Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S14 Ep 6: Big Zuu

Episode Date: November 2, 2022

Big Zuu meets Big Len!!This week we have double BAFTA winner and all round hilarious person, Big Zuu, on Table Manners. We chatted all about Big Eats over mum’s - rather tough - short rib beef & baked potatoes with sour cheese and chive stuffing.  Big Zuu talks to us about his mum's Okra soup, his love of Beyoncé and Karaoke & what he ate after his big BAFTA win. This is when the podcast is an absolute gift ; meeting a stranger, eating a thing or two and having fantastic conversation - even over a chewy short rib - and then falling head over heels for them! He’s part of the family now, we love you Big Zuu. Next time you’re cooking for us. Thank you x (remind us that short ribs never seem to work on TM cc George Ezra ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Table Manners. I'm Jessie Ware and I'm here with Mum in her house and she's done all the cooking. Kel surprise. Kel surprise. It's a gorgeous autumnal day. Crisp, sunny, got jeans on. Not feeling too clammy. Jeans that haven't fitted me for a while I have to add, Mum. Darling, you're looking gorgeous. It's all that yoga I've been doing because I've been watching Dua Lipa's Instagram. So I thought, well, I may as well join them.

Does she do yoga? Yeah, she looks fantastic. Of course she does. Do you think I could look like that if I did Dua Lipa's yoga? Yes, mum. Okay, darling. I have a confession to make. What?

It has been brought to my attention that I've been saying espresso wrong for 37 years. I've always called it expresso. I think it is expresso. That's why I've bloody been saying it wrong, isn't it? What is it? Espresso? Espresso. Are you sure? It's not spelt with an X. I'm pretty positive because people laughed at me

the other day when I asked for an expresso. Oh, I always say expresso. Herein lies the problem. Meaning coming quickly. Express. That's what she said. Anyway, so that is my confession. But now, actually, it's not even a confession anymore.

It's me pointing the blame at you. I thought we'd be promoting a very famous coffee brand if we said espresso. No, it's just correct. And I look like a fool. It's OK, darling. I just wanted to point that out. But now it's good to know that you say exactly the same thing.

So there you go. That's probably where you got it from. So we've got an amazing larger than life. Wow. I'm so excited. You're excited because you saw the speech. His speech when he got the BAFTA was brilliant. The two BAFTAs.

Two BAFTAs, yeah. So Big Zoo is aondon grime rapper artist come i didn't realize that yeah so have you ever seen him perform never seen him perform but i do know his cousin is aj tracy who's incredibly handsome oh i've seen him yeah um so big zoo And so Big Zoo is this big TV personality rapper and is an amazing chef. Don't keep saying that, Jess. You'll make me anxious. No, I think he's going to lie today. Okay, I hope so.

So he's got, he's had a TV show with Stacey Dooley called Hungry For It, which was kind of like a younger master chef. And that was on BBC Three. He's also got his award-winning Dave series which is on series 3 now where he cooks for comedians and he'll kind of investigate what interests them what they like what they don't like and then create a menu for them so for like Johnny Vegas Johnny Vegas loves like northern English food so he did a kind of eel no you're looking you're making your face honestly it looked amazing I would never eat an eel it's delicious but if you told me you're going to die mum unless you eat an eel I'd die so what have you made for Big Zoo well Big Zoo eats halal meat and I had planned to do

something else then you told me he ate halal when I had that meat in the cart so I rang the butcher up and I said do you have anything halal? And he said, I have some short ribs. And you thought that is great for Big Zoo. Let's give a shout out to the butchers because you have cheated on ginger pig this week. I've cheated on ginger pig and gone to Moen's in Clapham, which I've known since I've lived in Clapham 40 years. And it's the most brilliant butcher. And it's like being in Harrod's food store the meat is just

exceptional and i'm hoping this is exceptional too so you've done short ribs i've done short ribs in well it's like a spicy sticky honey sauce oh not in coca-cola no i've done it in a dry marinade that i marinated them for an hour and a half this morning, then put them in the oven. And then I'm going to put honey on the top for the last 15 minutes. So they're going to be sticky. Big Len, you've really excelled yourself. Big Sue, big Len, yeah. And you're serving it with?

Oh, one of the things that you love me making when I sometimes do a barbecue, I do little baked potatoes and I scoop all the inside out. Bit of a faff, isn't it? Sour cream, chives, bit of cheese. Made with love. Made with love, put back in the oven and everyone loves them. Just having some greens on the side that apparently I'm doing in a minute. Then the piece de resistance. I've made a New York cheesecake.

You've never made one of these? Mum, you've really pulled it out of the bag today. Actually, it was not that difficult. saw a new york times advert for it and then because i don't subscribe to the new york times i couldn't get it's a bugger you get the first paragraph get the first bit so then i found it online and the only thing is all the american recipes are in bloody cups or pounds and i'm i'm a metric girl actually very modern it sounds amazing mum I hope it is we can have a little cream with the cheesecake I've got cream that's good that's what they do in pizza express and I always love it they have ice cream that nice

ice cream and pizza express they do you know I've got some strawberries you know what ice cream I had the other day and I've neglected it. Kelly's. It's great. It's bloody good. It is the best. Actually, because it's not too cloying. No, because it's clotted cream. Yeah, but it's not like overwhelmingly sweet.

It was heaven. We did it with our crumble. Oh, Big Zoo. On table. Yeah. Bye. Bye. Cheers, darling. Cheers.

What do you say? Congratulations to you, Zoe. Congratulations. I watched your BAFTA speech. Everyone did. And I absolutely loved it. And I fell in love with you then. And I said, we've got to have Big Zoo on the podcast. He's brilliant.

Thank you. Where do you come from? And in your culture, what do you say for cheers? Or you don't because you shouldn't be drinking? I come from Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone, I never met. Were you born in Sierra Leone? No, I was born there.

I was born there. What do we do when we drink? I couldn't tell you. My mum don't drink alcohol. But you eat halal, don't you? I eat halal. I eat halal, but I drink alcohol. Are you Muslim?

Yeah. You shouldn't be doing that. Alham? Yeah. You shouldn't be doing that. Alhamdulillah. You shouldn't be doing that. I shouldn't be doing a lot of things. Okay, me too. I shouldn't be doing a lot of things. I feel like, as a Muslim, it's weird because, yeah, I do drink alcohol,

but then I talk about halal food on telly. So I do get, sometimes I get like, the mum's advantage in my life. Do you get angry Muslims ringing you up? Yeah. Yeah, but look, mum, that's like me. I'm a bad Jew. I'm performing on Kol Nidra, which is the night before you're supposed to fast

for Yom Kippur. Oh, God. And I'm doing a gig in New York, and everyone's going, you're a bad Jew. There won't be any Jews, though. Oh, God. No, there won't.

But, you know, so we all kind of, you know... They got my Jewish people, they're in Boruch Hashem. Oh, Boruch Hashem. Boruch Hashem. I live in Golders Green. Do you? Yeah. But you're a West Londoner Hashem. I live in Golders Green. Do you? Yeah.

But you're a West Londoner, right? I grew up in High Road, West London. How could you live in Golders Green? Because I love it. Why? Because I'm like anonymous with all the Orthodox Jewish people. I live on the road and I'm one of the only non-Jewish families and they absolutely love us. Where do you get your bagels?

Carmelis. Carmelis, yeah. Who do you live yeah um i live with tubbs and hyder the guys i make big eats with stop yeah we live together no it's a bit long but hold on didn't you grow up together as well yeah we went to school together secondary so you went to school together and now you're in how old are you zoe i'm 27 see this is kind of like you living your best life in your 20s. What goes on in Golda Screams with Tubbs and Hyda?

Not a lot. You eat? We eat and we play games. Our house is like a little it's like when people come to us it's like a bachelor pad.

It's just like massive sofa massive telly PS5. But what happens if you bring girls back? We chill and watch telly. She but what happens if you bring girls back chill and watch telly

she watches oh great great boyfriend with your friends so the girl you don't need to ask which position he's doing

Jesus no so so she comes back and you say let's play games if they have to bring back a girl obviously living with

all the guys are you all single yeah so ready to mingle sometimes you have to tell the a girl, obviously living with all the guys. Are you all single? Yeah. Ready to mingle. Sometimes you have to tell the lads, can you go upstairs or you lot should go out and let me have the house to ourselves. So this is kind of, I'm so, okay. So listen, you live with your two co-stars who are wonderful and adorable and have their own roles in your TV show. Yeah.

Who's the best cook? Me. Okay. Just straight away. So who's like... I cook the most. Like these guys don't really cook. They cook sometimes.

But I'm very militant when it comes to food in the house. I do the shopping. I buy everything. Do you get a delivery or do you go to Kosher Kingdom in Golders Green? Kosher Kingdom is good. It's my favourite shop. I do like Kosher Kingdom, but I don't go there. I just go to St. Louis.

So last night you were cooking spaghetti, but you had a difficult customer in your friendship group that didn't like spaghetti. Yeah, my other friend that lives at our house is called D. And he doesn't like spaghetti. D. Just D. His name's Devante, but everyone calls him D.

Okay. Why doesn't Devante like spaghetti? I don't know. I've got a lot of friends that don't like spaghetti. Really? When I make bolognese, I make bolognese all the time. Oh, just tell us your special ingredient. Special ingredient.

I just like to start it with caramelised onions. Oh, really? So when I add the beef, I add it to the caramelised onions. Interesting. And do you buy kosher meat? Because it's like halal. No. But I do eat kosher food.

But where do you get your halal meat from? On Golders Green Road. So, okay, so you caramelise your onions, you put the meats in. But Devonte wanted rigatoni. Yeah, rigatoni, no spaghetti. But it's fine. Well, what's wrong with spaghetti compared to rigatoni? I think people don't like the texture because they get the spaghetti cooked

wrong. A lot of people overcook their spaghetti, so when you have it with the mince, it's not nice. Do you like a dry sauce? So it isn't like... I used to make mine very wet, but I don't anymore. Yeah, I like it a little bit dry. I used to add too many tomatoes, but now I've got the hang of it. Yeah, I like to let it cook for like two hours.

Oh, really? And let it just slowly... And do you use veal or beef? I use beef. Yeah. So, okay, so it was fag bowl on the menu last night. Yes. With anything else? Parmesan?

Garlic bread, just garlic bread. No cheese. I'm a little bit lactose. Oh, yeah. But I risk it. Oh, God. Shit. No, I risk it.

He's made a cheese cake. I'll eat that. You should have told me. I risk it for the biscuit. I just pay for it later on the toilet. Have we got any lacto-joy here? I will never take any of those things. I've got Imodium.

You know what it is? On account of mine, I drink oat milk, but I'll have a massive mac and cheese. Because life's too short. With blue milk. Blue milk? Oh, blue milk. With four cheese.

Four cheese. You have to have macaroni with four cheese. Delicious. Delicious. That's kind of where I'm at too. I kind of like food too much to deny myself it. Yeah. I can't let raw cheese grated onto things.

That's, I'm asking for pain. Oh, really? Same with ice cream. If I just eat ice cream, it just came over. I'm so sad. It hurts my life every day. That is really tough. Yeah, I can't have that heart that does.

I'm so sorry for you. That's really sad. When did I can't have that hard on us. I'm so sorry for you. That's really sad. When did you realise this? It's like I died, innit? When did I realise? Probably last like five years. I ate a lot of cheese. I think that's what happened.

So when you were growing up, who did the cooking in your house? Your mum? It was my mum mainly, but then I started helping by the time I was like nine, ten. Who did you grow up? Who was in the house? It was just me and my mum. And then my mum mainly, but then I started helping by the time I was like nine, ten. Who did you grow up?

Who was in the house? It was just me and my mum. And then my mum had my brother when she was, when I was ten. She had my little bro. And that's when I started helping a lot in the house. Because my mum was pregnant. I was like, I can't really do anything, but I love food. So I'm going to cook.

So what's her best dish that she cooks your favourite? Something called okra soup. So it's just okra. It's okra stew. I know that you did. Well, I know that you did red pepper soup for Johnny Vegas. Yeah. And he loved it.

He loved it. It was mad. So that's one of her good ones too. Was that a hot red pepper? You would not survive. Like Scotch bonnet? Yeah. Oh my God.

Yeah. She's a pussy. I can't even have a jalap. Oh my God. Yeah. She's a pussy. I can't even have a jalapeno on my pizza. No. So tell us about the okra stew. Have you mastered it yourself? No. It takes time to master.

Yeah. There's a couple of ways to make it. A lot of Sierra Leone cooking is very simple. It's a tomato based stew with assorted meat steamed for a long time and then added into the stew and then you add, like, any type of greenery, whether it's, like,

cassava leaves, whether it's the okra. They add, like, different things. All their food is just long stew, so the okra's, like, nice and it cooks down. It's not slimy and stuff.

And do you serve it with, like, jello fries, your version of jello fries? No, okra stew, you'll have with rice just with like plain rice but jollof

jollof's like a whole another dish do you have that in Sierra Leone of course we've got the best jollof oh yeah we've heard that before

the Ghanaian the Ghanaian Ghana and Nigeria yeah they're big countries big GDPs they have like a lot of population

we're a small country we ain't got a lot to do we just cook we've got time for cooking we've been through a lot of war pain we ain't got mad city lagos akra all these places in ghana nigeria like they use a blender to make their jollof what african auntie they use a blender they use a blender they blend their tomato and onions xyz and they make it a paste? Like, they make it like, it's kind of liquidy, and they cook it down for the stew. It's like a passata. But we stew our veg because we're there with the wood fire,

there's no blender. So how do you colour your jollof rice? Tomato paste. Oh, it's tomato paste. But it's like bright orange. Yeah, it's because you add a lot. Basically, jollof is really simple. You stew your onions and tomatoes. You cook your meat on the side. And then you's because you add a lot. Basically, jollof is really simple. You stew your onions and tomatoes.

You cook your meat on the side. And then you add your rice into that stew. A lot of tomato paste. Add your meat in. All the stock from the meat. And then boom. Yum. And then cook for like two hours.

Yum. It's like an African risotto. That's what I say. African risotto. It's African risotto. It's really simple. And that jollof is kind of what did a lot for me and my mum in terms of like with telly and stuff.

Because when we cooked jollof on telly, I brought my mum on Big Eats and she cooked jollof and it was a crazy moment. Like, we don't get a lot of people from Shelly and cooking jollof on TV. Do you know what I mean? So, yeah. I feel like we represented.

But if you taste my mum's jollof, then you'll be able to say you understand. How proud of you is she? She is. Yeah, my mum's jollof, then you'll be able to say you understand. How proud of you is she? She is. Yeah, my mum... When I first started doing music, my mum wasn't happy because I dropped out of uni. What were you doing?

I was studying youth work and community development. So I wanted to be a youth worker. And I was going goldsmith studying. Yeah, but she knew where I live. Okay, so you know what it's like. I was enjoying it, but I was doing music at the same time. So I started doing shows, so you know what it's like. It's like, I was enjoying it, but I was doing music at the same time. So when music, I started doing shows

and then I had uni in the morning and I had to kind of decide, what am I going to do? Because I was too tired. I was just run down. But I kind of believe that you are so enterprising and brilliant that you will find a way to do youth work in another way, right?

Yeah, 100%. That's what we've done. With the music, we've done with the music we've definitely done a lot of stuff with young people like a lot of work with charities and stuff that's why i always knew if i drop out of uni to do music i have to keep my core like my soul which is do youth work i can't drop out to go pursue money and fame and then forget what my cause so i dropped out and my mom's like, what are you doing? Why are you throwing your life away?

I'm like, mum, don't worry, it'll work out. But then eventually she became a fan and she's like my biggest fan in the world. So then with the food part, how did that start? I guess your social media. Right. That's what everyone says, isn't it? It's a bit boring now.

But social media. When. That's what everyone says, isn't it? It's a bit boring now. But social media. When I was making music, I needed a way to connect to the young people that I was showing my music. So I said, cool. I'm going to show you a step-by-step breakdown of me making a spaghetti bolognese. Yeah, speaking of bolognese.

And then people just started liking it. So I kept doing it. Made a video on YouTube. It did well. And then the production company messaged me and said let's make some 10-year and that's how Big Eats happened

yeah and that's it and you've done three seasons yeah probably commissioned for another one maybe when did you discover how funny you are? because you are super funny thank you

thank you I feel like just me and my friends we've always just laughed. I don't know. I recently found out that I have ADHD. Right. And a big part of ADHD is laughing because you get a lot of adrenaline when you laugh.

Have another toot. I should have another toke of that. But when you have a lot going on in your mind, laughter kind of helps you focus. It's super weird. I didn't understand that. a lot going on in your mind. Laughter kind of helps you focus. It's super weird.

I didn't understand that. But you release a lot of adrenaline when you laugh and it kind of replaces the dopamine in your brain, which you don't have when you have ADHD. Oh, don't you have dopamine? Well, you just have a lack of it.

Do you know what I mean? Compared to someone who doesn't have ADHD. So in terms of when it's time for you to focus, sometimes you rely on adrenaline. And when you laugh, so I used to laugh, I used to belly laugh all the time. I couldn't control myself laughing when I was young. I used to cry when I laugh, scream when I

laugh. Like I'll be the person, if someone makes a joking lesson, I'll laugh so much I get kicked out. But they made the joke. But it's my laughter. So it's like, I've always been like that, I don't know why. When did you get diagnosed uh like three months ago has it changed things for you not really I guess I like when people tell me you're talking too much I'm like well I've got a day hey can you please leave me alone it just put perspective of my whole entire childhood. Like why I was like how I was growing up, why I always loved talking, why I have an opinion on everything.

I'm like a narrator. That's kind of what I do. So many people are getting diagnosed with it, like adults. Yeah. And that's what they say, that it kind of, everything makes much more sense,

that maybe if they were thought of as the problematic child, that, you know, but yeah, so. It's one of them, isn't it? It's like, times are different. My brother's autistic.

So I've been through the whole process of like understanding like disability and kind of like different things in terms of like how he had to go to a special school xyz so from seeing what my brother had to go through being autistic it was definitely very different to me growing up having adhd but not having any diagnosis do you know what i mean what does he communicate yeah yeah my brother if you used to see him you'd think he doesn't have autism yeah i'll say to him but he's it more affects like his learning yeah it's like and in terms of social like if he walked in the room he'll probably be like hi he wouldn't have an in-depth conversation with you but he's he's very opposite to me which is hilarious. But he's a footballer.

My brother's like a sports guy, always in like a Nike tracksuit. He's very tall. How old is he now? He's 16. Oh, bless him. Yeah,

little bro. So let's talk about Tubbs and Haida. Yeah. What was the first meal that you remember eating together? These are the two guys that he presents Big Eats. Is there one memorable kind of childhood? Are sierra leone boys no no tubsy's from iraq and iran wow and then haida's kurdish but iraqi kurdish um obviously apart from like secondary school eating in school together there's two memories i have one was when so haida's mum passed away when we was like 16.

But she used to cook a thing called dolma, which is like wrapped vine leaves. But they make it a different way because they're Kurdish. They make it really sour, a lot of pomegranate, molasses, hella lemons, maybe like 12 lemons in there. And then they put cabbage, so they put stuffed cabbage, stuffed onions, peppers. And they don't use vine leaves they use Swiss chard oh right where do you get hold of that? Swiss chard

you can get it at like a corner shop maybe like an Arab corner shop yeah you see that's what we eat but it's way better than vine leaves

way softer it's not as veiny you know the vine leaves has like the stem going through it and also you can't get fresh vine leaves no not really you have to get them in a pot

yeah exactly so the Swiss chard's really good his mum used to make that for us beautiful so we used to go to his house and like when he'll cook it we'll be outside his house we'll beg him he'll bring a little plate out and we'll just all we'll eat it quickly and we'll leave and he brought me dolma literally two days ago his auntie made some and i saw it in his snapchat i was like i beg you please let me get a plate of that he brought it had it another memory was with tabs i was in his house with smoking weed in his um in his room and tas's parents are like super strict if they heard this they'll probably explode but um we was upstairs in his

room smoking out the window and we got super super high and we went downstairs and we ate everything in his kitchen but not like like a little bit we ate every single thing that was edible in his kitchen at all and like his mum came the next day and she's like why is there no food in the house but we ate it all yeah i want to know about the menus that you create for the guests on your show because they are out there and They're very random. Like, for the Johnny episode, Mum, it was like tater tots, well, like little potato, what would you call them?

Yeah, like tater tots. Yeah, tater tots. In an ice cream cone with mushy peas and cheese sauce. Yeah. And he said it was the greatest thing he'd ever tasted. It was good still.

It was good. Do you know what it was? We were supposed to get an actual cone, but we didn't. we got ice cream cones by accident no I like that the jeopardy was it by accident though

it probably was yeah how much of that is like scripted well Big Eats Big Eats is not scripted obviously the food and stuff we planned

with the with the home ex we got the home ex we got Alex Gilman Alex Gilman's a producer the way he looks at food is very weird

he's a weird guy just had a baby he's one of the weirdest guys that I've ever met in my life why is he so weird? because he has intense ADHD and

he his ADHD is so intense he jitters and moves and can't sit still but his brain is like he thinks of the things that no one else would think of so when we first met and we did the pilot for Big Eats he's like hi I'm your producer I'm just gonna be helping you today and when he realized how random

I was I kind of started looking at him like oh you're kind of weird I like that so by the time we did the first season of Big Eats who was the pilot Ed Gamble and we made him like Korean fried chicken and I've got him a super malt and it was just we had a lot of good moments so me and Alex kind of come together he tells me what he loves in food I tell him no that shit this is sick and he kind of comes up he so he comes up with the basis of it with Ro as well they come up with the ideas with the homework what's feasible, what do you like, what can we make big and then... So what would you do for us?

You haven't asked us enough questions yet. Yeah, that's true. I need to learn a bit more. That's like, he needs to learn. He like, you know, takes in the information.

Yeah, you have to give your producer chat, which is very long. Yeah. They're kind of long. I've got to talk to the producer. No, I don't want to do that. Well, so we'll like

start filtering in some things that we I'm really annoyed that we didn't do chicken soup matzo balls for you mum your batch your batch last week was the greatest you've done

in about two years yeah I think it was good I don't know why it was so good but it was fantastic you should have just said I should have just said because I don't know

what people want I like the 24 hour shoe which 24 hour shoe the one that the choland you never made that though you don't make it people want. I like the 24-hour stew. Which 24-hour stew? The one that... Cholan. Cholan. You never made that, though. You don't make it?

No, I've never made it. It can be bland sometimes. Who's giving you Cholan? My neighbours. Really? I have Sabbath with my neighbours. Really? Yeah.

I turn off their lights as well. He's the Shabbos Goy. That's what Tom Jones, when he was on this, he was the Shabbos Goy. That's me. That's what I do. I didn't understand why they were knocking on my door at first. And the little kid was behind my door. I'm like, what do you want?

He's like, can you just, because they're not allowed to ask, aren't they? Oh, aren't they? Are they like? You're not supposed to ask. Has Sid it juice, your neighbours? Yeah, they're not supposed to say, can you come turn off the light? You have to go there and do it. So how did that work out?

At first, we didn't really understand. They kind of gave it to us in Morse code and then we kind of got there. Then it was a bit, it was like I moved the fridge magnet. How many children are there in the family? There's a lot of youths. Why did you move?

It's like always about 10 children. There's a lot of youths. Hey, we got the reproduction going on over there. I love it. You want to dare. You're like, dare for life. We're here. So why did you have to

move the fridge magnet because that turns off the light in the fridge oh my god some people stick sellotape on the light

in the fridge yeah so it doesn't come on when they open the fridge these are what's on magnet you literally move the magnet

boom the light goes off and they kind of repay you in food maybe sometimes maybe i don't know they're not all the time but you know what i when i first moved to my road i gave everyone a cookbook to let them know like oh i'm just gonna put something on there and have they given you any feedback on which yeah recipes they they they are one of them tried what did they

try i can't remember what they tried but i oh, one of them tried, what did they try? I can't remember what they tried, but I remember, like, one of my neighbours talking to me about it. I'm obsessed with the fact that you went round and posted your cookbook to every, like, Hasidic Jewish family's door. Knocked on the door, introduced yourself and was like, here's... But my last neighbour, we call him Uncle, when I knocked on the door, he said, well, you're a chef. I'm a chef. I said, okay. He said, come in, taste my food. call when i knocked on the door he said well you're a chef i'm a chef i said okay he said come in taste my food i looked at hyder i was like maybe we shouldn't go inside this is gonna

i don't know what like we didn't know how to react in it yeah he's like well you're not going anywhere you're coming into my house we're like okay went in there was like 30 people in the house bare people going crazy they're all looking at us like who are these running guys i just walked into the house he's walked in he's kind of announced, he's like, these guys are chefs and they just moved down the road. And they're like, hey. And I'm like, yo. And then one of the guys gone, you're Big Sue. And I'm like, yeah. He's like, none of these guys are going to know who you are because they don't watch telly. And I'm like, okay. Yeah. So I'm already a bit spun. He's like to me, I know who you are. they don't watch telly yeah so i'm already a bit spun he's like to me um i know

who you are yeah so he kind of sat next to me and just walked me through the whole dinner so when they brought the stew we had like non-dairy ice cream i never knew that you can't mix dairy yeah milk after me yeah you can't have it yeah so like we had like i was it was just crazy i had this mad sabbath and ever since then like we kind of pop in once in a while. And then we go to our other neighbours to our other side as well. I love that. It's mad, isn't it? I want you to move on to my road, actually.

You don't want to finish your year at Goldsmiths? You can live with me, all of you. Please. Let's do it. Let's do it. So we ask all our guests, you know, some of their favourite spots to eat. You're a Londoner. Yes. So come on, give me a some of their favorite spots to eat in London. You're a Londoner.

Yes. So come on, give me a few of your spots that you can't live without. Has it changed now that you are Big Zoo, the big chef that can get a reservation anywhere you want? I hate fancy places. I hate that fancy shit. I just like good food. There's a place that I've gone to recently. Speaking of like Golders Green. Yeah.

There's a place that started in Tel Aviv. Speaking of like gold is green. Yeah. There's a place that started in Tel Aviv. It's called Miznon. I went there. Did you go there? Yeah. The one in Soho. Did you have the green beans in the bag? Yeah, the beans were crazy.

They were unbelievable. The pit is crazy. The pit was good. Hummus is stupid. It's good food. I like that Miznon place. And it's sustainable. They don't waste anything.

They don't waste nothing. And the menu is super weird. Yeah. And it's sustainable. Like they use, they don't waste anything. They don't waste nothing. And it's, the menu's super weird. Yeah. Menu's super weird. why do you think it's weird? Because the way it's written is like.

Yeah, I was a bit confused because it was like the pita, but that's like a kind of main and then they have all the things that you can get after. You can get spaghetti in a pita.

Oh, yeah. I just got, I got falafel, which was really good falafel. Falafel's good, but you should try all the other random shit. I was sadly with two vegetarians

who didn't want the meat on the hummus and I really wanted to get the meat on the hummus. Oh, you should have done that. Yeah. Now, I got the fish and chips, which is unbelievable. I've had that. That's good.

I had that three days in a row. Were you working in Soho? Yeah. Okay. Every day I had it. Okay, so Miznon. It's a funky place. Miznon's good.

Another place called Masonbab. Masonbab is... Where's that? In Covent Garden. I've never heard of it. It's... Their main restaurant's called Lebab. Okay, so kebabs.

Yeah, they do kebabs. Fancy kebabs. But yeah, so that is that. Have you been to Berenjack? Yes. Because obviously... The Iranian joint. Well, is it...

Is it Iranian? Yeah, the Iranian joint. I think that's amazing. That place is sick. Bering Jack's good because you can get nice cocktails and stuff and vibes. But like Mason Bab. Mason Bab, okay. The vibe in there is crazy and it's really affordable.

It's like £12 for a chicken kebab, but it's not just a little chicken kebab. It's a proper high-level kebab. It's beautiful. So I spoke to our friend, Stacey Dooley about you. Oh, Stacey Dooley. Yeah, hungry for it. Hungry for it, she's pregnant and stuff. I said, look, I've got Big Zoo coming on.

Come on, what's the intel? And she said, apparently after the BAFTAs, BAFTA put on like some big fucking spread for you. Oh yeah, they had the dinner, BAFTA dinner. Yeah, to celebrate your two BAFTAs, BAFTA put on like some big fucking spread for you. Oh yeah, they had the dinner, BAFTA dinner. Yeah. To celebrate your two BAFTAs. Yes.

Where did you end up? I went to Maroosh in Knightsbridge. I love Maroosh. Maroosh is good, isn't it? Maroosh is great. Halfway through the food, I was eating it.

And like, yeah, obviously I only eat halal food. So I was eating the vegetables and the veg dish was so bad i looked i looked at everyone i was on a table with like all the producers the heads of the channel and i looked at everyone and i was like i'm out my mom was there and she was like taking pictures of all the like famous tv people and then deck was behind And I was like, I went to my production manager,

Shu Han. She's from Wales. And I was like to her, you reckon they can order us a kebab here? And she was like, I'll make it happen. So she's gone to go get a kebab delivered to us. Bless her.

But then we realised it's really late. So we can't really get the kebab that we want. It was going to be a shit kebab. So then we've kind of started. You've just won two battles. So I've slowly started saying to everyone, we might kind of you've just won two back so i've slowly started saying to everyone we might leave you know it's about to become a party xyz um but nah ended up just taking nat natalie rose who commissioned big eats incredible woman yeah um

she is a black woman who worked at dave and took the chance and gave us the money and commissioned us. And I took her, my manager Matt, me, Tubbs and Haida, and we went to Maroosh, got there with my two BAFTAs in my hand. I jumped out of the taxi, I'm gassed. I'm like, yeah, let's get a kebab. Walking, it's packed. There's no tables. You're like waving these. I'm like, boss, let me eat this on the side.

I'll eat in the kitchen. I need to just have a kebab. He's like to me, no, brother, you have to to wait these three kids have seen us they have a table they're like oh my god you just want a bath though i'm like yeah bro they're like we just saw it on our phone i'm like oh they're like do you want our table i'm like no man yeah they're like no no take our table so they took their food they got up and they ate and then we jumped on the table and just ordered unlimited kebab oh that's big up. That's so sweet.

That's how we ended our night. I love that. I love it. Now, let's, okay, so we've got, are you half Lebanese as well? Half Lebanese. So do you have like an affiliation with like, I mean like, you know, a connection with Lebanese food? Of course. I mean, Maroosh is Lebanese, isn't he?

Maroosh is Lebanese. I think Lebanese food is some of the best. We are everywhere. I was in Colombia, and I went to Cartagena, and then I flew to an island. Some of the most beautiful women there, I believe. There is lots of beautiful ladies in Colombia. Yeah, my husband went there without me when we were on a break. Oh, great.

Oh, okay. So, we flew to San Andres, which is a random little island that used to be owned by Britain. It's closer to Mexico than it is to Colombia. Were you on a holiday? Yeah, holiday. Okay. Through to San Andres. In San Andres, it's random Colombian island and there is a Lebanese shawarma joint. And it is, it's a fusion of Colombian food, Colombian Caribbean. So Colombian

Caribbean food. Yeah. Mixed with Lebanese food and it was and it worked it was crazy it was so good have you tried to what was so good about it

what was the memorable dish it was they had obviously they had the chicken shawarma but they put chips and cheese in it and then

because they love cheese Colombians love cheese queso they love the queso and it had this crazy seasoning it's cooked the guy cooks outside.

Yeah. So the grill is out. So where you sit in the outside, he's there with the grill in front of you. So it's a bit weird. He cooks in front of you. I was like, this is how far Lebanese people go. I love that. There's more Lebanese people in Brazil than there are in Lebanon.

Really? Yeah. There's millions of Lebanese Brazilians. Oh my god the food is coming to oh my god. Okay so what we've got here is a little like you know baked potato scooped out with uh chives sour cream a bit cheese sorry tom just some mange too with spinach to keep it clean and then we got the short ribs the piece de resistance which mum you've done differently usually she does it in coca-cola but today you've done it with a dry rub haven't you yeah and then with honey so we'll wait until she's over here to explain you hungry okay i'm wasn't that hungry but now i'm so hungry oh my don't bring this to me like that help yourself it's

help yourself situation just get get stuck in absolutely beautiful oh my god that's delicious mum oh my god Does it taste nice? Oh it tastes beautiful. It's like a hug. Yeah it's good. The seasoning's beautiful. Is it tough? No it's not tough. It's not tough but it's harder to cut. It's not like a lamb shank that kind of melts. No I thought it was going to like... God that's too much isn't it? Anything that you leave over I will eat. Okay. Yeah, just know that. Don't worry. I'm not for food waste. I hate food waste. I wonder whether we need to bring some back for Hydra and Tubbs.

No, they don't deserve it. This is like, come on, I'm at hard work right now. I'm just, I'm really sad that you're all single. I thought that you'd be cleaning up by now. I mean, look, maybe you are, but... It's not that time. Do you want to get married? Of course.

What do you think you'd have at your wedding? It depends on whoever I am marrying at that time. Do you want to get married? Of course. What do you think you'd have at your wedding? It depends on whoever I am marrying at the time. At the time, you know. At the time. Would you like some veg? Yeah, go on. I'll just put hella carbs. Oh, just do it.

Let me see. No, it's not. It is tough. Mine is tough. I can't get my mouth through. Get your mouth in it and it's all right. What do you think? It's beautiful. Oh is tough. No, it's... Mine is tough. I can't get my mouth through. No, but get your mouth in it and it's all right. What do you think? It's beautiful. Oh, that's just warm.

Yeah, it's good. And joyful and exciting. Okay, so we ask everybody what their last supper would be. Yeah. Starter, main, pud, drink of choice. Oh, God. All right, so the starter. Recently, I don't know why,

but I'm addicted to burrata, yeah. How's that working out for your tummy? Not good, but it's worth every risk. Why? Because burrata is just... Do you like it? I'm not that mad at you. Where did you have it,

and what did you have it with? Normally, I like to have it with, like, hella tomatoes. I don't know why. Have you had it with a seasonal peach? A seasonal peach seasonal peach and basil delicious delicious

such a random combination of combo beautiful a seasonal peach okay burrata that's your first homemade or we go in the shop baguette

because I love the shop baguette the shop one yeah straight in the that one is beautiful I love it that one is a beautiful

never go wrong I like I like the cheesy one, though. Where from? Again. From anywhere. As long as... Do you know what I like to do? I like to just get that shot baguette, yeah?

Grate some cheese and put it in between. Oh, nice idea. It's a little bit... You know what I'm saying? You make your own little garlic bread with cheese. That's a nice idea. These potatoes are crazy. They're good, aren't they?

They're good potatoes. It's just a great combination of food. Last supper. So we got burrata. Burrata and garlic bread and cheese. That's a nice idea. These potatoes are crazy. They're good, aren't they? It's just a great combination of food. Last supper, so we got burrata. Burrata and garlic bread. My main will be okra soup from my mum with fufu. What's fufu? Fufu is... It's like pounded.

It's... My mum always gets on to me for saying it. It's the fermented cassava. So they get the cassava and they ferment it and then they pound it and then they boil it and then it comes forms together and it's just this very starchy like accompaniment for any stew. What it does is it holds the flavour really well and you eat it with your hand.

And in the okra stew I have the palm oil one, one with palm oil and you have tripe, cow foot, oxtail, beef, dry fish, dry prawns. Oh my god. Yeah. Where is, apart from your mum's, where's the best place to get okra stew? Okra stew? Oh. There's a place in Peckham.

Really? Next door we filmed Hungry For It. I can't remember her name. It's at the back of Peckham where Bussey Building is. And in that car park, there's a lady, Nigerian lady. Her mum's been showing her to making it for her whole life. She makes the, I used to have, I had okra soup and fufu every day when I filmed hungry for it. And you shouldn't really eat okra soup and fufu every day. Why? Because it's really heavy. And every time I'd eat it, I'd be so down.

I'd be like, you have to film now, I'm not here. I'm gonna get some sugar. And then drink a lemonade, I'll be alright. Did you ever try the falafel in Peckham? Falafel? It was just in a food truck, just by the Busley building. Amazing falafel. I never had it. For food, Peckham is like a...

Peckham is just such a weird place in London. And I feel like it represents like times before gentrification before we had all these beautiful buildings and the waitress on every corner. Peckham still has that essence of what London used to be. There's so many types of food on Peckham High Street which is crazy and like the local produce, the shops there like we filmed in the Sierra Leone shop. You need to move to Peckham. Nah I like Golders Green. Better bagels though. Gold is Green,

I love it. I don't get no problems, no one cares, they see me on the street and they wave. Has it been hard to kind of adjust to being famous? Because I believe that they're all kind of like, you're such a big character and you're warm and

you know, I imagine if people come up to you, they only have positive things to say, right? And they want to high-five you and say you're doing great and we love you. But is that quite overwhelming sometimes? No, it's all right. I've been making music since I was 19. So when I first bought my first song, I remember getting stopped in the street and a guy saying, oh, I heard your song.

I was like, what? Oh, my God. Is your name Big Zoo as a rapper as well? Yeah. Can you do a bit of a rap now? A bit of a rap? Yeah. Would you want me to rap? Mum, this is very hard.

That's like being like, so you're a singer. Sing. Yeah, I'd say that. Because you're an arsehole. I could do Big Eats. I think I can remember the Big Eats. Do a Big Eats. I'll do the Big Eats. Oh, it's really good. Done then. I was do Big Eats. I think I can remember the Big Eats. Do a Big Eats. I'll do the Big Eats. Oh, it's really good.

Done then. I was a young fat boy grew up in West London they followed me for a show to cook for comedians I was a young fat boy grew up in West London they followed me for a show to cook for comedians. I called my boys

Tubsy and Haida. We went to the same school. Hader always complains and tubsy acts like a fool but together we make the best team and any job will overcome so i started cooking at nine that's when i got bored of my mom's it was always part of my life but i did music to get the funds now i've got a chance to cook with them and i'm sure it's gonna be fun as we go from city to city as we go from place to place the food truck's to be fun as we go from city to city, as we go from place to place. The food truck's going to get busy as we go from taste to taste. Exploring the flavours, we're going to teach you the ways.

It's more than comedy and music. So if you're going to question the reasoning, make sure you do the seasoning. It's in the game, I'm leaving them. And it's only good vibes, I'm feeding them. Hey, I can't remember it. Yeah, brilliant.'t remember it. Yeah. I love it. Then we did the remix, which was,

I was a, I was a, yeah. I was a young fat boy. I was a, I was a, yeah. Sounds so good. So good. You can even do your own remix. So we've got on to Ocre Stew. Ocre Stew. What's going to be your drink of choice?

Covoisier. Or Hennessy. But probably Covoisier. With Coke. And Spriteite I thought so you give me something less obvious than every other

rapper's drink choice love it is it and all rappers drink candy we need the pudding we need a pudding from you

a pudding oh you know it is growing up in an African household we don't really have dessert

my mum's very like no sugar no biscuits in the house so would you go to your mates for that? Or were you not that bothered? I just would never have dessert. Really?

Only when I started getting older, started cooking in the house, buying stuff, having money to go to the shop myself. Then I'd buy a little. So like, did you do a pudding for your mates last night with the spag bol? No. Don't you just want a little taste? I'm full, thank you so much. Don't you want a little taste of something at the end?

I love a dessert. Yeah. But growing up, I never had like, you know, like, I feel like you connect food with like your past. Because all the food that I like is the food that I kind of like growing up, which I love right now. But in terms of dessert, I've always liked an apple crumble. But I think my favorite would be like a sprinkle cake.

Tray bake sprinkle cake. Like a big massive one with custard. I don't even know what sprinkle cake is. It's a Tottenham cake. It's like the school cake isn't it? You know with the hundreds and thousands. Tray bake. It's called Tottenham cake.

Is it? Yeah. I don't know why. Mum do you want to have a little toke on Big Zoo's lift? No darling I've got a sore throat. Oh right fair enough. Otherwise I would know why. Mum, do you want to have a little toke on Big Zoo's......flip? No, darling, I've got a sore throat. Alright, fair enough. Otherwise I would have done. That looks beautiful, Mum.

She never made this before. A baked New York cheesecake. Who knows what it's like? Oh, stop, Mum. You're being hard on yourself. Come on, change the vibe, Mum. It's good. Mum doesn't cook with love. She cooks with joy.

That's yours, babes. Or do you want a little bigger one? Maybe. He wants a bigger one! Maybe. Oh my God, it's crazy. Come on. That's yours, babes. Or do you want a little bigger one? Maybe. He wants a bigger one. Maybe. Oh, my God, it's crazy. Come on. It's mental.

It's emotional. Right. It's intense. You do the honors. Go first. I'm going to add some strawberries. This is just a beautiful moment. Is it nice?

It's lovely. Light. Light. It's nice. He's closing his eyes. Oh, all my days. It's not bad, is it? It's lovely light light it's nice he's closing his eyes oh all my days it's not bad is it lovely it's a beautiful day so now you know it's a bit better what you're going to cook for us when we come on the big soup big eats i would see the thing is i would want you to try like not eel no maybe he'd try and convince you.

Okay, so what's she not favorite cuisine? I like Greek. I like kebabs. Kebabs? I like Greek. We like that. Mum's not good with spice, but I love her spice. She likes spice.

I like Asian food. You love Thai. I love Lebanese food. Lebanese food. Yeah. Okay, so I'm thinking mad kebab. Mad kebab. Crazy kebab.

Yeah. But maybe some Turkish inspired vibes, like big, massive mixed grill vibes with maybe like a... A place with Lenny all over. Like an Iskander or something. Iskander. Yes. Iskander, but like we'll make it crazy.

We'll get the butter from some stupid place. We'll try and make like a kofta as big as the table. That's the kind of things we like to do. Yeah. And maybe get the bread flowing in from Turkey. The cubes of buttery bread with the tomato. Yeah. And the tomato yeah the yogurt loot try and make the bread from scratch okay look what's going down then you're telling me you like thai food yeah i do yeah oh so maybe we might go like tom yum kind of vibes go like a tom yum but try like reverse it and like make

like a fusion dish so like i don't know tom yum kebab oh that's it oh wow we'll make your tom yum kebab and this is how we make a tom yum this is how we make a new job what's it advisor style food stylist yes so you could put a kebab into a soup couldn't you maybe the other way around maybe the flavors of a tom yum but in a kebab into a soup, couldn't you? Yeah. Maybe the other way round. Maybe the flavours of a tom yum, but in a kebab. Oh, lemongrass. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, except you have dumplings in soup, don't you? Yeah, of course.

Or you have... You can make a little hole in the kofta and then do a short... That would be a bit crazy. But, you know. Pho soup. That would be a bit wild. Pho, yeah, pho.

It's like a banh mi. It's like a banh mi. It's like a banh mi. I like Vietnamese. And I do like noodles. Yeah, banh mi has all the flavour. And pudding. Pudding wise. I don't think he's good on puddings.

We know we can make, we make some good. Have you made puddings? Kind of. We make, we know we bake on big eats and luckily there's home ex. Say no more.

But we mix all the stuff. We mix it, hey. Yeah. We mix it. I would make your like fluffy American pancakes, but like with different combinations inside of them. I was hoping for sprinkle cake. Oh.

I mean, we made sprinkle cake for Mo Gilligan at the end of his show. Did he love it? He swore like a thousand times. So it's literally a sponge cake with sprinkles on? Yeah, with icing and sprinkles. You put icing on? Yeah, it's icing and then you put hundreds of thousands on top. I'd say it's bad for your children. It is the best cake of all time. It is good. With custard, there's nothing could really speak to it. Big Zoo, do you like karaoke? I love it. Do you? Oh, sorry, you're busy, man. Sorry, darling.

My words is always, um... Oh, do you know what? I'm in different bags right now. Where am I right now? You're allowed to come. No, because I sing a lot in my house. Do you? Okay, right now, I don't know the lyrics fully, but a song by a girl group called Flow.

Oh, they're great! Called Immature. I like that song. Okay. And then one that I could sing all the time is Halo Beyonce. One of my favourites. I kind of wanted you to do a bit of a duet with him. But when I sing, I have an issue with my eyes and nose here.

My eyes water when I sing. Because you like crying with joy. Yeah, maybe. When you're singing I Can See Your Halo, you're just sobbing. I love this. I sing Halo all the time, though. You need to get that. I was doing it now. If Jessie sang a song,

could you rap over it? Rap over it at the same time? No, you'd have a 16 bar situation. That's what you'd do. I'll have some bars in between. Are you ready

to sing a bit of Halo? Okay, you ready? Yeah. Alright. How does it start? Remember those walls I built? Woo! Oh, baby, they're tumbling down.

They ain't even put up a fight. It didn't even make a sound. I find a way to let you in, but I never really had a doubt. Woo! Standing in the light of your halo. Woo! Still got it. Got my halo now.

It's like I've been awakened. Every rule I heard you breaking. It's the race that I'm... Sing it with me. Sing it with me. I ain't never gonna shut you out. It's everywhere I'm looking now. I'm surrounded by your embrace.

Baby, I can see your halo. Now you're my saving grace. Yeah, everything I need and more is written all over your face. Baby, I can see your halo. I pray that I can see your halo. Halo. Halo. I can see your halo.

Halo. Halo. I can see your halo. Halo, halo, I can see your halo. Halo, halo, halo. Oh, wow. I think it's better sung with a male voice. I'm telling you. I'll tell her.

B, shove over Big Z. But then the next part is like, she just, that song's beautiful. You hit me like a rain. I like Girls on Top. That's one of my favourite ones. That's a good song. What's it called? It might be something like that.

What's it called? Love on Top. Oh, Love on Top. But, You're the one I want. You're the one I need. There isn't something called that. I wrote Red Light District.

There's a video of Beyonce performing Deja Vu I don't want to. There isn't something called this. I wrote Red Light District. What are you talking about? Love it. There's a video of Beyonce performing Deja Vu at the BET Awards and she rolls on the floor while singing the high. Of course she does. She's unbelievable. That third chorus,

with me I can't go anywhere. Is she your ideal girl? Beyonce? I don't have an ideal girl. But would someone like that, you know? Beyonce's a beautiful lady. I couldn't tell you what mine is. Have you seen her live?

No. You've got to get in there. I know, it's breaking my heart, man. Big Zoo, before you get stuck into soaking that cream... Yeah, it's loading right now. How are you feeling? Are you feeling like you're ready to go again? I thought you meant to lose. Yeah, it's loading right now. How are you feeling? Are you feeling like you're ready to go again?

I thought you meant to leave. No, no, no. Because of his tummy situation. No, I don't need to go to the toilet yet. I'm good. I'm just, you know, I'm chilling right now.

I feel like I can just sit here all day. He's just having a lovely time. I can come here once a week when you guys need me. Yeah, come. Do you think you've got good table manners?

Not the best, no. I'm smoking a Zoot right me? Yeah, come on. Do you think you've got good table manners? Not the best, no. I'm smoking a Z right now. Yeah, yeah. What's your worst thing for other people to do when they're table manners? Oh, I hate when people try to take off the service charge and argue with waiters. I'm not lying, man.

Stop, man, please. Do people take off... That's a really... We've never had that one. I've never had a date like that. I hate when people do that and I hate when people either send back food or just argue with the waiter. Stop arguing with the waiter, please.

But what if your food wasn't, what if your food wasn't like cooked in the middle? Well, that's, yeah, that is, that's, you're not going to argue though. You're just going to be like, excuse me, I'm busy cook. Can I please get another one? One more question. You can ask me as many questions as you want. I just love this. I'm chilling right now.

I love this. I'm chilling right now. I love this. Okay. What is the most nostalgic taste and scent of your childhood? Probably Laundromat. What's that? Laundromat. It's like Spam. But it's not Spam.

It's called Laundromat. It's in a can. It's meat in a can. What, like corned beef? It's not corned. It's like a salami. You know the salamis that are in the red tube and the yellow tube?

They can get in that. What, like Vorsch? Like the stuff, yeah, yeah, yeah. Corned shop and stuff. Yeah, that in a sandwich with mayo. Did you like that taste? Yeah, it was nice. I used to eat that all the time.

When I was young, that's when I had a lot of canned food. When I went to Sierra Leone, I went to Sierra Leone and it was the first time I went to Sierra Leone. that all the time when i was young like that's my mom i had a lot of canned food and when i would sell it on i would sell it on and it was the first time i went to a loan i think i was like eight or something and my family were eating a big plate of rice and stew cassava leaf there's about 10 people around the plate massive plate play as big as a stable massive plate eating and they were like yeah come eat and i'm like no why am I going to eat off this plate that everyone's putting their hand into

because I was a young kid from London you know what I mean so my grandad was like what do you want I was like I just want a sandwich

or something he's like cool you want a lunch meat I was like yeah I'll eat that gave me a lunch meat sandwich and then he called me prime minister

he called me Tony Blair and I was like why am I Tony Blair he said because you're English I was like okay and I'll never forget that my grandad's face when he gave me the sandwich was like why am I Tony Blair is it because you're English and I was like okay and I'll never forget that my granddad's face when he gave me this sandwich

was like disappointed lost my grandson Tony Blair to the British Empire you know eating your poor thing

eating your lunch meat sandwich and I always regret not eating that cassava leaf that day because the next day they had food again on the plate

and I'm like oh here again I don't eat another lunch meat sandwich so i ate with them and it was the best food in the world it was like eating with your hands with your family and like yeah i'll always have that memory so which bit of you is lebanese your dad's side my dad's lebanese but he was born in seoul and his parents were born in seoul so my dad my dad is actually just Sierra Leonean. But he's Lebanese by heritage. But he sounds like an African man, talks like an African man.

He is African man. He is not Lebanese. I'm not Lebanese. Like I know about Lebanon and stuff. I've got family in Lebanon and I've been there. But I'm actually just Sierra Leonean. I am fully from Sierra Leone. But people, because I'm not like black skin,

I'm mixed race, you would look at me and think I'm just some like Moroccan guy. But I'm West African Sierra Leone. But people, because I'm not black skin, I'm mixed race, you would look at me and think I'm just some Moroccan guy. But I'm West African to the core. You're incredibly handsome. Don't do that, dear. With the most beautiful smile and teeth, honestly. Thank you. It's my mum.

Mum's a beautiful lady. Is she? Yeah, quite a little bit of a side. Big Zoo, you are the most fabulous guest. Thank you for being on Table Manners. Don't gas me up. Don't gas me up. Thank you for having me.

You lot are lit. Do you want me to pack up some food for you? I will not say no. If you guys, you know, free up the rib, you know what I'm saying?

Free up the rib. Free up the rib. I'll take the rib off. All right, thank you for having me. oh mum he didn't want to leave well big jess bless her babe i loved him i knew i'd like him but he was just fantastic just a really lovely warm gracious fabulous he's like being with a big hug isn't he and he does give really big hugs good hugger good hugger ate everything on his plate yeah you know what mum yes the meat was a little tough but he was stoned so it didn't

matter yeah it's true and uh he loved it and he's taken home food for Tubsy and Haida. And maybe he'll share it with the family next door. Who knows? I just really loved him. I thought his shows were great anyway, but he's an absolute star. We're so lucky to have him, aren't we? On telly, representing. I mean, he's just brilliant.

Well, he represents diversity to me and that that's what he said in his BAFTA speech about people from all different walks of life and you know he just represents how how we should progress in the world I think embracing I really want to I really want to eat his food so I'm kind of hoping that we've sealed the deal for being guests on the next season of Big Eats. Because I want to eat his food. I want to see what he'd drum up for us. I think it would be a fun day. Not sure about having mackerel in a cornet.

What did he put in the cornet? Mushy peas and cheese. Oh my goodness. Well, don't knock it until you've tried it, Mum. No, I won't. Big Zoo, what a star. If you haven't checked out any of his TV shows, check out Big Zoo's Big Eats.

Basically, he's got his fingers in many different pies and that's how we like it. Good on you, Big Zoo. Long may it continue. And can't wait for them to like to eat some of their food.