Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S15 Ep 12: Alison Goldfrapp

Episode Date: May 10, 2023

Ahead of the release of her debut solo album 'The Love Invention' this Friday, we have the fabulous icon Alison Goldfrapp joining us for a spot of Ottolenghi inspired dinner. Alison told us all about her mum's home made liver & mash being a regular staple in their household while growing up, her years at a convent school where she found her musical talents, and she even sold us on her absolute favourite drink, Nettle tea! With her upcoming show at Glastonbury we chatted about Alison’s plans to take on glamping at the festival this year - you can’t beat the shag pile rug Alison!We absolutely adore you Alison, thank you for popping round to Clapham, and best of luck with your wonderful new album! x 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. And you've cooked up a right storm, haven't you Mum? I think so. You seem very calm about it though. You've really got to lend me. I've spent the whole day doing it. I'm quite tired now so I will require help with clearing up. No problemo. Thank you.

We have a bit of an icon tonight. We have Alison Goldfrapp. She is a force to be reckoned with. She is an Ivan Avella winner, Grammy nominee, Brit nominee. She has been making excellent music from electronic to dance to folk. She is very sensational and she's coming here tonight for food. I'm very excited to meet her. I feel like it's kind of like when we had like Tracy Thorn or something like that.

Yeah. She deserves respect, Alison Goldfrapp. She makes banging tunes. Is that her surname? Yes. Oh, good surname. Yeah, because I always thought the band was called Goldfrapp. She was in a band called Goldfrapp.

Okay. And she still is. This is a solo record that she's made. Oh, wow. band was called Goldfrapp. She was in a band called Goldfrapp. Okay, but she's not. And she still is. This is a solo record that she's made. Oh, wow. It's called The Love Invention. And it's really good. And it makes me want to go clubbing.

And it makes me want to fall in love on the dance floor. And she does it so well. I really admire Alison. And she's coming over. So what have you made for Alison? I've made almost the whole of Otolenghi's book. Which book? Simple.

Was it simple? No. You know, that's why the book's called Otolenghi's Simple because it's his version of simple. Okay, so it's not simple and I have cooked all day. Oh. So I have made hot tomatoes with cold yogurt, which is delicious.

Lovely, we love that. I've made avocado um broad bean mash have you put the avocado in there yet yeah i made that this morning i had to take the shell off 300 grams of broad beans do you know how long that took probably an hour oh wow yeah i don't like broad beans that much you will like that i I think it will be quite nice I'm going to love every mouthful And then I've done some grilled asparagus I've done some rice And then I've made cod

Flaky cod with chickpeas Which we made for Ed and me Last time Yeah we did, that was the last time And then I've made A spiced apple cake. It looks sensational. I know, it does look nice.

It looks so good, Mum. Yeah, it looks lovely. And we're just going to have that on its own. Yeah, with either creme fraiche or I've got ice cream or I've got fresh cream

to pour on it. Fabulous. Or whipped cream. The high priestess of electronic music and dance, Alison Goldfratt, coming up on tape. Cheers. Cheers.

Thanks for being here. Well, cheers to you and cheers to the new record. Cheers to your record. And it's so good. Oh, my goodness. It was so fab. It's so good oh my goodness it was so fun it's really good really wonderful you really do rule the disco you do like you just do it and it's just wonderful no no no i'm just learning from you because honestly like you do it and you do it with

such ease and you've got this amazing commanding vocal and it's just so delicious in your ear. It's wonderful. It's always been so delicious in the ear. It is rich. But with these amazing beats. Anyway, it's amazing. It's a triumph. And congratulations.

Thank you. Listen, where's your accent from? Are you London? No. No. Well, I was born in London. Were were you i was born in enfield oh yeah and uh but i grew up in alton which is this small little town oh and i know near salisbury yeah it's not far from yeah alton hampshire yeah yeah so that's where i grew up when did you move

there um uh well i was born and then we left London. So, yeah, pretty much all my life I've been in the countryside. So you didn't get to enjoy all the Greek food? The Turkish food and Greek separate food. No, no. I don't really remember anything about it at all. So what was your childhood favourite dinner that you would have? Alton? Is it Alton?

Alton. Alton, yeah. Like Alton Town? No. Well, it's not. It's the same spelling. Yes, but it's not a bit. It's a gorgeous little place.

It is pretty around there. Very dull, but pretty, yeah. Dull, but pretty. Yeah, so, well, my mum did all the cooking. she good not really no bless her no well actually no let's stop that's a bit mean that's a bit mean she made a good mince pie well that is and it's important meat like savory mince pie yeah you know like traditional i don't think i've ever had a steak with a mince pie it's not of this era to be honest like mince pies um i did at the time yeah no i loved them um but yeah no she wasn't great at cooking she was it was very practical mostly um yeah and quite

old school so like what was a memorable... You know, mash and liver. Oh, yeah. You've got it, and you didn't like it. I like that expression. Well, you know what I like? Mum does a chopped liver, but it's never... Chicken livers. And I don't mind.

Oh, I can't handle that. You can't do it. But people go out and you say calf's liver in an Italian restaurant. They say, oh, I love calf's liver with sage. And I couldn't ever eat that. But I think I think it looks no it's a little bit more it's good for you isn't it oh god not the butter not the butter not the calf not the what liver was it I have no idea actually I don't really want to know let's not talk about it I'm sure it was very good for me. Yeah. And some, you know, got some muscle.

But yeah, no. Did you eat it? I did, yeah. So, well, good for you. So you were a good child that... I was a good... Well, yeah, no, I mean... Oh, God, no. It was pretty awful, mostly, actually.

And, you know, she would hide things in food. Oh, yeah? Like what? I don't know, like fish. I had to think about... I didn't want to eat fish do you like fish now okay thank god because you're getting no no i do but i didn't i had this

thing when i was a kid that i didn't really want to eat it but i think that's because you know i did like it when i was really little and then because i liked it, it just went in absolutely everything. Are you in a big family? There were six of us. Six? Yeah, but... Six children? Six children. Wow.

Crikey, that is a big family. Where were you? Youngest. So I had three brothers. Two of them are twins and then two sisters. But when I came into the world the three brothers are kind of left so i didn't really know them that well so it was three sisters so that but the sisters were still around yeah yeah and and was it a happy childhood did you eat and laugh and create

together were you the most creative one uh well they yeah, no, they were all creative, actually. They're all musical. I'm talking about them like they're dead. They're still alive. Are they all musical? Some of them are, yeah. Yeah, my sister, one of my sisters is very musical and one of my brothers is very musical, yeah.

Were your parents musical? I think my dad was very musical. And I think, yeah, he was very musical. So did you play an instrument when you were little? Yes, I did. What did you play? The clarinet and the trombone. Wow.

I think that's fantastic. And why did you decide on those? I didn't decide on them. They were free at the school, i got i kind of had to do them i wanted to play an instrument that's what i got do you still play no could you if we asked you to i haven't got a clarinet you're all right have trombone and clarinet featured on no any records no absolutely not i mean you know i was young so the trombone practically sort of reached and you're only little and i'm only little good for the lungs though yeah yeah you know that's serious that and the liver serious power yeah so was there a dish that you did apart from the mince

no yeah they they were a good memory for you uh Well, not so much the liver, but the, and the apple crumble. Yeah, I mean, it was sort of traditional, you know, British food. What did your mum and dad do for a living? My mother was a nurse and a counsellor. And our house was a halfway house when I was a kid. How fascinating. So there would be a lot of people coming in and out of the house staying at the house who were from from they'd been probably in um some kind of mental institution

and had come out and so they stayed with us before they went back into the community support like supported living um well just my mother was very christian very um yeah staunch christian um and a counsellor and it was her i think she saw it as her christian duty to look after people in the community that's kind it's lovely so did you all eat together? Yeah, we did sometimes all eat together, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it was quite intense. Yeah, I bet. And you're the youngest there.

And I'm the youngest, yeah. So I have very happy memories of that. And I also have some not so happy memories of that because it was very intense. Did you all go to church? Yes. So did you sing there? Yes. yes so did you sing there yes is that where you found your voice um no where did you find it but i went to a convert school um there's a lot of contradictions in this i like this i like so you're not catholic i'm not

catholic but my mother sent me to a catholic school she thought it'd be very good for me was it good for you allison i absolutely loved it all right but interestingly I don't know anyone else has been to a convent school and loved it so I think I was very lucky they were kind and I thought they were really kind I loved them the nuns yeah I loved it lucky I thought I was in a film I loved it I don't know. It just seemed incredibly romantic to me. I love that. And the nuns, there were nuns from India, from Africa, from Spain, French nuns.

So when did you find out about The Voice? At convent school, yeah. So what were you singing? So we sang every morning. You know, we'd do our Hail Marys and then we'd sing songs and do all the harmony. That good reverb. Yeah, and all the harmony. They sort of took it very, very seriously.

So we did all these harmonies and yeah, it was great. I loved it. And I had a singing teacher who was very enthusiastic and I was really crap at everything else. So I kind of excelled in that I guess because she kind of encouraged me so it felt very good you know this was something I could actually do what was the food like at a convent oh bismarck yeah really dire much worse than my mum's so so are you a good cook Alison no no but you live in a really good area for food. Yeah, really great food.

Yeah. I mean, it's amazing how you can step out of your house in London and just get whatever you want. Anything, yeah. Well, I'm sorry, I missed where you lived. Hackney. Oh, lovely. So where are some of the spots that you would...

If somebody was coming from Alton to London, you were like, listen, I've got the spots for you. Yeah. Well, actually, there's an amazing restaurant really, really near me just down the end of the road called Braun. Oh, it's the best. I love it. Yeah. That's very, very nice.

I really like that. You've got Pavilion Bakery. Yeah. I love their dal. Yes. They do. It's so good. Yeah, that's right.

Yeah. And we've got a lovely little deli. Yeah, it's great. You know, so it's, yeah, that's right yeah and uh we've got a lovely little deli yeah it's great you know so it's yeah it's all going on around so if if we were coming around to yours yeah for a little bite i'd probably panic okay fine and maybe order in fine but what would be like alice and golf raps showstopper my God. I think this is quite mean, Jessie. Why? I think she's feeling not comfortable. Okay, what's your showstopper takeaway then?

No, I wouldn't do a takeaway. But do you know what? I like really simple food. So I don't know about a showstopper, but I'd probably make some salads. That sounds good. I'm there for the salad. Yeah, a lot of salads.

Popped a pavilion for the bread. Yeah. So you could do that. You could go to your deli. Yeah, and there's another great bakery up the road called E5 Bakery. Oh, I love it. Should we tell Alison what we're eating tonight? Well, I'm frightened now.

No, don't be frightened. Can I just say something? Go on. My dad really liked cooking, actually. Did he? But my mother wouldn't let him. Why? Because I think my mother was very practical,

you know, get the food on the table for the kids. And don't make too much mess. Yeah, all of that. Whereas my dad wanted to cook something much more interesting, inverted commas, and that really... What did your dad do? My dad was in advertising for quite a long time, before I was born, and then he gave it up

and worked for charity for the rest of his life. Wow. Yeah, he hated advertising, and I think... think you're very philanthropic family aren't you i mean halfway house and your dad works for charity so he was don draper and then he like threw it all away that's right yeah yeah um but yeah uh what what did he cook then well when he was when when mum was out um he liked he liked to cook curry and things like that and um he liked making cheese making cheese yeah which annoyed the hell out of my mum because he used to roll it up into uh sort of like balls and then hang it in muslin muslin that's right and

then cheesecloth yeah sort of muslin cheesecloth and then hang it in the airing cupboard. Oh, I bet that smelled great. Yeah. And she'd done all that? Yeah, so, you know, you'd open up the airing cupboard and there'd be all these really honking balls of cheese. Were they good? Were they good? Nice cheese.

It was, yeah, except it was very garlicky because he was so into garlic. So they'd really honk god like the whole head of his time being like you know infused garlicky like yeah so he was sort of more creative whereas my mum was very very practical so they clashed quite a lot that i'm just wondering what your dad's like cheeseboard have been it was just board have been. Did it ever get to the cheese board? Or was it like you were all trying to catch a taste of it in the airing cupboard? I think, yeah, cheese board might have been a bit too sort of sophisticated.

Did you go on holiday abroad? Yeah, we did actually. Spain. Spain. Mallorca was the place that we'd always go. I love Mallorca. Yeah, so that is very, very dear to me, Mallorca. Do you ever go?

Yeah, I love going all the time. Do you have a spot that you like to go to? I love going to Parma, actually. It's really beautiful. I like Parma. Beautiful. And sort of up on that northwest coast, I really love. I love all that sort of more rocky coastline.

Is that day? Day and beyond there yeah very beautiful yeah that cat is driving me mad do you have any animals you're not allergic are you allergic

no I absolutely love animals adore them but I don't have any at the moment do you want prints mum's store Jessie I took him to the vet it was £270 because I thought he was eating he, four pouches a day.

Oh, wow. Maybe he's near the end of life. No, he's not near the end of life. He's the healthiest cat in the whole of Clapham. How old is he? He's 15. She says he'll live to at least till he's 22, 25. That's pretty good going.

And he's not got a thyroid condition. He's just a greedy sod. Oh, mum, you're so mean. He's just a bloody greedy bugger. Yeah, look how he craves attention by everybody else. He doesn't. He gets attention all the time. Mum, look how he hears this and how you speak of him.

Oh, Prince. 15. Man up. Yeah, poor little Prince. But yeah, he does like to get up. It's your cat, actually. I thought about you taking him. Yeah.

Oh, I've got my two cats now. I know, Scott too. Unfortunately, I can't. Okay. Impossible. So you're playing Glastonbury. Yeah. One of the first 50 artists to be announced.

High up in that bill. Yeah. Park Stage, which is where I played last year. Such a great atmosphere. Yeah. And will you be staying for the weekend? Well, good question. I did look at where to stay and i did

contemplate the idea of a glam tent i think you should do it have you stayed in one yes are they good are they nice like i think you should get the tp okay where you get like the shag pile like like you get throws it's a bit kind of game of Thrones, like, you know, Jon Snow. But I think... Heaters? Yeah. Yeah. I need all mod cons. You want to have a proper shower and glam up.

What day are you playing? It's Sunday. So you need to take it easy on the Friday and Saturday. And you need electricity. I think I'll just drive down on the day. No! No, don't do that! Okay, okay, okay.

Sleeping bag? No! You've got to rough it, though. drive down on the day no don't do that sleeping bag no you've got to rough it though what time are you on at I'm not entirely sure actually it's in the evening on Sunday before Thundercat oh cool

love Thundercat like jazz musician really cool great music actually oh that'd be great so Glastonbury's happening the album will be out you'll be riding high

oh yeah have you got any ways that you I mean what is this your seventh record or eighth record it's um

eighth my eighth record so it's your eighth record is there a ritual that you have that you do after releasing

your record like a certain thing you eat or a certain thing you'll go and do where you go to Liberty and get one of those nice ritual that you have that you do after releasing a record like a certain thing you eat or a certain thing you'll go and do will you go to liberty and get one of those nice earrings that you've got in your ear well yeah i mean i do love eating i love i love my food i love celebrating with food so actually well i did not after the album so much but after the the video um yeah i went out for dinner steak oh yeah nice why is that naughty she doesn't eat red meat i always feel slightly guilty why is that why you don't eat red meat why do you feel guilty allison well mum because there's a whole thing called climate change going

on and so she's just trying to think about the plan hey well i did i just went out and had a steak and already where did you go fantastic glass of white hawks more oh great I love hawks more they know how to do a good steak how do you take your steak

when you're eating one on the rare occasion sort of medium to well done oh Alison I know and what's your

what's your sauce your condiment peppercorn peppercorn sauce do they do that at Hawks yeah they do it at all months. Roast potatoes.

Do you get the creamed spinach? Don't, actually. Oh, it's really nice. Do you have chips? No, the roast potatoes. But that's special, special, special treat. You know. You don't like coriander?

No, I've got a real thing about coriander. Does it taste like soap in your mouth? No, it tastes like musty old books. Oh. Yeah, like, you know, you know that kind of smell? I like some people... Mildew, mildew. Alison, are you going to stick with the white or would you like some red?

No, the white's great actually. Yeah. Yeah, thank you. Because we've had quite a few people on that have got a serious aversion to coriander. Yeah. Clara Amfoo my friend who actually was our guinea pig for the first ever recording we did she says it's the devil's herb she hates it so much and she will not be able to eat something if it's been sprinkled yeah

she won't even be able to like just put it to the side well i think there's a sort of there's a percentage of people who can't actually do it's a bit like you know people who can roll their tongue inwards yeah can you do that no all right jesse teach their children to do that wow okay so make yeah you're that percentage then that can do that and there's the same with coriander apparently um yeah, I mean, so it tastes like musty old books. Musty old books, mildew, yeah. Like, really, and I can smell it a mile off. I'm not a huge eater.

But, having said that, I actually really like coriander seeds. Okay, because they're a lot in curries. Yeah, but they're very different. Oh, I put it over there. Oh, sorry. Oh, yeah, okay, well, it's good to know. I put it over there. Oh, sorry. Oh, yeah. Okay, well, it's good to know. I don't think there's any...

No, we know about the coriander. Don't worry. But why is the coriander seed okay and not fresh? I don't know. It's got more depth, maybe. It's not got that kind of... I suppose it maybe changes its structure when it's a seed or something. I don't know.

Jessie, do you want to tell Alison what I've made? Okay, so mum's made... Do you want me to give her a cheese sandwich? I'm very excited about this, by the way. You know, it's very, very nice to be asked to do this and I'm very pleased to be here. It's such a pleasure to have you. So we've got...

Is it cod? Yeah. Cod in chickpeas and tomato. There's grilled asparagus. There's a broad bean and avocado mash. I love broad beans. There's hot, like, blistered cherry tomatoes that have been put in, like, thyme and lemon and garlic and cumin.

That sounds delicious. And that's on yoghurt. Oh, wow. And they kind of melt into that. And then we've got some rice. So it's a bit of this, bit of that. That sounds gorgeous, yeah. Yeah, and it's... Mum, they look perfect bit of that that sounds gorgeous yeah yeah and it's

mum they look perfect good fabulous that smells really good I hope so I love broad beans do you I can never be bothered

to do them she was shelling them just so you know and you appreciate it I'm very impressed it was an hour of shelling really oh yeah

that's what we'll go to the lengths for Alison Gull I'll tell you. What's the plan for the live show? Do you want to take it to the clubs? Do you want to kind of make it, I mean... Yeah, well, I mean, yeah, I'm just talking about shows at the moment. I've been on the phone today with my drummer, Seb, talking, trying to get a set list together and talking to the choreographer.

I'm going to have some dances. Right. On stage with me. And have you had dances before? I have done, but not for quite some time actually so yeah i want it to feel like something that's really great to watch and so yeah just trying to figure all that out at the moment and all of that stuff for me takes up so much of my headspace i'm not good at multitasking at all when you've done seven albums yeah how do you choose what's on your set list

will this be very much like your will this be alison golf rap and this record or will you include i will include some old older stuff yeah definitely you know i i kind of have to at the moment i don't have enough material to just play the new stuff but um and that's good and it's um it's interesting trying to make that work together i think it's working pretty well actually um yeah but yeah it's always a bit of a funny one to create you know decide what you're going to play live especially as every album i've done has been very different so yeah trying to make that work is quite difficult sometimes

actually this is delicious is it? yeah it's really good with the yoghurt actually mum I like it because it's sweet and it's lovely do you know what I'm kind of obsessed with at the moment is Szechuan chilli oil oh my god

do you like hot things? well no not really but it's just got the most incredible really distinctive flavor that's just it's so complex it's sort of floral and tangy and sweet and yes so I'm having it sort of morning night and day. You can kind of put it on eggs. Oh, yeah. Yeah, really good. Yeah, it's delicious. There's a really good Szechuan Chinese in Camberwell called Silk Road.

Where they do like the bang bang like noodles. It's so good. You should go down there if you've got a little taste for Szechuan. Yeah. When did you leave home? 16. Oh, wow, young. Yeah. When did you leave home? 16. Oh, wow, young. Yeah.

I love that. 16. I moved to the nearest town, next town with a friend, and we squatted a house. So I was in London by the time I was 17. Yeah. What was your kind of... It was pretty wild. I was in London by the time I was 17 yeah it was pretty wild I lived in a squat off the old Kent Road

Alison wow your poor parents my poor mum my mum came up to see me in the squat which I was kind of embarrassed about and she came all the way up on the train with a hoover

oh oh bless her did you use it? because she'd given it to you probably well no it was good it was very useful actually how did you find a squat? well my brother found it for me

but it was awful actually and I kind of moved out of there but yeah the first my first few years in in London up until I was about 23 were pretty pretty interesting when did you get signed well I'm you know quite late really all things because I mean I was like 30 30 30 maybe 32 33 slogging at it I was 15 years yeah yeah doing all sorts of different wild things all in London no I was in Antwerp for a couple of years in Belgium um singing with a dance company um and i was then i went to art came back and then i went to art school and then um i was doing stuff with tricky and orbital a lot of kind of um sort of early sort of dance stuff techno-y things was that a fun time? Yeah, it was. Was Tricky tricky then?

Tricky? Tricky? I mean, yeah, he's tricky. Yeah. But he's also amazing. I mean, there's, you know, there's something kind of fascinating about him. And he introduced me to a lot of incredible music. I learned a lot, you know know it was a real experience and and then i spent a lot of

time in bristol with you know a lot of guys around there so yeah really varied really varied i feel like maybe it could be time for the last supper talk about your last supper okay starter starter well i was thinking i just cannot, well, you can have two. I think it would be an Italian, you know, comfort food. Yeah. Pappardelle and maybe, like, either some kind of ragu sauce. Okay, nice. Or a homemade pesto sauce and loads of parmesan.

So, is this your, we're going straight to Maine's here. No, we're going straight to mains here? No, we're going straight to mains. That would be your starter. I know, that's true, actually. And then you'd just have a piece of meat afterwards. I'm not really into starters. Aren't you? No, not really.

If you've got a small appetite, I feel like you're... Well, I have to eat very regularly. Oh, really? Do you? But small. Yeah, if I don't eat regularly regular then i get very hangry yeah that's like a kylie minogue oh really yeah okay so we're little yeah we're both little yeah something italian or as i'm so into um the szechuan chili or i think maybe congee is also

kind of i don't know what congee is it's like food. Explain to me what it is. It's like a rice soup. Rice, like really cooked rice. Yeah, it's almost like a porridge. Savory porridge. And it's got chili oil and kind of broth. You like hot sauce, Alison. Have you made it before, Alison? I've attempted it. And how did it go?

Well... It didn't taste like when you tasted it in the restaurant. No, it wasn't great. Well, at least you tried. I tried. I tried. Have you got a spot that you go for your congee? Well, no, I haven't actually.

You need to find somebody. Okay, we need listeners to recommend a good place for congee. Oh, there's another really great little place. It's called Layla's. I love Layla's. Yeah. I had congee in there and it was absolutely delicious. So where does congee come from?

It's Chinese. Although apparently the name congee actually comes from India. Yeah, it doesn't sound Chinese. Have you ever eaten congee in a Chinese restaurant? No, but I've had it in China. It's very comfort food. it's like i've had it in china it's very cum like comfort food it's like having chicken chicken broth you know it's a very comforting very nice yeah nourishing gentle on your tummy and yeah lots of places are now doing like savory porridges and stuff like

that well what we have i don't know if you've heard of her, Jack Munro. She's a bootstrap cook. She's amazing. She's amazing. She makes food for nothing. And she made us chicken porridge. Oh. It was delicious. It was with oats

and she did it with like, it was a free time, so it was like onion, celery and carrot. And she brought it on the train in a flask. Cooking. So it kind of kept on cooking. Wow.

And so it kind of went, and she'd done it with oat milk and like leftover chicken and it all sounds like you'd be like it was kind of like a risotto it was so delicious it was it was really nice i can imagine it but like it sounds surprising yeah it was so it felt comforting and like yeah yeah yeah yeah nice so we've got congee with a big bit of szechuan yeah yeah you've got metal tea metal tea metal shit alice oh my god what's going on here bloody hell metal tea yeah no i'll tell you what you might get metals on the island that is true so maybe i should make metal tea okay all That is true. I could make nettle tea.

Save the nettles. Okay, all right. But why? Tell me about the nettle tea. I'm going to... No, but honestly, it's a thing of wonder. It is... It's...

You drink the nettle tea, and I'm not kidding. It feels like it's healing your whole inside. Who taught you about this? Well, weirdly, at Laylaila's i had nettle tea she comes out with this great massive tin she picks them off the edge of the canal and then yeah probably somewhere on the middle of arnold circus yeah the dogs have all weed on it yeah it's all sterilized in boiling water probably very good for. As my mother would have said, good dirt. Good dirt. Yeah. So, nettle tea.

Yeah, nettle tea. It's beautiful. So. I can drink gallons of it. But it's not very alcoholic. No, it's not. And then I'd move on to like, you know, serious bottle of booze. Yeah.

Something. Yeah. Have you got a sweet tooth? I've got a terrible sweet tooth. Well, we're going to have something sweet now. I'm trying to kind of cut. I'm seriously, I mean, yeah. But life's too short, isn't it?

Well, there is that. So what would be your dream food? Oh, I love chocolate. I'm a bit of a... I love chocolate in the freezer. I just nibble on a bit of chocolate from the freezer. I keep it in the fridge. You know what I do, Alison?

Yeah. And this can make you feel like you're quite like, you know, it's slightly worthy. So like you can feel like it's really good for you. Okay. Get medjool dates. Oh, yes. Cut them. Put peanut butter in there.

Chocolate. Dip them in dark chocolate. A bit of sprinkling of sea salt. Shove them in the freezer and they're like Snickers ice cream. That sounds really good. And you just go,

oh, it's good for me. I'm going to be regular. It's going to be delicious. It's going to be delicious. Yeah, actually, I love them. Oh, yeah, that was beautiful.

Thank you. So what's your favourite chocolate? Milk chocolate. I'm not that into dirt. I know, dirt. Oh, you dirty dog. I love chocolate? Milk chocolate. I'm not that into dirt. Oh, you dirty. I know, dirt. Oh, you dirty dirt. I love it. Milk chocolate.

Oh, no. Frozen. Oh, my God. Look at that. Frozen milk chocolate. Yeah, frozen milk. Dairy milk? No, not quite.

A bit of... Galaxy? No. A bit higher end. A bit higher end, yeah. Mum's got giant milk chocolate buttons in the fridge if you want one of them just to keep going. That might be too sweet.

Oh, right, OK. Yeah. I guess it tastes less sweet when it's in the freezer as well, doesn't it? Why don't you just go to dark chocolate, Alison? It gives me a headache. Oh! Yeah. Do you not drink caffeine?

I do. Yeah. How interesting. Yeah, it sort of makes me feel a bit weird so and then I have to drink a lot of water the nettle tea

will soothe you this is very very interesting this is why we do the podcast we can learn about oh my god look at that cream

I've never seen so much cream there's variations of cream you can have whatever you want we've got creme fraiche whipped cream pouring cream and we've got creme fraiche, whipped cream

pouring cream and we've got a spiced apple cake wow which looks beautiful mum does look beautiful will you have a bit yes I will so we've got your last supper

yeah pasta, congee, nettle tea, booze, chocolate. I made chocolate. You know what? Listeners, will you please let us know if you too freeze your chocolate like Alison Goldfrapp. What's on your rider then? Will you always have a bit of chocolate on the rider? Yeah, I do actually.

On my rider, I don't like food in my dressing room me neither oh good yeah it's too weird isn't it it's like when you go to europe and you get those like meat and cheese plates you're like get it out yeah yeah and things and they always like put this cling film over everything which is just all yeah hideous hideous. Yeah. Plus, bad for the planet. Yeah. No, I agree. Thank you, Mum. This looks gorgeous.

I think I might have to do the whipped cream, because that looks so amazing, and I never have whipped cream. Mmm. This is really nice. Is it? Yeah, really lovely. It's really nice.

Have some. Did you make, you made this as well? Yeah. Oh, wow. It's like cream and apple is such an amazing, I mean, they go so well together, don't they? It kind of always reminds me though, like, just because this whipped cream isn't like the squirty cream, but it always reminds me of like the cafes in Amsterdam, where you're stoned and you're eating a bit of apple tart pie.

Oh, God. This is very, very delicious, Mum. Thank you. I guess it's kind of like apple crumble as well that you look it just works doesn't it have you got a nostalgic taste that can transport you somewhere oh yeah i mean i'm more do you know i'm jim my favorite meal of the day is breakfast actually i really love do you have a big breakfast i do like to have a big breakfast because i find if i have a big breakfast then i tend not to eat sort of crap by otherwise i tend

otherwise i'm sort of nibbling on frozen chocolate 11 a.m so yeah big breakfast and um in your in your family's home was breakfast like a big deal um with everybody was it kind of a big fry up was it kind of like fend for yourselves go and get your toast go and get your cereal no it was meals were always um you know sit sit oh yeah thanks meals were always about sitting down together and talking and being together so yeah i i yeah i really appreciate that because i feel like that's something i still really like to do and having breakfast with friends i really love doing that having people around for breakfast so yeah you know just something like a fried egg will make me think of all the fantastic holidays I've been on and being in Greece up a mountain at you know very early in the morning and always being able to cook an egg yeah yeah things like that or you know just being with a friend yeah things just very

simple things um yeah apples and cream actually do make me think about growing up in England. Yeah. Yeah, so no, definitely get nostalgic about food and the smells and tastes, yeah. Do you think you'd ever live in the country? The countryside. I fantasise about it all the time. What's stopping you? I have done it on my own.

Where were you? Near Bath. Okay. you um i have done it on my own where were you near bath okay i was touring a lot and our studio was in bath so i was i decided to just buy a place in bath it seemed crazy because i was either on tour or i was in the studio so i bought this little cottage beautiful countryside um and it was wonderful for a bit and then I started to feel very isolated and I missed being in London with the kind of people that I like to hang out with and how long did you last there quite a few that's probably about four years okay yeah but yeah i'd so i i love london i kind of have a bit of a love hate relationship with it because i i kind of i love the people i love the openness of it and it feels very friendly to me i

think people in london are super friendly and it's really diverse um but I crave nature so I have to get my fix of nature yeah I'm gonna ask a really rude question do you ever sing karaoke why is that a rude question because I don't think she does she's too chic she's too chic do you know what I've never done karaoke actually the thought of karaoke scares the life out of me. Have you ever done karaoke? I've done it really reluctantly, and it's not fun for singers, because that's boring for everybody. Nobody wants to hear a good singer sing well.

That's boring. I've never done it. I've never seen anyone else do it either. Do you do it? I would. She talks the big talk. Well, I've never done it and what would you do

if you were doing a karaoke? oh definitely Whitney for a while it was Kings of Leon Kings of Leon Sex on Fire really?

wow I'd like to hear that I'd need backing me too can you do it now? no I can't oh god have you met Kings of Leon? no I can't. Oh, God.

Have you met Kings of Lyon? No, I'd like to. Is that the one with What's It Flowers in it? No, that's the Killer Spot. Oh, I like that. Getting all your indie fans from the 2000s. You can save a pen shot for an indie band. No, I like Tamla Motown. I like any soul music.

I mean, what do you listen to when you're relaxing? What would you have in the background to a nice meal? Well, that's interesting because I don't really like music when I'm eating. Oh. No. Why is that? Why not? I don't think.

I need to know well I don't like I don't really like going to a restaurant where there's music unless it's on a record player actually like Braun quite often will put a bit of vinyl on because they're like quick Alison's coming we're putting on the vinyl right now

turn off the solos I'm for that some of the restaurants, the sound is so terrible. All you hear is a bass beating. Thank you very much. It's a bit thumping. It's all really, like, terrible speakers,

so it sounds very small and tinny, and it's actually just annoying, like, completely pointless. I want to hear the music, and I want to listen to it, so actually I prefer... And if you're in a busy restaurant, it's actually really nice to hear everyone chatting. i want to listen to it so actually i prefer and if you're in a busy restaurant it's actually really nice to hear everyone chatting yeah yeah i think that's right you need the music so if you were having people around would you never play music um

sometimes i do yeah sometimes i do like if i'm having a party yeah definitely be eating do you have parties do people have parties anymore? I don't know. Yeah. I have four-year-old birthday parties. I know, we could do with a big party. I've got a family kitchen playlist, which sounds really shit, but it's really good. I should give it a better name. Why?

Whenever I hear a really good song that I think could accompany a good pud, I'm like, you get it. What would you have with the apple doesn't it give you there's a Smokey Robinson no there's a Smokey Robinson song more love do you know it no so good

perfect for the spiced apple cake oh wow I like this I like this I might have to yeah it's really nice okay anything Smokey Robinson does in fact you could have and I hope that you don't find this offensive, I could have Alison Goldfrapp in my ear at any time. What kind of pudding would you have that with?

Well, I think there'd be cream in there. Okay, great, great. There would definitely be cream. I'm not going to say the obvious. Oh, go on, say the obvious. There's not going to be a black cherry in there. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that to you.

I feel like the one that we had the other night the one that i made yeah mum made this whipped cream with a bit of coffee essence in it it was like um what's camp camp coffee essence it was like coffee whipped cream yeah um and with i don't know if i like this where this is going. It's great. Okay, okay. With meringue and chocolate sauce on the top. It was one of the greatest. Meringue chocolate note sauce and also candied hazelnuts. Oh, wow. So a lot of texture. Yeah, texture.

You know, it's got depth. It's got, it's complicated. It's delicious. It's sexy, sensual. That's what I'd have. I'm liking this, yeah. Why? Do you feel like you're more of a fruit tart kind of girl?

I think I've let the side down. I should have done chocolate. Your associations with music and food, I hadn't really thought about that, actually, but I'm liking this. Okay, good, good. Alison Goldfrapp, thank you so much for coming over. Thank you.

And being such a great sport, being so interesting. Oh, so nice. Telling us about the the Hoover at the squat I love it, it's great you're amazing that's going to be on my Wikipedia now forever Alison Goldfrapp is one of the most glamorous people we've ever had, I think. She's gorgeous.

And I was looking at her, and as I was looking at her, looking so chic, I was dribbling cream down my front, trying to get the apple pie in my mouth. Do you think she noticed? I think she probably thought it was quite charming. Okay, good. Do you think she noticed? I think she probably thought it was quite charming. Okay, good. Alison Goldfrapp, a lovely woman, such an interesting upbringing. Yeah.

And I learnt so much about her tonight. Her mum with the hoover on her train. I love that so much. To the old Kent Road. Fancy eating congee any time soon? No. No? No. It's very nice, Mum. No.'s very nice no savory the word actually makes

me feel like why sounds like congareel oh my god that's so weird i think that too yeah and i don't discriminate against it because i can i can how do you think your meal went down well i think everyone everyone loved it i think it was really nice. I think the yoghurt was very much needed. You see how you needed... Preserved lemon is strong. I put one less in and he said... And that was double the... I doubled everything and there was more fish than he would have had in it.

He calls that a tapas dish. He? Yotam. Yotam. My friend Yotam. But the apple cake is spectacular oh my god that spiced apple cake is it what cousin sarah does yeah it's such a good cake is it quite easy to do yeah it's because it looks good it's fiddly but i think that's as good as a tart tatin to be honest

unless you feel less anxious because you've made the the batter the only thing was i didn't have enough bloody self-raising flour so you were eating the most expensive self-raising flour so i had to get it on deliveroo well and it cost seven pounds well i really tasted it organic very good thank you mum I think dinner is on me next time alright darling thank you for listening listeners I'd like to know

whether you freeze your chocolate I'd like to know also whether you've got any good congee recommendations for me and Lenny to go and try it

I'd love to hear some of your recommendations actually why don't you send them in at hello at tablemannerspodcast.com we are yet to use one of your recipes i am sorry it will

happen probably when i'm cooking we'll see you next week and thank you so much to allison gold for out the album the love invention is out now and it's fabulous um you can catch allison at glastonbury at the park stage on the sunday the outernet, sold out though, so snooze you lose. And also doing the Manchester International Festival, which is a brilliant thing to go and be a part of. Go and watch, go and enjoy it, lap it up. Thank you for listening and we'll see you next week.