so endearing, I would say, not whiny, as you would say. She told me about a pavlova. I was going to make something completely different for dessert where you put pistachio cream in with the cream. And then it's got strawberries, crushed pistachios, toasted crushed pistachios and edible fowls on top. It looks really beautiful. It looks gorgeous. I've pushed the bow. for Georgia.

This sounds delicious. Chaubella. Georgio Locatelli coming up on table manners. Georgio, thank you so much for being here. You've come in and you've showered us with GIF. You smell wonderful, by the way. What is that?

I don't know. It's some perfume. I think it's Chanel. Oh. It's so good, but can we just talk about the fact that within our beautiful gifts, this comes out? What is this? I used to fly quite a lot when we had the consultancy all over the words.

And the things that you can never get is a nice drink. And that's, you know, very, very rarely you can get a nice drink on the plane. So we decide to make this Negroni, which is my favourite drink. And we just put you on the 100 mil, so you can actually carry it. You can carry two of them if you want, if you're greedy. And then you just ask for a glass with ice, and then you put your drink in it. Have you ever been stopped at security? No, never.

Yeah, yeah, because they want to. to take it from you because they want to drink it themselves. So they stop at security and they don't say, what is this? They do, but then it's, you know, it's there. Everything is written and is under a mill, so they cannot do anything about it. I love that this was your priority. And I'm here for it and I'm on a plane tomorrow. So maybe I'm going to put this with my face skincare.

People that can't see, this is Georgios Nogroni, which is coming in a very easy sashay, which is recyclable as well. Okay. Oh, wow. love to save the world whilst we're getting drunk. So thank you so much. And I have a friend that is your soon-to-be daughter-in-law? Daughter-in-law.

Carla. Carla. Carla Rossi. Who messaged me yesterday, a picture of you at a barbecue. What was on the barbecue menu yesterday? Okay. So there was some chicken, chicken thighs, then we marinate. it and I think Plaxi prepared this to different marinate.

One was a bit, it was like a jerk. And then the other one was kind of like a greeny one. It was really, really delicious. Yeah. And then there was some sausages, of course. You cannot have a bog without sausages. What kind of, yeah. Yeah.

There were like just 100% pork sausages, Italian pork sausage from the Italian butcher. And what that's, I also had some kind of like, I don't know, you know, you take spring onions, okay, and then you just clear it really well, tops and bottom, and then you wrap it up with the thing of bacon, and then you press it really nicely, and then you put it in the fridge, and then you cool them down. When they're cold, then you put them on the grill, and roll them gently, gently. And the idea is then it's really croccant on the outside, and the onions is cooked in the middle. It's a typical thing, a Sicilian thing. It's actually on the book, then I give you, there is a recipe for it. There's a description of that. Yeah,

Israel and the streaky bacon is perfect for that, you know, which is something that you don't find so much in Italy. So it's with the streaky bacon, they come absolutely perfect, beautiful. Are you Sicilian? No, I'm not, but I fell in love with Sicily when I was about 30. I've never been, you know, I come from northern Italy. And, you know, the northern Italian always things in the southern Italian, they just, you know, they don't want to work. It's a big divide. It's a big divide. Yeah, big divide. And so, and I go invited there. when I was 31 or 32, I got invited there to do a project with olive oil, and I fell in love with the place.

I fell in love so much. And, you know, then from there here, for 10 years onwards, we rent a house on the same place for 10 years, and we went back. And, you know, the cuisine was so, because Sicily is so different than Italy. It's right in the middle of the Mediterranean. So it was the most important piece of land in the world for thousands of years. And then as soon as America got discovered, then everything changed and he lost it completely.

But you know, you have there, you have something that is incredible in Sicily because, you know, we're talking about fusion on cuisine now. So usually fusion is a chef sitting in his kitchen, gets produce from all over the world, and he makes this fusion of this, and makes this recipe, then a fusion of culture and history and also ingredients. In Sicily is upside down because you have, All the culture have come from the Greeks, the Arabs, the Normans, the English, the French, the Spanish.

They all come there and they all play with the same ingredients of the island. So you have this cuisine and has a really incredible sort of, and that's why I wrote the book because I thought it was very, very important. And he changed my way of cooking as well. So, you know, for a chef, I think it's quite difficult than you get to 30, 35. you kind of turn it around. But it was so, you know, it was just such a beautiful place and beautiful people that it was so inspiring.

And I thought it was incredible. And the food then I grew up with, my first restaurant that I had in London was Zafferano and it was described as a northern Italian restaurant because we did cook northern Italian food. And after these trips, you know, I start to really use a lot of also the southern Italian cooking. because I told it was worth it and it was and also because obviously when I was 30 then it was the moment that Europe got very close so we could get

a lot of much more of the ingredients you know Georgia what's that place in Sicily the bottom where the three seas meet Mediterranean Terrino and Yonio Yes so they all meet and they fish with swordfish there well that's so happens

it's the magistrate of Messina you know that's it was this like a food writer One of the first food writers called Arcus Stratos It was 2000 BC And he wrote about He's travelling around it

And he says one thing Especially the best swartreche that you can get Is the one that you can get from the street And I remember I went with an old boyfriend And we went there And we watched And the fishing boats have like a long sword That's right

They look like swordfish And they go out at night And they fish with the light Was it the most incredible swordfish? It was fantastic Because you see, it's just what happened is this, that they come there before the mating season. And so they are on their really strength. And so that's where you catch them.

I mean, obviously, they catch them all year as well now. But, you know, obviously there was season as well. I mean, sometimes you say the season for fish, the people look at you because are you mad or something? You have season. But fish have got season that you should fish them and not. Yeah. So the swordfish was very much that. And Sicilian wine is very good.

Sicilian wine is very good. It's something quite new. It's only the last 40 years, 35, 40 years, because, you know, like Puglia and Sicily, both regions produced a lot of beautiful grapes, which is sun-kiss, so a lot of sugar, so a lot of alcohol. And so that grapes used to be sent up to the north. But they made the wine now.

And to France as well, you know, like they were saying, I was reading something. It was like more than 70% of the grapes that they produced until the 70s. They'll go to France. And in France, then make the wine. with the Italian grapes in order to, because in France, if you have a year, then it's cold,

especially in the north, then you don't have sugar, then you don't have alcohol. So that's what they need it. And so that's what they used to bring up. But now you have small reality, small producer than producing the era. That's what is really nice. And you just, have you been to Hetna?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That is amazing. I always say when you, if you have kids, if you want to give them something to remember for the rest of your life, You got to take them out. It's amazing. You got to take them out to whatever. Because that is the closest things that you can get to be on the moon or somewhere like that.

It is an amazing place. And all, you know, obviously is very fertile. It's all the around. So as you go around it, which there is a train that goes all around the things. And then you go to the nebrody and then you come back from the other side. And you have this unbelievable garden. That's where the pistachio grows. You know, the pistachio.

My God, I can't remember the name of it. I think you're doing, you're like a historian on food. You need to be an encyclopedia. We love Stanley Tucci, but I think there needs to be Georgia a Locatelli's Italy. You need to go and do like a travel program. Yeah, that's what I need to do. That's what I like to do.

Actually, that's what I like to. Well, I mean, should we talk about the first program that we're about to announce? Would you like to do the honors, Georgia? Do, do, do, do, do, do. I think. I'm the first Italian to be nominated as Master Chef judge. Wow. Of England,

English Master Chef. So you're doing the Celebrity Master Chef. The celebrity one, yes. You are the judge with Grace Dent. With Grace, yeah, which is like a great girl, Northern girl, lover. Have you, have you filmed it yet? Yeah, we've done it. So, in Birmingham.

Did you have a great time? That must have been fun. On the studio, yes, outside, a little bit less because we had like 46 days of rain. Oh no! And you have to like a good curry in Birmingham. And I do like a good curry.

I tell you, the city is fantastic. I really love it and they're so warm and if you ask somebody in the street, something that help you, they'll take you to where you want to go. It's such a nice, warm place. It's just, it rains all the time. It's like, you know, can we ask, what kind of judge should we expect from Giorgio Locatelli?

Have we got our own kind of tagline? Like Simon Cowell had, I don't like it. I love it. Have you found your tagline yet? No, I think I'm still looking for it. But, you know, my idea, it was that, you know, I kind of like the idea to work with Grace on these. And really, because, I mean, these are celebrities.

Can you name any of the celebrities? Are you allowed? No, I can't. You're not allowed? Not allowed. I'm not allowed. It's too early. So the idea is, you know, we're working with celebrities, which is different than working with, you know, people than want to be a chef.

But still, you can really see them growing in what you do. And so this was the things that interest me more on the old experience, really. And as a judge, I really tried to be. Were you kind? Were you good cop or bad cop? I think I was a bad cop. Oh, wow! I thought you'd be good cop!

No, was that lovely smile. Strict, strict, strict. You're strict. Strict. Oh, God, now I'm frightened. Oh, Jesus. Strict. Strict about, you know, cleaniness and organization.

So those little skills that you teach them slowly. Was it tough love, basically? Yeah, kind of thing. You know, like, I make you an example. Okay. Like the people come, and the first thing they do, is that you tell them, okay, cook, whatever. So they take their onions and on the bench,

what they do is just that they just have to peel the onions here and then they leave a bit of the onions of the skin there. And so the idea was like, you know, you kind of, I always go in and say, you know, okay, oh, look, I get a bowl. So everything you peel, you're peeling inside here. So your table is clean. And so those are little little tips. Excuse me, Lenny.

I use a bowl and I use do compost. Thank you. Lenny. But we like to keep a clear surface. My grandma taught me that and you're actually obsessed with that. Okay, fair enough. It's good. You know, to be obsessed about organization and cleanness in the food usually comes out.

It gives a good result. Did you, were you wowed by any of the dishes? Yes, there was somebody who really surprised me a few times. In the positive and in the negative. But, you know, yeah, it was like, it was fun. good fun to do. It was really good fun to be with there and you know everyone has proved something already in their lives and they achieve already something. That's why they're there because they are celebrities in different different fields, public and also we had some sports

people which you know, competitive. Competitive? Yes. Food is fuel to sportsmen I think. No, but competition is also it's also the great thing about and, you know, the people then worked in entertainment, they found it's so difficult to cook to the time. Ah, like the sportsmen, the sports people, they were bang on time. So their life is all run by time. Well, the other people is all about creativity.

Did you make any new best friends? I did, yeah. I did kind of like, you know, we can't keep in touch at the moment, but I'm sure I'm going to get in touch with something. Right, I'm going to interrupt you because you're a Michelin Star chef. I'm doing rack of lamb, and I've seared it first, and it's got a little crust on,

which you can take off if you hate it. But how long would you put it? It says between five and 15 minutes. It's already seared the lamb. So how long would you leave it in the oven for? But depends what the crust is like. The crust is only breadcrumbs. Okay, jebracrumbs and herbs.

And herbs? And you put a bit of butter in it? Yeah, put all the butter in and everything. Butter in it. No, how long would you put it in the oven? No more than six or seven minutes. Definitely less than ten. And how long would you rest it for?

That's the thing. Resting is more important than actually cook you at this point. I'm stressed out for Lenny now. He's going in. He's going in. Yeah. What do you think? Tell me look, can we push on it?

Yeah. Oh yeah, because he's a proper chef. He fingers it, yeah. Oh, yeah, that's eight or ten minutes, yeah. Eight or ten minutes. Mum, maybe you finger it too, mum, so you can see what an eight or ten. I could see how to do it's nice and soft. Okay.

All right. Okay. You put a bit of mustard on it as well. I put mustard and then I did breadcrumbs with all different herbs. Okay. Let's see. Now, speaking of Italy, you grew up in northern Italy, can you take us back to the family dinner table? And who was around that dinner table?

And what were you eating? So the family was a bit complex Because what happened is this is like You know we obviously My Granddad built this restaurant With my uncle And so and all the family worked in this restaurant So for us Saturday, Sunday, Christmas

They were working days for everyone And what was the rest? What kind of Italian food? Italian food and then he had like a Was it a trattaria Was it more? A little bit more elegant Eleanor.

It was a new build on the lakes Overlooking the lake and a restaurant. Which lake? It's called Lago di Comabio, which is seven lakes around like Como, Maggiore. Which lake was it? It's called Comabio. I've only been to Combo. Yeah, Como is very close, about 20 kilometres. There is seven lakes in that area. Yeah. So it's one of that. It's one of the smallest one, you know. And so they built these, these hotel and had like a restaurant on the ground floor, sort of thing. And then a banqueting room on the top, which had 150, 200 people could dine in there.

And then there had 10 rooms at the top. Right, okay. So it was an hotel and restaurant. It was really, it was built in 1963, so when I was born. So you lived in this hotel? No, we didn't. We live in the village. But, you know, my uncle and his wife and my cousin lived there, but we lived in the village.

But, you know, from a very young age, we will all go there. But my uncle was from this sort of pastry. It was a brother, one of the brother from this really great. pastry in Gallerate, which is this sort of like place between us and Milan. And so, so for us, Tuesday, when the restaurant was closed, was the day then everybody got together. So on Tuesday, we wouldn't get the bus to come home because we'll arrive too late. So either my dad or somebody will come and pick us up from school, so we will be at one o'clock, bam, on the dot, we will be home.

And it will be always, you know, both my granddad, both my grandmother, which they're all live until they were under hundreds, all of them. Cricky, what did they eat? Very little, apparently, when they were young. I think that's why you live long. That's right. Eat less. Yeah.

And so, and they will, and also sometimes the uncle from the pastry shop will join us. So it will always be a big, big table. And, you know, obviously in the winter, there will be always this, you know, northern Italian food is gives his best during the winter with the polenta, the rabbits. My granddad used to raise rabbits, so we used to kill them and skin them and just cook them. Did you have to do that? I helped him. Yeah.

Yeah. I think, you know, this is a very important thing because I guess them as a kid, if you see doing that, you grow up with the kind of respect of the meat that you eat. I think then the people then buys meat in packets in the swole. supermarket, they feel such a distance and not responsible for it. Yeah. Well, you know, this is, you know, for them to throw away a piece of meat would be like nothing. Do you still like...

Well, I thought somebody who raised something and killed it and cooked it, he will never throw it away. Do you still like rabbit? I love rabbit. Do you? Do you? Oh, really? I always had the on the menu during the winter. Did you?

It was one of my signature dish at La Conda. Yeah. I have to say, I had such a beautiful meal at La Canda Locahatelli. Jesse can remember the exact thing. Well, I remember the angel hair pasta. Was it with truffle and butter? It was like, it was so comforting. I think I was pregnant with my first child.

And we went and my friend took us there, Henry Village, who was trying to, he was like, I'm going to take you to my favourite sport. And it just, it was so delicious, so comforting, but also beautiful and elegant. But yeah, so I loved it so much. Well, we always tried to do something that was very much. we always felt that we wanted to see an Italian restaurant they had high quality because sometimes we kind of think about Italians

as oh yeah it's more about you know the idea of being welcoming and be a bit noisy and not so much on delivering the quality we always thought that we want to do something that has a very high quality that reflect my sort of career in the kitchen but we want to have that family

It really felt that. When somebody says, oh, that was a really delicious meal, but it was like bean at all. I think that was the, we always say, well, that's the best compliment that you can pay us. Which is your favourite pasta dish that you cook without even thinking? And you just think, I fancy a bit of something nice tonight. But, you know, it's just spaghetti with tomato sauce.

Yeah, and your tomato sauce is... It depends where I am. Obviously, when we are in Pugia, when we are in Italy, obviously it would be like the tomato. Yeah, the fresh, fresh, yeah. cook them. Like in this time of the season, in this season, I would use Quare di Bouet. I wouldn't even cook it.

I would just dize them, season them, basil, oil. And just put it on the pasta. And then just let them as you're going, and then you add a little bit of your boiling water of the spaghetti as it goes, and then you're spaghetti in it and that's it. So you don't even make a sauce with onion or garlic or... No, no, no, no, just roll like that, like a salad. Yeah. And then you serve, by the time you serve it, it's warm and it's nice and you get that bit.

You can put some olives or some angiovicinit or something like that. Delicious. Do you add any sugar? Okay, sugar. Oh, no. Oh, my God. What have I done? It's a big thing about.

No, you shouldn't. Need you. People also say, oh, you put sugar to get rid of the acidity. No, it doesn't well like that. It doesn't get rid of acid. It just becomes sweet. Don't get rid of the acid. It's the same.

Would you put sugar in? I've never put sugar in any of my sauce. tiny amount in. I mean, I'm not an Italian Michelin-star chef, so what do I know? Depends as well. If you're making a tomato sauce straight from tomato, from fresh tomato.

No, it's from the, you know, the mutty. That's what you're using mooty. Yeah. I like that. Okay. I think it's really delicious. Yeah. I also do the thing and then you're going to be like,

why are you doing it? I cut half an onion. I cut half an onion and I like... The Marcella Hassan tomato sauce. You leave their... Infuse it with the... You put the onion in the tomato sauce, bring it to the boil,

and then leave it for an hour or something. I would never do it. You're like, why are you doing that? I tried to do it the other week. Well, I tried to do it the other week, and I thought, I'm going to try it because I'd seen someone on an Instagram do it, and I thought I'm going to have a go, but no, it's not for me.

The quality of the tomato sauce is always based on the quality of the tomato that you get in the freshness. Okay, but so you said that it was fine that I was using those tins. So with that, you wouldn't add sugar with that one. No. Okay. No, because like example, company like that, they'll pick the tomato. The great thing about tomato in the tin,

sometimes it's better than fresh tomato. Yeah. Because the fresh tomato, you don't know really what you got there. While with that, you know all the time, and it's been picked at the right time of the year. One of the most important thing is she's got all the written in that. Then on the top or the bottom, there is always a printing with different numbers.

So those are the day, the day of the year, then they've been picked. Oh, bloody hell. What you have to try to do is always to go to the 150, 140, 120. So if you have the 100, it's a serious number. The second number is, have you got it to know.

Have you got a Tino? Have you got a Tino? Oh, this is so annoying. How annoying. Sorry. And so that tells you. So obviously you always try to get the one that they picked end of spring, start of summer. Because that's where you get the best.

So is that the number of days? The day then it's been picked. So we're going for 150, 100. 120 till 150. This is such good intel. Yeah. Thank you. Grazie.

Okay. So rabbit, around the dinner table was kind of, so your uncle would be bringing in some beautiful pastries. Pastry, yeah, big cake all the time. Would it ever be leftovers from? the hotel or would they ever like... There would be stuff like if they had a big banqueting on the Sunday with lasagna and there would be some left over, they would be coming. But my grandmother used to be like kind of...

My grandmother Vincentina, which is, you know, I used to cook with her. That's the one, that's the first person I cook with. And she used to be kind of proud and she didn't want to have too many other things coming. The pastry, okay, but for the rest you look after the old thing. Okay. And, you know, they have like a really like, I don't know, have you ever heard of. heard about this like it's like a stew of cabbage and it's called cassela it's cabbage and it's got pork in it you use the nose you use the ears use everything right yeah everything was left

over the pig goes in there and it's delicious you know yeah delicious yeah and all is served with polenta i've never really cooked with polenta because i i really enjoy it but i kind of don't feel confident with it because i feel like it can make it too sloppy do you know what i mean look you know A bag of polenta of half a kilo cost one pound 20 is really... It's affordable. Yeah, you can make a mistake. Okay, fine. And, you know, let's say that it's one of these ingredients

that has 100 lives. Because let's imagine then you do them and it gets a little bit too heavy or too starchy. So let it cool down, then you're going to cut it. Then you can start it again. You can do a bachelmole, you add some tomato, you can buy some cheese or things like that. You mix it again and then you bake it.

It's fantastic. What do I have to touch now? What do you mean? What you have to start? It's still, no, still, it's still rare. So, shall I need it? Yeah, yeah, a few minutes more. How long has it been in?

Ten minutes. Ten minutes. But we think longer. Yeah, like two, three minutes more. Okay. You don't want it rare, rare, rare, do you? No. No, okay.

Okay. I would love you to start thinking about your last supper. My last supper. Yes, you're going to have your starter, your main. your dessert and your drink of choice. Okay. My starter would definitely be one of, I think I only created two or three recipe in my life.

So this is one of them, which is like a scallops with the saffron vinegar. And that's something that, you know. That's woken up my taste buds. Oh my God, that sounds amazing. And that was it. We used to serve you as well with, I would love to be served with some celery up pure.

Celerya pure. Celery. Celaria puree, yeah. Yeah, that has a really, kind of like, I don't know, he has a fantastic taste and really make the sweetness of the scallops really blow up. So it's really, really delicious.

Do you remember when you created that dish? After I come back from Paris. Okay. And I was in Paris. When I'm in Paris, I learned. When you were cooking in Paris. Yeah, I cooked in Paris for three years and I worked in these two restaurants

and in one of the restaurants, we used to do this gastric, which was like a reduction of sugar. vinegar, wine. Sometimes wine, sometimes wine, sometimes not, but sometimes vinegar. And we used to use this fantastic vinegar that come. There would be raspberry vinegar or things that. And they will make these really sweet things like that.

And I don't know how come. But one day when I was eating some grilled scallops like that, I thought about the flavor of the... There's only one fancier drink of wine, I know. Yeah, I love it. And I thought about the combination of the flavor. the flavor of saffering is very common to us, Northern Italian, because Italian sol is risotto with saffre.

Yes. So it's a thing, and you know, like, and then I don't know how I got it, and I tried, and I used the technique of the gastric, and I put it together, and it felt like, you know, this is British, there is no better scallops than scallops that come from Ireland or Northern Scotland. They are the best scallops in the world, you know,

you don't get them anywhere else as big as there, beautiful. And so and the combination of my identity, what I'm learning in Paris and the produce that was British, I felt it was just such a good match. Okay, so we've got the starter. Main. Are you going to slip in a preemie? I feel like you're allowed because you're Italian. No, I think I, you know, as a Maine I want to have a risotto. What risotto are we having? Since it's the last supper,

it must be with white travel. Oh my, I've never had that. So the Talionini that you had, but on a risso. Have you had that? Well, that's why I had it his, but not risotto. Is it salute? Salute. Salute.

Salute. Salute. All right. So you're going to have risotto. Yeah, so you enjoy the Taliaolini. But the Taliallini are really good with the white truffle. The taliolini in the pasta usually loses the heat quite fast, especially because you work with the butter sauce, so you can't have everything.

it boiling, otherwise it's split. But the risotto, always eat so much. So as you grate in the truffle on top, the truffle touches and kind of like, I don't know, it's not a very nice word to say, but he sweats out. Oh, yeah. The smell.

So you're having like a double of the flavor that you will get if you have pasta with it. And are you having any sides with that? No, no. Sign, like this idea of, you know, when you eat in pasta, you eat in pasta. with risotto, you have risotto.

No, eat pasta with other things. Okay, not even a salad. Are we not even having a salad? No. Okay, fine. No, the truffle. Okay, this is very delicious and very specific. Now, I'm frightened.

No, I am too for you. I feel like maybe Georgia just needs to take over now, Mom. No, it doesn't. Do you need to just check it? It might meet one more minute, actually. Yeah, it is soft? Is it like, you know that? Just go and check, Georgia.

Go and check. You know that? No. So if you put your fingers on your little... Yeah, I know what you mean. What am I doing? What are we supposed to... Yeah, no, that's quite soft. What's it supposed to feel like?

So that's that part of your fingers. I'm just thinking about a minute. It gets harder as you change your fingers. Yeah. So that's the cooking. I'm regretting doing this one. So your index finger is the cooking. Yes.

That's how you want it to feel. It's your Mount of Venus. Mantov Venus. That's what it's called. And it should be feel as soft as that. Yes, that's what it is. When it's cooked, right. As you're going along, it gets harder.

So this is well done and this is rare. Jesus. I didn't know this. Which one's well done? Okay, sorry. The other one, the hardest one. Right, people... When you touch that, touch that.

People that are listening to this, we are touching our thumb and our index finger. And then if you play with the different fingers touching your thumb, you'll feel that little bit of flesh underneath your thumb that kind of sticks out. What is it called? Mounted Venus. Mounted Venus. Google it.

So if I wanted a medium rare steak, when I go to middle. Yeah. Okay. Middle finger. Guys. I'll dress this for about a couple of minutes. That's a mistake that everybody makes with baked, when they bake piece of meat. And they never rest it. Resting is as important as the cooking.

I'm resting it, definitely. Get it out of here. I'm about to rest. So do you have a sweet tooth? I do. I do kind of like sweets, but. I'm not crazy about it. Is that part of the kitchen,

then I never show too much interest because it's so, you know, it's so about reasoning. It's all about precision and following the recipe. Yeah. I prefer cooks than cooks from the hearts. And cooks with their... So those guys, usually, they're not very good at pastry.

I wasn't very good at pastry, and the first job then I had at Zafferano, I cut my wages in order to employ a pastry chef that you did that. And from there on, I always had a pastry chef, which you have a very good relationship because they need you as much as you need them for the idea, but let them the execution,

elect the execution to them. And, you know, it's, I don't know. So for your last supper, after the scallops and the risotto, what are we having for pudding? Or is it a cheeseboard? No, I mean, you know. What's your favourite Italian cheese, by the way? is Castelmanio

Have you ever heard about it? Is it the one that's kind of quite soft? No, no, no. It's quite gritty. No, we've not come across that one. It's quite gritty. You found it in England as well. But it's very small production.

It's only two valleys in Italy than produce it. So pudding, are you not bothered about your pudding? I'm not bothered about pudding. This is not full enough for me, Georgia. This is why you're slim and you look very young and your skin as well. And you're going to live till 100. Are you going to be the first person to not have a dessert? No, no, I'll have a dessert.

Okay. I don't want to put a gun to you ahead. But I know when we are at home, also like, you know, we have a bit of a problem because, you know, we have Margarita, our daughter. Me and Plaxia have a daughter's called Margarita. And she's been allergic to every nuts, every type of eggs. She's allergic to eggs. So for us, pastries always been a bit of a no, no-go area.

Has it not got better as she's got older? No, he hasn't. She's still... Sometimes it did. Some stuff be better. How old is she? Now she's 30 now. Right.

Oh, man, that's... She's elderly well and she's okay. You know, she's dealing with it. And, you know, she always travels around with her epipad. So, but that's why pastry... So for us, pastry at home is always, either some ice cream, we have one of the small ice cream machine that we make ice cream in that. Have you?

You make a lot of ice cream at home? Yeah, we'll make ice cream and... saw bits. Lovely. A lot of soobits. And then, you know, for her, it's always tried to get it because she cannot eat fruit than is uncooked.

So she can eat fruit when it's cooked. So always dessert and they are based. So d'artatan, which is obviously French. Italian circles, it's terrible. But, you know, that's one of the, exactly, because you can do, you know, the pastry is without eggs and so

so we can manage that. So, but otherwise, you know, it's, I mean, I love fruit-based dessert and souffleers. Fis is one of the things, but you know, I can't cook a souffle at all. I don't believe that. You don't have to cook it. You don't have to cook your own dinner, by the way.

Yeah, like, I think then, but you would want to. A pistachio souffle with a chocolate ice cream. Oh my God. Or a chocolate souffle with a pistachio ice cream. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Pistachio. It is the best.

Yeah, the bronte pistachio ice cream is just amazing. Where did you get that? Well, you get a paste. You buy pistachio paste, yeah. This pistachio paste. It's extremely expensive, but you really need a tin of, like, for the machine, you need like a half of a spoon, like 45, 40 grams. Do you have a home in Italy?

Yeah, I have a home. I have a home in Italy where my mom still leaves. Oh, wow. So in northern Italy. Yeah. And I have a home that me and my wife both in Puglia. Yeah, everyone says it's fast. Because Ploxie doesn't like Northern Italy.

She only likes Southern Italy. She likes a bit of warmth. Yeah, I guess so. I think, you know, she feels like, you know, Northern Italy. Where I was born and raised, it's a bit like Germany, something. You know, everything is. Or Switzerland kind of thing. Yeah.

Because we always go to Greece every year, but I really want to get to know Italy better. So if you were going to recommend for food, where would you suggest to go on a holiday in Italy? First of all, it's important this season. Where to go? Let's go spring or summer? Spring. Okay. Definitely spring.

Where am I going? Spring, definitely around Easter. Okay. You will be blown away by Easter. Really? And I mean, for me, Sicily would be the best because you guarantee to have very good weather at that time of the year. And also, you will see something that you never seen. Because, you know, while Christmas has become Americanized, you know, we all become.

Father Christmas of England. Christmas was a different thing, you know, a long time ago. Easter has kept this unbelievable quality because it's really, it's not about exchanging present. Yeah, they give you chocolate eggs, but that's it. You know, it's not commercialized as much, but it's really, has still a very high religious value. And you can see these things happening. Sicily is amazing. Do they do like processions? Everywhere.

Yeah. I mean, there is this place. It's called modica. Modica. And the city is cut, the city, the fat village is cut in a half by the river. People live in this side and on this side, and then at the top, they have this church. And so then from the morning, from Easter morning, the Madonna is, they carry the Madonna with the band on one side, and they all chasing each other. And then when it comes 12 o'clock, the city is empty. And there is only the band and these people and everybody is behind things, looking at the window.

And then when they get to 12 o'clock, they get to the central square and suddenly thousands of people arrives and they get close to it. And then everybody says, Vasa, Vasa, Vasa, which means kiss. Vaza, Vaza, Vasa. And when they lift up the thing

and when the Madonna touches the Christ, they underneath this sort of thing that they carry, all these birds, all these doves and they all have like something attached to their feet and they let them out and they all fly out

and wherever they go that tells them I mean obviously it's not true but it tells them what it's going to be like because you see it's like spring is coming and so the new season is coming and so that's a very felt things from there

it sounds magical I would like to know I mean you know you are I've got a burning question okay sorry go right Greece says they've got the best olive all Spain will say they've got the best olive all Italy definitely say they've got the best olive oil. Who's got the best olive oil?

Well, Italians are the one who are managing to charge more money for it. Oh, so? But, like, you know, it depends, you know. Obviously, the Italians have kind of like worked out a way to produce the olive oil very fast as soon as they pick the olive. Like, and that makes the olive oil of a higher quality. Okay. But, you know, again, you know, I mean, the biggest amount of olive oil is produced by Spain.

Yeah. Spain is the biggest producer. And, you know, like, I've been to Greece and they are the animals, so they do it. It's like, they let them fall down. They let the olive fall, you know. Oh, they wait until November. Yeah, they shake the tree after. That's really like, you know, no, you have to, you know, like in Sicily when we pick the olive oil,

their olive oil that I brought you, that is made in Sicily. And, you know, you have a comb that you put the olive down. The olives are really green. They're really at the best. And, you know, it's the quality of the olive. The season counts a lot. The quality of the olive comes a lot, but also the process of making it. And fastest you can make it better is.

Once upon a time, you know, the front oil would be one front oil. Front oil is where they press the oil, no? So the front oil would be very spares. Now there is this small front oil than they are placed all over. So I know then our olive oil gets making four hours, four to six hours from the picking.

Wow. From four hours after you have picked the olive, you have the olive. This is so interesting. So almost the faster, you're saying the faster is made, the better it is. Yeah. And I guess with other things,

you'd be like time and care and effort and do know, it's like get it in, make it, that's the best. It's an interesting, I never really thought. I do like us. olive oil. Also like, that's good.

It's good. Yeah. Libanese makes fantastic olive oil. Really? Yeah. All the basis of the Mediterranean is maybe. It's just,

the problem is always that. Then again, they're still, and you know, lately a lot of, a lot of people have gone down there and tried to really make sure

that they, they do this process very fast. I mean, the difference in color and quality and also nutritional value, you know, the polyphenol still alive, so the green olives

olives is there. So where do you do? Which one is the best? olive oil. There is no a best olive oil because it depends what you're cooking. If I'm cooking some grilled fish, then I would use some olive oil that come from northern Italy, from Lagodigarda or from Liguria, which is, you know, old Tajaska olive, which is small black olives. Do you get a say at all in what, like you eat at night and how, which olive oil you get? I always eat the olive oil that comes from Locatelli. Oh, there we go. Very good. She says the

Yeah, I love all this from Locatelli that she said to we sell. Good, very good. I want to know what you've eaten today. Today? Yeah. Nothing. Oh my God. I had breakfast.

Have a potato and hot one in your gob now. No, I'm going to start cutting the ends up. Can we eat this damn laugh? I'm going to start cutting the ends up. Yeah, and then we'll go into it. Do you've eaten nothing all day? No, I had a really good breakfast. What did you have?

I had like my favorite thing, which is yogurt with a grated apple, blueberries, and nuts. and different nuts, different type of nuts. What, granola or just different? No, no, no, no, granola, no. No sugar in the morning. Okay. I think that's quite important.

Oh, really? Yeah, okay. Yeah, no sugar in the morning. Because, you know, I had too many years with, like, 10 espresso, and with three spoon of sugar in it, and so that. I'm just going to cut it here. Yes. And then I'm just going to.

Should I help you? Yes. Okay. But I've been cut the ends off and I'll put the other back you. Let's have a look. Let's have a look at it. Just do the ends anyway. I can get your guests working

it looks amazing I've got too many alright then you put you on there and I'm putting these back in and we can have more in a minute Georgie can I serve you some of this? Yeah I'm not going on celebrity master chef clearly not doing bloody lamb

not getting the gig want a bit of crust yes please thank you I don't understand this because I've done this before and I'm I think your oven's fucked No, it isn't on. It's so hot. I think that last time, you see it a little bit more. Maybe.

Because you see, like, if you see it a little bit more, then it would be like a sign there. That's enough, thanks. You didn't sear it enough. Yeah, you didn't see it enough. There's a spoon. Did you find the spoon? Thank you. Fantastic.

All right. Let's have a taste. Let's deliver a Celebrity Master Chef Judge note. It's gorgeous. Mm. Crust is nice, really crispy. Good. It is rare but it's warm all the way through so it's not...

Yeah, it's not the end of the world. It's really tasty, man. Yeah, it really is. That crust is lovely. Do you like it? Really do. What you have to do, I think next time... Yeah, when you make...

Sear it longer. No, yeah, sear it a little bit longer. It put a little bit more butter into that. That's just it sticks a little bit more. Mm-hmm. And those potatoes are delicious. I love it. Jersey Royals.

With some asparagus. Yeah. I do remember when there was such a celebration when I come to England to work, my first job was the Savoy. And so you get educated on great British classic grouse on the six. Was that the 12, the glorious 12? And one of the things that was when the Jersey Royal would arrive and never. and we will cook them steam and it was just such a great thing.

Where do you get your truffle from? I get my truffle. At the moment, so white or black truffle? Black truffle. Black truffle, I get it from near Norcia in this place called San Pietro Pettin. And here between Norcia and Assisi,

so Umbria. This place is a beautiful, San Pietro Pettin. It's on the way, you know, San Francisco from Assisi is to walk, to Rome. He walked, for time he walked to Rome. And in St. Pietro Petti's where he spent

the first night after walking 35 or 40 kilometres from there. And it's just a magic, magic place. And the truffle is delicious. Can I ask, where are some of your favourite spots in the UK or London? I know you live in London.

That you would go and have a guaranteed fabulous meal? I'm really local. I love. the idea that you just get out the house and walk to a restaurant that you have a nice meal and then you walk home. I love that. When you start to have to have a cab and a car and these and that, it starts to be a less of a natural sort of idea for me. So I love this place in North London and it's called the Periqui is a pub in Kentish Town. Right. And there is a very talented young chef

there, which his name is Ben Allen. Ben Allen. That's fantastic, plaxy, thank you. It's Ben Allen. And he cooks a lot. A lot of it, he cooks on fire. So, yeah, very small kitchen with very little sort of, yeah, so three live fire, so one grill, and like a jasper and another sort of different grills,

so two different grills. And a lot of the stuff come from there and it's delicious. What it makes is, I always have, I never had a bad meal in the last two or three years that would be there. You go there, it's a pub. Darling, help yourself. What's upon the time you used to be able to get a table.

Now it's almost impossible, unless you book. This is really nice though, Mom. It's really lovely and light and fresh. You know I like it to go well. It goes well, look. It's really nice, really flavour some. But your crust as well is very nice. It really does make a difference.

You're very sweet. What was the last exciting thing that you tried that wasn't a beating heart of a rattlesnake? You heard about that. Yeah. Was it delicious? It was delicious. It was incredible.

And it paltz in your mouth. Where were you? Thailand. Cricy, I'm not eating that one we go. Did you pay for it or they paid juice? Did it come with sauce? No, no, it just comes like, you know. I think I saw it.

I saw somebody else eating it in some kind of video somewhere and I thought that's what I wanted. It's for Anthony Bourdain the moment. I think that's where I saw it the first time. Probably. Yeah, no. See, I'm going for his like dirty martini recommendation in Bali. I'm not going for the rattles to know, but, you know,

never say never. What is a nostalgic taste that? transport you back somewhere. Definitely, you know, it's like there is a few pastas that they like, they're just so ingrained, it's like yonoki with ragu sauce. It's something that, you know, my grandmother used to cook it. And I love the fact that she used to cook it for my granddad at 12 o'clock, and then she will keep them there in the sauce for us to come home from school at one.

And then when we come back, she'll refri them. and so they become a little bit crispy and so that was really like well it's one of those things and like when we do the yoki and when we do them you know i really feel like i'm i'm still there in that i remember that kitchen i remember that table that was red and i remember the knives and she used to cut them and i remember those things so so how old was she old when she died yeah she was hundred you see i had two grandmothers one of her one she had two grandmothers one she dies and she's 100 and the other 103. Wow.

You're going to make old bones. Let's hope so. Yeah, that is old. 100 and 103. Yeah, they haven't done much in their life. You know, it's not like that. Yeah, you probably have too much stress. They're living their life.

Making nocky was the most stressful thing. Making sure that everything was ready by 12 o'clock. It's my granddad. Lunch at 12 o'clock. No one minute late, no one minute before. So how much time do you spend at the restaurant? At the moment, you know, we close Locanda. Yeah, I know, but you're just during the National Gallery.

Yeah, we're National Gallery. So is it open in the evening? No, only on Friday and Saturday. And only till 10.30. Oh, that's nice. Not too anti-social. So then you go clubbing afterwards in Soho. I think then the club in time.

The club in years and gone. I remember Richione. I used to go to Richione. You go to the club? No. Whiskey a go-go-go. Really? That was the best place, me and Auntie Susan,

used to go clubbing at Wiss or the Bat Caverna. There was another place called the Bat Caverna and Whiskey Agogo in Rich. The famous those men, because the Romagnoli are the studs. There are the Italian studs. There are the Italian studs. On Vespers. And they all spent nine months of the year up on their villages. And then suddenly they come down to them.

Oh, my God. When all the tourists come, you can see them coming down the mountain. On their Vespers. Yeah, on their vest. And you know what their intention is. Yeah, you know what they come down for. Yeah, meet a cute girl, yeah. Um, are you ready?

Are you ready for some pudding? I love some pudding. Okay. Right. Come, let me get this. Oh my God. This looks so pretty, Mom. Oh, that is the kind of dessert than I like.

Okay, good. So it's a Pavlova with pistachio and cream and then just strawberries and fruit. And I bought, because you're a Michelin-star chef, I push the boat out. A bit of flowers. Flowers. Edible ones.

Edible flowers. Would you like a little? Do you want to help yourself? No, no. I'll have as much as you think that I deserve. I think you deserve a big piece after the raw, the raw thing. No, it was delicious. Look, we're at the old.

There was no, it was only bone left. Right, let's see if this works. That looks gorgeous, mum. You are good at a Pavlova, Mom, I have to say. Oh and it's got some pistachio on it as well. Thank you. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, it's nice.

This is great. This was suggested to my mum on a sun lounger on Thursday. She was going to do a different pudding for you. And this lovely lady's sex... My God, it's such a long time you've been thinking about what to cook for me. I've been thinking about you all we. I'm so honoured, you all right. Thank you.

I was going to do raspberry turrets. Missou, but it might have offended you. This is, yeah, I think this was, this is delicious, Mom. Delighted. Yeah. Oh my God. But pistachio is wonderful. Yeah, pistachio is one of those perfect nuts, isn't it?

And it's also so healthy for you. This is top five. Okay. Really is. Presentation, it's fantastic. Flavor is brilliant. I'm slightly over the top, but I don't care. Yeah, you work.

Yeah, you could have been a little bit more conservative with the flour. I could. You bought them and you just stuck them all in. I bought them. I thought, I'm not using it tomorrow. Here they go today. How did you know? And there were three pounds.

No, ma. I'm not going to leave them in the bloody fridge and not eat them. Do you like football, Georgia? No, I prefer motor bikes. Oh, okay. So who's the famous Italian olfantia, obviously? Is the guy called Valentino Rossi? Rossi?

Oh my God, he was so handsome. Gorgeous. What was he? He was a motorbiker, yeah. But Valentino is such a great name. And he was handsome. Very, so handsome. And he was nine-time world champion.

Yeah. Nine times. So do you get your letters on and you go motorbiking? No anymore, no. I'm not allowed between insurance and these and that. Yeah, I understand that. Not even a Vesper when you're, down in Puglia.

But I mean, Pugia, I have a Vespa, then I'm allowed to drive around, to go in the morning for shopping and things like that. But it's not like a motorbike, is it? No, it's not like a motorbike. I'm sorry. But it's the best thing to get Plessy on the back and go for a little swing with the Vespa.

It's just a bad. It's fantastic, is it? Yeah. And sometimes you're, oh, it's so dangerous. It's so dangerous, but... It's so fun. Going up and down the stairs is very dangerous as well. It does feel romantic, doesn't it?

Yeah. It feels very special in Italy. to drive a best for your girlfriend. Absolutely. I was the girl that always wanted to be on the bat. Definitely.

I'm sure you were, Lenny. I was, darling. Georgia Locotelli, you've been such a fantastic guest. I do feel like after Celebrity Master Chef comes out, which was so excited that you are, no doubt you will be a fantastic judge

if the rack of lamb is anything to go by. But I really do think you need to do a travel log. Like, you need to do a travel series on a motorbike. We won't tell anyone. We'll get special insurance. Yeah, we must get a special insurance.

But thank you so much. Do it, Lenny. Oh my God. You can be in that little one on the sidewalk. I'll get in the cycle. If I can move my hip to get in. After you have your hip, I see you can get on the back as well. No worry.

I can't get my leg up at the moment. But thank you so, so much. Well, thank you for invite. me for dinner. Usually, chef never gets invited for dinner. No, I know. I know. I know. Raw meat. But thank you. Best of luck with Master's Chef. Thank you very much. Mum, that was so good. Such a pleasure. To open your house and let people in is always a very, you know, not many people does it.

So thank you for love. It's a great honour to be here. No, oh, thank you. Georgio Locatelli is suave, kind, cool, handsome. Yeah, as you told his wife when they left. He's so handsome. He was so lovely. Gorgeous man. I loved hearing.

He reminded me of Anthony Borda. Oh, did you know Anthony? No, but the way he looked, he's kind of, he was just so... Oh, he was great. He was such a lovely man. What a guy just loved hearing him talk about the history of food and the passion he has. And... But he's been brought up.

The food's been like his life all the way through. Every second of that. Jessie, we need his recipe book to live to 101 and 102.3. We need to not do five podcasts in a week. I think then we'll be able to live. No, Georgio Locatelli, you're amazing. We can't wait to see you as the judge on Celebrity MasterShare. He's going to be, I think he can be, I'm sure he's kind.

If that's, I mean, I felt like he was being firm with you, but there was still kindness. He was too firm about the firmness. of the well also yeah I don't know well I think your oven's not working it was working

because that took 40 minutes as opposed to five I underseered it mum that pud everyone should do this summer

it's the best pudding I've ever made Victoria thank you Victoria you are amazing because that has just been gifted

to the table manners community as the perfect summer party pudding. Maybe we could put the recipe up on the old notes or something. It's slightly sad he knew I'd overdone it with the flowers but he knew exactly why I did it. I didn't want to leave the rest of in the fridge. They were going to die and they looked so pretty. It looked

fab. It was expressive and generous and I loved it. Thank you to Georgia Locatelli. Thanks mum for cooking. I'll be on the next one. Okay. And we'll see you next week for more table manners.