Plant hope and bake goodness
Anne Cuthbertson talks to The Great British Bake-off’s Mel Giedroyc about cakes, gardening and their therapeutic powers
Series four of The Great British Bake-Off has just finished filming, but Mel Giedroyc is sworn to secrecy. “It was a cracker of a final,” says the 45 year-old, who co-presents the Bafta-winning BBC Two show with her friend and comedy partner Sue Perkins. “There were about 200 people there, with a coconut shy, candyfloss and stalls. The weather was incredible, unlike last year when there was a bunch of sad people in cagoules.” Will the new Bake-Off come up to the standard of last year’s belter, which topped six million viewers for the final? “This year’s vibe is good,” says Mel, quietly confident. Viewers love the show’s slow organic process, which allows you to get to know the characters. Beneath the tension, it is a laugh on set. “The bakers need the humour as well, in this strange environment with cameras on them, being asked to describe everything they do.” Mel has great respect for the judging duo of Paul Hollywood, a professional baker of more than 30 years, and Mary Berry, the 78-yearold grande dame of cakes and Aga cookery. “They are extremely close,” Mel says. “She’s like a mother to a slightly pesky son. Paul is never wrong, it’s very annoying. He is like Simon Cowell; he knows his onions”. Mary is “an extraordinary woman, stoic, no-messing.” And surprising. “Mary admitted to Sue and I – I’m sure she won’t mind me saying – that she went to Pasha, one of the biggest nightclubs in Ibiza. ‘Did she go in the afternoon for tea?’ we wondered. ‘Oh no, midnight’, she said. She had a great time.” Mel and Sue had taken the series one gig expecting little. “It was just another cookery show. We thought it would go under the radar. It’s been absurd!” she says. Applications for this year’s show were “in the thousands”. Mel describes herself as a “level one” baker, comfortable with brownies but “scared of bread”. “It’s the yeast. You live in the presence of something that’s alive.” Sue, on the other hand is “a natural”. “For a lot of this series Sue has been in the home-economics kitchen, the nexus of the production. She made a very good batch of scones. And traybakes for the grand final party.” After months of filming and before taking a break for the summer, Mel has another commitment that is close to her heart. Next Sunday she will be appearing at Horatio’s Garden Food and Plant Fair at the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre at Salisbury Hospital. “My link is very personal. A good friend at film school called Giles had an accident in Australia and ended up in the unit. We used to visit him and I got to know the staff and saw – and I hate using this word but I’m going to – ‘the journey’ he made. He’s tetraplegic. But 20 years on he’s married, with two lovely dogs.” Horatio’s Garden has become a national charity, building therapy gardens at spinal centres in the UK. It is named after Horatio Chapple, who volunteered as a schoolboy with ambitions to go into medicine, his father being a consultant surgeon at the hospital. Horatio was killed by a polar bear while on a British Schools Exploring Society expedition to Norway in 2011, at the age of 17. Horatio’s legacy is the most beautiful garden, designed by the Chelsea gold medallist Cleve West. For bed-bound hospital patients, to be taken into a garden, says Mel, is “an important part of recovery, a godsend”. Her friend Giles was outdoorsy and to see him being stuck inside in a bed was agony. In terms of rehabilitation and therapeutic qualities, baking and gardening have a lot in common, Mel says. She supports the efforts of last year’s Bake-Off finalist Brendan Lynch to take baking courses into care homes. Mel will next month open the Restore charity’s Littlemore café in Oxford, a venture for which mental health patients are encouraged to bake and learn catering skills to take into paid jobs. Next Sunday, Horatio’s Garden will host artisan food producers, with plants for sale, gifts and crafts. There will be traditional ciders from Bridge Farm, salt marsh lamb from the Thoroughly Wild Meat Co, and sushi from Dorset Sushi. Mel is no stranger to farmers’ markets. “My husband is a devotee of the West Ealing farmers’ market. We became obsessed with the tomato guy – my daughters thought he looked like Troy from High School Musical – and would spend £20 on tomatoes.” She’s used the tomatoes in attempts to make pizza (a gentle introduction to yeast). “I’m on top of that,” she says. Is it a Paul Hollywood recipe? “No,” she adds, dropping her voice to a whisper, “it’s a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.” Horatio’s Garden’s Food and Plant Fair takes place at Salisbury District Hospital, SP2 8BJ on Sunday 23 June, from 11am-3pm: horatiosgarden.org. uk; email info@horatiosgarden.org.uk or call 07429 140918. Entry is free. Mel Giedroyc will be opening the Restore cafe, at Littlemore Mental Health Centre, Oxford on 26 July (restore.org.uk). The fourth series of ‘The Great British Bake-Off’ returns in August