Paapa Essiedu can’t resist our spicy prawn tacos with rhubarb and scotch bonnet salsa

22:10Nick:And you've never given it back? No, they never, like, I think they, I don't know what happened with it, but come and collect it, Bake Off. But do use the Nutribullet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What about you? Have you got stuff? Well, I mean, like, I just got, like, a bunch of knives. Yes. You know, so I've got, like, the chef's knife. I'm looking to, Angela, to, like, ratify this. I've got the chef's knife. I've got the paring knife. I've got the serrated paring knife. Yes. I've got the fish knife. Yes. You need a good knife. You need a good knife. I think that's half the thing. The food is here, Angela.

22:44Let's get involved, Papa, and then Angie can talk us through these. So we've got, yeah.

22:50Nick:You've got spicy prawn. Prawn and pork. Yeah, spicy prawn tacos with rhubarb and scotch bonnet salsa. And this is a recipe by Easter Belfridge. And so in it, basically the prawn mix, we've got prawn, we've got pancetta. You can leave that out if you want to. We've got mango chutney, sesame oil, some curry powder, chili flakes and salt. and you blend all that together into a nice sort of pate and fry them until they're lightly coloured brown. And then we make a rhubarb and scotch bonnet salsa. And so in there you've got rhubarb, lime juice, scotch bonnets, chipotle chilli, honey and some lime leaves.

23:24Nick:And then you cook that down to it's a really, really thick salsa. And then a little bit of Greek yoghurt and lime zest on the side just to cool it down, if you need to cool it down. and then it's garnished with a little bit of julienne of spring onion. And then we spice it, you know, and I put a little bit of spring onion into the prawn and pork mix as well and sort of increase the chilli a little bit. So I hope it's all right. It's good. You make me look very nervous, you two. Oh, thank God. It's delicious. I've marked one already. One's down. One's down. We've both had one during that. It's really good.

23:59The Scotch bonnet is such a good spice to use because it's not instant, is it?

24:03Nick:No, it's a slow. It gets you at the end, yeah. No, that's quite punchy now, I think. It's good. Some people just put spice for the sake of it, and they don't understand that balance of, you know, it shouldn't just be heat. It's got to have flavor coming through it. But I think with that, you get all that. You get a little bit of the sweetness and you get that. The rhubarb's great with that. I think it should be so hot that, like, it shouldn't be like an endurance test. No, exactly. I once did underestimate a Scotch bonnet. Yeah. Someone I know recommended me an elixir to have when you're sick, right?

24:34And in the elixir, it's like a teaspoon of turmeric, fresh ginger, a whole fresh garlic bulb. Yeah. Not bulb, clove. Clove, yeah. Half a lemon, honey, and as much chilli as you can tolerate. Right. I put half a scotch bonnet in with the seeds. Oh, wow. Nearly passed out. And like, I'm not saying that for a fact. No, no, no. Literally, I was walking to the tube and I was like, I'm going to die here. I'm going to die on the spa. Half a scotch bun. Shepers. Did it cure your illness? I'm fine now, aren't I? Yeah. Fine now. There's also a wine pairing, which is Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Nice pairing with a spicy prawn taco.

25:24Nick:Yeah. So it's got citrus notes, which will complement the rhubarb, but also stand up to the chili. It's called tohu, sauvignon blanc. And if you want to try this recipe or get any of the ingredients, waitrose.com forward slash dish recipes is where you find all the information on how to make this. You can also watch Angela on YouTube and Instagram making this sort of a how-to video. I find them easier than reading. I love a how-to. now one thing we wanted to talk to you about was uh bill splitting something that you were passionate about bringing to dish today in restaurants when playing the bill that thing that happens when people want to get very specific about the bill pain and your problem i believe was when people are like i didn't have the olives yeah because obviously there are levels to this right And if I'm honest, there is also a character judgment here.

26:26But my... Judge away, I say. But my real... The thing that gets me furious is someone that I know can afford to spread the will, but doesn't. Because that's undermining the whole process of this being a communal experience. It's like saying, this is what I got. I don't want to have any involvement in you. Obviously, if we're out and say someone doesn't drink and people have ordered bottles of champagne and whatever, yeah, of course, that's fine. Do you know what I mean? But it's just long and boring. It's boring. It's a real vibe killer at the end. And you're right, if it's something ridiculous like that, but if it's someone's like, oh, I actually didn't eat a carrot.

27:11I didn't get the breadsticks. It's not that deep. I mean, who gets breadsticks at her? How do you stand on that, Ange? No, no, I can't stand it. Just split it. We want to go.

27:24Nick:I've got a friend. I'm not going to name a shame. Go on. But sometimes, no, no, no. Go on. And sometimes she goes, I'm not having a starter. And actually, I know what it was. We went on a holiday to Italy, and I'll name a shame you see us. And she's going, I don't want a starter. And she goes, no, well, we've had this conversation. And we'd be out. We were sort of interrailing and stuff. She goes, I won't have a starter. And I was in Italy, so I'd have a starter. and then she started eating my food. And I said, no, Nicola, this is not going to happen. If you want a starter, I'll buy you a starter, but you do not eat off my plate when I've ordered a starter.

27:53Nick:Sounds like a fun holiday. Yeah, it was. That was one of our things. There was many things. I was on the classic holiday when I said to her, can you shut the door, please? And she did. And I said, no, with you behind it. It was like, whoa! That's a vibe. We're still friends. Nic is one of my dearest friends. She reminded me of that the other day. I said, did I never say that? She said, yes, she did. Yes, she did. But anyway, she got her own back. Because then when we were in Rome, we were inter-alien, I got out of the tube because we were having another row or something. And I did it quite, quite, I did it really slowly.

28:26Nick:And as I got out, the tube door was stuck around my head like this. Why was you having the row? Literally, I was going out the door. And, you know, we had all our bags and my head was like this. And I was going, niggla, niggla. And she was literally on the platform. She fell about laughing. and then we've had best friends again, you see. Took the two doors. But she was like, I was going, Nicola, help, help. And she was just like, yeah. Like nothing undermines the point that you're making.

28:55Really good.

28:56Nick:Anyway, we've had many challenges, me and Steve. Many challenges. But we're still the besties to make, so that's a sign, isn't it? Well, I think that's good. Yeah, that's good. Brutal honesty. Brutal honesty. Should we talk about Thorlen? we've got a few things to talk to you about we want to talk about babies and we want to talk about falling on channel 4 as well so it was created by Jack Thorne who people will know probably from adolescence amongst many other things you play a priest that falls in love with a nun classic I genuinely as a kid thought that they dated like genuinely was that oh so priests go out with nuns I did so you thought like the monastery was like the dating house I did and I went to It was like a speed dating goal.

29:42I went to Catholic school, that's what I thought. I mean, what's all that you can do? I thought the altar boys were their kids.

29:52I can't believe that. I thought the Pope was their granddad. No, no, no. Ridiculous. You star alongside Keeley, who we loved. We made a great time with Undish. Tell us all about Fallen and tell us what it was about this that made you say yes. look like Jack man because you say like everyone knows Jack from adolescence and like today maybe that's true but like Jack's a legend of the game in every medium you know this is a guy who like he wrote on Skins right iconic for my generation yeah you know this is England iconic for my generation but he also like does plays as well he wrote the Harry Potter play iconic everything and now he's obviously writing the Beatles movie you know so this is a guy who like knows no limits in terms of his talent so i was lucky enough to work with him maybe like 10 years ago in a show called kirry with sarah lancashire and yeah he asked me to do this and it's one of those ones where like i'd said yes before i even read it so you just like hope it's you hope it's all right yeah but like no he's brilliant the way he writes character and story and and the the heart they but I think that's the common denominator in all of those things I've just said.

31:12Like the heart that he puts into his work is just without par. How was it going to work with Kili Hoss? Because we loved her when she came on here. Yeah. Kili's a legend. Do you know what I mean? Kili is actually a legend. Like she's one of those people where like you talk to people who don't even watch TV and they're like, oh, I love her. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love her. Wherever you go in this country, like she's a legend, you know. So yeah, it was a real treat to be able to like do something like this with her. she's brilliant in the show yeah so you said yes before you saw the script you saw the script and then it was good and then I said yes again yes again yes I will do that that must have been a first for you to say yes before you've read the script yeah but like I really do mean it Jack's like no other and like there's a reason you know like adolescence there's a reason why that show is obviously like one of the most watched on Netflix but also like affecting like government policy.

32:09Yeah, yeah, yeah. He has got that impact. He will be remembered generationally. So like I'm not being flippant when I say you say yes before you read it because you honestly don't need to. You know it's going to be brilliant.

32:21Nick:But did you know the premise? Did you know it was about priests? Yeah, yeah. And also like the premise is great. Yeah, yeah, okay. And how did you train for that? What, to play priest? To be a priest, yeah. I grew up going to church up until I was about like 16 or 17. So I've got like a certain background knowledge of Christianity and that world being in churches, especially in this country. But yeah, I spent a lot of time with a guy called Father Jarrell, who runs a beautiful church in Cardiff where he's shot. And what I loved about him is he like busts open like the idea of what a priest is meant to be or look like or how they hold themselves.

33:05He's this amazing, fabulous, well-dressed, sharp-tongued guy, very young guy who carries his Spaniel around. No, he's Jack Russell. He carries him around and is in the service with him. And yeah, I kind of grew up on the idea of priests are meant to be very severe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was sexy. Basically, he was sexy, man. He made it sexy.

33:41Nick:The one thing when I was watching it, it comes together very quickly, as in the love story. Sure. You know, I felt, God, you felt there was the flirtation over the food straight away in that kitchen. No, I did. And when the scrambled eggs came up, even though I looked at them and thought, Keely, you have not done a good job there. Really? She whisks. She didn't fold. Should have folded. You know, I'll feed that back. Feed that back to her. No, they got a... I swear they got like a scrambled egg specialist in life. So that person just got rinsed, man. They just got rinsed. They just got rinsed.

34:14They just got rinsed. I know.

34:15Nick:I see it. But it did feel like... It was like love over food. Yeah. That's what it felt like, you know. And, you know, even though you was... Your character was like, no, I'll be fine, I'm okay. They were insistent on looking after you. Yeah. And then when you were probing her, that's when it all... It felt like the romance was even starting back then. Yeah, sometimes in those moments when, you know, you meet that person, like, words are not enough. Or, like, you can never say what you feel because it's too overwhelming. So you're so focused on, like, doing the thing. Yeah. You know, it's like that thing of, like, when you're, like, having arguments, sometimes it happens in the car.

34:50Yeah. When you, like, don't have to look at each other. You can just, like, look straight up. You know, there's something, there's a third party. But, yeah, I think Jack was really smart to write that as the third character. I love Triangle with scrambled eggs.

35:03Nick:I do. And the cabbages. They're another big thing. Cabbages feature very heavily. The other thing that you can see right now, which is excellent, which I watched recently, is Babies, which you can see on BBC iPlayer, where you start opposite Siobhan Cullen. You play Stephen and Lisa. And they're on a journey. And a journey to discover, you know, what they want to do. Do they want to have kids? What are they going to do? can you fill us in without giving away exactly what happens in Babies? Yeah, Babies is ultimately a love story about a couple of couples actually but like yeah, me and Siobhan play a couple called Stephen and Lisa who, you know, they're early stages in a marriage they're like, it's like they love each other they found their person if you believe in such a thing, you know they're ready to do life and one of the things they want to do is like have a child together but you know like it's that thing of when you hit a certain point in your life it's almost like you spend your whole life like trying not to get whoever you're pregnant and then once you're ready to do it it's sometimes not as straightforward as that so this show kind of uh dissects and investigates and analyzes like some of the challenges that come on that journey both in terms of you know that's one part of it but also about how they like try to stay together how they try to remain loving each other and also how like that kind of like um butterflies outwards in terms of how it affects their friendships their families etc etc yeah i love your relationship on screen yeah i think you guys are so great in it and i think you start it truly believing that like oh they're a real couple you're so sort of fluid in in the way that you converse with each other and you're such a nice time making each other laugh in it siobhan that's my dog man she's like she's like she's so incredible I cannot stress to use like how talented this woman is like she's gonna go everywhere you know you're gonna see her on every red carpet awards ceremony whatever she's that brilliant and yeah I'm so I feel so proud of the work that everyone's done in it but like having spent so much time with her I'm so proud of her nice brilliant yeah you can see babies right now if you want to go and see that on BBC iPlayer Papa, are you ready for your fast food quiz?

37:22Hit me. Okay, here we go. Quickfire answers, please. What is your favourite way to eat eggs? Scrambled very well done.

37:29Nick:Yeah, I'm like that. Sorry, I know it's fast food. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I like them very well done. Don't like it running. Sorry. What's your favourite sandwich, Phil? Ooh, peanut butter. What's your favourite form of potato? Chips. Like, crispy. Yeah. Those little crispy little ones. You know, weirdly, my favourite chips are like McCain's oven chips. Oh. Yeah, but like really well. Yeah, really cooked. Favourite herb? Coriander. Okay. What is the best crisp on the market? It's a Walker's cheese and onion. What's your favourite bean? My favourite bean? Bean, you know, like a chickpea or a butter bean or a baked bean.

38:07Legume. Legume or a green bean? My favourite legume is a black-eyed bean. Yeah, nice.

38:15Nick:We haven't had that before. What's your favourite kitchen utensil? I guess like, now I would say a chef's knife. Oh, very good. Chef's knife. What's your favourite toast topping? Like, not guac, but like avocado. Yeah. That's really chopped up. Really, right. Actually, avocado, lemon, tomato, lamb chili. Yeah, nice. Yeah, that's good. What is your favourite pasta? I don't love pasta. Oh, my God, Angelo Cuvier is. Coriander. Angelo's going to explode. Okay, no. Let me say... It can be a pass. Can I say linguine? Yeah. Does that make me like a philistine? No, we love linguine. I like to go like that.

38:59Yeah, perfect then. We love a linguine.

39:01Nick:What's your favourite chocolate bar? I would say... This is pathetic. A white chocolate Twix. Oh, I've never had a white chocolate Twix. I've never experienced that. Yeah, that's... You've got a white chocolate thing. That's like connected to the white chocolate match. Exactly, yeah. You've got that. Oh, white chocolate Twix. Go on. Papa, we come to the end of the show question for your chance to win the Waitrose Goodie Bag. All you've got to do is answer this question. All those goodies for you. Okay. We would love you to tell us for the Waitrose Goodie Bag about your performance as an understudy in King Lear.

39:39Oh, my God. Yeah. I don't know this story, but I know it's good. I feel like it's going to be good. Alright, so I was in the production of King Lear like ages ago. Sam Mendes directed 10 amazing actors in it, whatever. I was like fairly fresh out of drama school. So I was playing like a smaller part, like two, three lines. But I was understudying one of the bigger parts, Edmund. And the way usually it works, or at the time it worked at the National, which doesn't make any sense, is that what they do is they just like do the play until you got to the press night. And then they'd rehearse the understudy.

40:16so that if anyone was sick or, you know, like there's an injury or whatever, that you could tap in, right? Anyway, we're in previews, so we still haven't really done the rehearsals yet. But like, I'm like bored as ****ing it. I've only got like two, three lines. So I've been like turning up to the guy who I'm understudy. I've been turning up to his rehearsals. Yeah. Like some kind of stalker, you know, and like he'd just be doing his thing and I'd be in the corner writing like notes feverishly. I'm a nerd and then anyway he got to doing the show and halfway through the show he's speaking like this he's doing the well he's doing Shakespeare but he's doing the lines and then halfway through a line so for people who aren't watching that video it was good though guys it was good he lost his voice like it was as if he was muted yeah it just disappeared abandoned and we were backstage all like, wow, that's so exciting.

41:19And then I was like, f***. You know, because I was the one who has to understudy him. So he kind of like, his scene partner kind of muddled through to the end of the scene, saying all of his lines. And Sam Mendes, Sir Sam Mendes, as he is now, came backstage to me and was like, you're on, mate. And he was like, do you want to go on with the book or without the book? And because I'm a nerd, I'd been stalking the guy in the rehearsal. so I was like, I know all the lines, so I'm not going to go on with the book. He was like, sick. It gets to the interval, and then he goes in front of the audience, and he's like, all right, to the audience, tonight you've seen two actors' worst nightmares.

41:57One is losing their voice in front of a thousand people. The other is having to go on as an understudy without any rehearsal. Enjoy. And then the curtain came out, and I was on, you know? so yeah it was it was like pretty out of body but wow and were you were you freaking out you nervous or were you okay with it yeah it was it was nuts like i saw kate fleetwood who i who i did this the first scene with her first line is oh the difference between man and man which obviously got a massive laugh yeah of course the audience was seeing like one guy let's just say the other guy didn't look like me but you know um so i got a big laugh which kind of like eased me in but it was like doing it in slow motion honestly because I didn't even know where to stand I didn't know what the lights were you know you're operating completely on instincts but yeah brilliant

42:49Nick:but I bet everyone pulled together like the lights and crew and everyone the audience were incredible they would have been so supportive it was amazing brilliant well done you amazing well the goodie bag is yours of course amazing

43:06that was so fun thank you so much thank you it was such good fun that was absolutely look how clean my plate is I know really clean it looks like I've licked it well we should take that home take that Chipotle home yeah definitely thank you you were brilliant yeah thank you so much great to hang out thank you round of applause for our guest Papar Sibu everybody

43:28thank you thank you before we go we thought we would do a quick question from one of our wonderful dish listeners this is from briar in maidenhead they say dear angela and nick what a lovely pair of humans on a lovely podcast love your podcast love the one pot chicken with spicy rice i'm dutifully making the lamb for friends for dinner tonight which i also hope i love i'm also trying to make a chocolate mousse if waitrose are wondering what caused a spike in chocolate sales this week look no further. I'm on my third attempt to get egg yolks into the melted chocolate without ending up with a rock of cement.

44:09The egg yolks were room temperature, the chocolate a little cooled. In my final attempt, I beat in some boiling water and that helped. But if the recipe called for that much water, surely it would be listed. I've checked several recipes. What is the trick? Lots of love. Exhausted and exasperated. Briar in Maidenhead. A chocolate mousse. I saw someone making a chocolate mousse on Instagram the other day, which was just chocolate and warm water, like pure chocolate, and then he froze it or chilled it and then he scooped it and it was like gelato.

44:44Nick:Yeah, like a creme. Yeah. And it was sort of like that sort of mousse you might get in France or Italy where it's like, oh, like a creme. Yeah, like a creme, yeah. So what's the hack? What's the trick to make a chocolate mousse? I don't know what recipe she's using, bless them. How would you make a nice chocolate mousse? I would make a chocolate mousse, melt my chocolate. Then I would whisk my yolks and my sugar together to beat those. Then I would make an Italian meringue with my whites, a bit more sugar. And then I'd have double cream whipped. And then you bring it all together. So what you do is you have your Italian meringue, which is basically cooked meringue, and you add that to your chocolate and then you fold in your double cream.

45:29Nick:And that seems to work. I'll tell you two hints. There's a great cookery book in a year's time, if you can wait that long. From you? No, from Neil. French House. And he's got one of the best chocolate mousses ever. Neil's recipe is amazing. And it's probably online somewhere. Or obviously, go on Waitrose. They're bound to have one. Martha will have one. Martha will have one. Martha will. Martha Collison will have one. Come on, you can trust them. If you do want to get in touch with any questions, email us dish at waitrose.co.uk. See you next week. See you next week. See you next week.

46:03if that episode has left you wanting more find us on instagram tiktok and youtube just search

46:08Nick:dish if you want to make any of the meals i cook on dish head to waitrose.com forward slash dish recipes for all the ingredients and the recipes dish from waitrose is a cold glass production waitrose the home of food lovers