I made cheese muffins with Rick Astley... I had no idea who he was chats with the doyenne of British baking to find out all about new show, Mary Berry’s Quick Cooking
ADORED for her time in the Great British Bake Off tent, her reliable recipes (the woman’s lemon drizzle cake is actual perfection), and her bright ensembles, Mary Berry is a certifiable national treasure.
There’s no doubt that, at 83, she’s both a telly marvel and a genuine culinary legend.
Now, her latest exploits involve whizzing round Rome on the back of a Vespa (“That was enormous fun,” she says with a smile. “What a perfect way of seeing Rome.”) and playing the drums while appearing live on stage with Rick Astley (more of which later), for her new BBC2 series Mary Berry’s Quick Cooking.
The show and accompanying cookbook see the Bath-born recipe writer and presenter sharing her tips for putting together flavourful dishes at speed, inspired by those she meets on her travels – from Italy to Morocco, and the street food offerings of a British music festival. It was a series of firsts for Cordon Bleu-trained Mary, who, for starters, had never visited Rome before.
Between joining women who rolled fresh pasta all day in the open window of a restaurant, and visiting the city’s famed produce markets – Mary grappled with the temperature.
“It was very, very hot,” she says, recalling the breezefree, 400C (1040F) heat.
It was particularly demanding during a shoot on the top of a building, where Mary was whipping up a bruschetta recipe of crisp toasts piled high with tomato, avocado and tapenade.
The view was “absolutely breathtaking” and they’d constructed a bit of shade out of a sheet so “things didn’t melt on the table”, but she had to contend with the distraction of her photographer being so hot “they were pouring a jug of water down his back as he was taking the pictures”.
The music festival had its own challenges, too.
“I suppose I’m a bit old-fashioned, but I have never been to a festival,” explains Mary, who quickly became a convert.
“I liked the aspect that there were mothers, daughters, grannies, everybody with children [all together] – there was so much for them to do and there was excellent food for them to buy.”
She tasted Ghanaian street food, learnt to grill steak swiftly with spandexwearing chef DJ BBQ, and made cheese muffins with singer Rick Astley.
Fast food:
“I had no idea who he was,” Mary whispers in mock-horror. “Anyway, I met him, and he was absolutely delightful.”
“His shoes were beautifully polished,” she adds with a grin.
Muffins duly baked, the 1980s singer invited her to join him on stage, where she was wheeled out playing the drums. “He said, ‘You’re a natural!’ – rubbish.”
And when she came off stage, she understandably treated herself to “a lovely glass of red wine”.
Talking of rarefied experiences, when it comes to other people cooking for her, Mary admits invitations can be few and far between.
“Erm, no,” she replies when asked if people get her round for dinner much. “People who ask me for dinner, they’re good friends and nearly always they’ll say, ‘This is my mum’s [recipe]’ or, ‘I got this when I was on holiday’,” – so there’s always a caveat of some kind.
But, says Mary, really “they’re passing on an idea to me and I love it”.