Reece Shearsmith is treated to a showstopping salmon en croûte

23:51it's really bad for you is it really? I think so yeah it can't I guess but I just love it I think it's and then I heard it's like a superfood well it sounds like it would be is black pudding a superfood? I haven't heard. But it's full of protein, so why wouldn't it be? It sort of makes sense in a beetroot way. To me, right. Maybe that's just it's blood and red. Yeah. Do you like it when it's quite a bit crummy, if you know what I mean? Yes, I do know what you mean, yeah. And that is good. And I like it when the... Is it plastic? It's still on it. Maybe that it's fried in plastic. Yeah, when the plastic's still on it.

24:27Yeah, and that becomes almost like it's fried as well, and you think, well, I may as well eat that as well. Yeah, yeah. I'll have that as well maybe that's why it's bad yeah yeah you also used to love a fried egg sandwich with peanut butter and jam yes now that's is that unusual it's an American-y thing isn't it peanut butter and jello yeah but not with an egg never mind the egg right so peanut butter and jelly yes I used to want that as a kid because I thought it was so glamorous something like in like sort of Charlie Brown yeah yeah but then you do a fried egg in it then I do a fried egg on it yes in it yeah In it or on it.

25:03In it or on it, yeah. And I used to love it. I mean, I've not had it for a long time. It might be vile now. But the thought of jam, peanut butter, and an egg on top. Yeah. Yeah. I used to love it. It was a real treat to make it for myself. Would that work for you, Angela? What's that? Egg, peanut butter, and jelly sandwich. Egg and peanut butter. Egg and peanut butter. I'm not so sure about the jelly. Yeah. Oh, really? Oh, oh, oh. Well, Nigel Slater said. I didn't have a sweet tooth. See, I don't have a sweet tooth at all. Okay, well, that's interesting. I just, I don't know why. I mean, I've never heard of it.

25:38I'd be, I'd give it a go. I would try. I'd try. We'd give it a go. Why don't we make it one day? Try it one day. Try it. We should make it one day. You might discover a new sensation in your mouth. Food is here, Angela. Yeah. Tell us what we've got today. Trout on croup for us. Yeah. Salmon on croup for Rhys. Yeah, indeed. Very good. How exciting. Well, it's a Martha Collison recipe. And we basically cure the salmon trout the night before. So with salt, sugar, lemon zest, put all that in a bowl and then basically put that all over the salmon and just cure it overnight. So in a fridge with weight pressed down on it, so you cover it so that basically all that...

26:17So it's submerged. Well, it doesn't submerge, but all its natural sort of juices and bits will come out. There's already much more time and commitment to it than I do. Anything in the recipe where it says leave overnight, I think I'm out. You're out. Oh, yeah. I've got to be doing this. Especially at festive time. Yeah. I haven't got time for that. I haven't got time for that. But do you think we should do that? I think you do because it cures it because it also tightens it lightly. You know, it seasons it and it tightens it as well. Okay, we'll do it. Once you've cured it overnight, the next morning wipe it dry and then in a mortar and pestle or a grinder you paste your garlic, coriander, parsley, blend all those together.

26:51Wow. Mix in your preserved lemons. You've got cumin, olive oil and chilli flakes and you blend this all up together to form this lovely sort of green paste. Wow. And then finally, you add some chopped spinach, mascarpone, and lemon juice. And so that then sticks basically your two pieces of trout or salmon together. And then you wrap it all up in your puff pastry, make your lattice, egg wash it, and then you cook it in the oven for about 35 to 40 minutes. It's delicious. Oh, well, thank you. It's really delicious. And we have a wine to go with this. Oh, my goodness. Which I've poured for you there.

27:26Oh, yes. Thank you, Angela. An oak chardonnay we are drinking today. Oh, yes. There you go. So try that with your sandwich. Delicious. Thank you, Angela. If you want to try this at home, all the ingredients and the recipe, waitrose.com forward slash dish recipes. Very nice. And also, Angela's done a video showing you how to do this. Rhys, you have your book coming out, Things I Took from the Dark, The Museum of Me, which is going to be out on October the 8th. Yeah. It's so weird to hear people say that, yes. Is it really? Yeah. Because a book, you know, you have to go way back to do a book. You know, when did you start thinking about this?

28:03When did you write it and when did you hand it in? I was writing it from about October last year. Right. So it's been like nearly a year in the making. But yeah, they approached me, said, did I want to do something? And I was like, well, that's a lot of work. And I woke up this morning, I didn't have that on my plate. Yeah. If I say yes, suddenly there's all that work in my life. So I thought I'm definitely going to say no to that. Then I thought, I want the book. Whatever it is, though, I want it. And to have it, I had to do it. Yes. See, my big idea. You're like, good book, but I'm going to have to write it.

28:38So then I thought, well, what would it be? What am I going to spend all this time doing? I have to enjoy it. Because I find writing hard anyway. It's like homework to me, writing scripts. So this was like enforced, what is this? And also, I have a thing in my head always, in situations like this even, who cares what you think? There's a little voice in my head that's just saying, we don't care what any of your opinions are. So this was like putting yourself out there and pontificating about something because it would be a book and it would be my thoughts. So I felt it was quite exposing to do it, but I just thought, I like horror.

29:16And I've been known over the last few years that I think people know that I collect weird things and props from old films and things from my stuff. and old magic. And I thought, well, maybe there's something in the book being a museum of these items. Yeah. And so I sort of expanded it into real-world strange stories. So it's a bit like, I don't know if you remember Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World. This was this man that used to go around looking at the world's mysteries. Okay. And I'm like the new Arthur C. Clarke. Oh, brilliant. I've opened the doors to this museum, and I take you through four rooms, ghosts, monsters, the devil, and earthbound curiosities.

29:58And I talk about them all and what might be the reality behind the unexplainedness. However, along the way, it sort of becomes a memoir. It becomes a little bit about why all these stories have stayed with me and shaped what I do now, which is pedal horror things. Yeah. You come on things and talk about Halloween all the time. Yeah. And did you always have an interest in horror from a young age? Did it start early? I grew up in Hull, so yes. The strangeness of things was on the plate from the word go. But yeah, I remember loving, being a quite shy kid and being in and reading Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King.

30:43And who got you into it? And a mum coming in and going, they're all outside, they're asking for you to play. I'm reading Edgar Allan Poe oh my god amazing so and who got me into it I think my mum I think my mum your mum she loved horror and she let me watch it much younger than I should have done so it was a passion that's just stayed with me and I'm very fortunate to think I sort of do versions of it in my work now that I just have loved and I'm repurposing and pretending it's my own it's plagiarism no it's not it's not at all A love of the job. And it's your partner into it and the kids and stuff.

31:22Hate it. They hate it. So this is just you watching it. It's my lone passion. Yeah. So it's all upstairs, hidden away behind a door that's a bookcase. Yeah. So it looks like it's a bookcase. Press it and then you go in. What do you mean? Children don't go up that stairs. I was going to say, is there anything in the house that's out or not? No, it's all there behind doors. When the kids left, I brought some things down, but then Jane said, don't have that in here. People come in and it's like, what's that? Oh, it's my own head, severed head. What's wrong with that? I've got a different threshold to everybody else about what is acceptable, I think.

32:07There are some amazing curiosities in the museum. There really is. There's the beast of Bob Minmore. We were there last year. Oh, yes, we were. Really? Yeah, Bobman. Did you see it? No. What is it? That was frightening. It's the dying cat. Oh, big cat. Yeah, okay, maybe I did. There's Krampus and the talking mongoose. Yeah. Do you have a favourite curiosity? Well, I think you've hit upon it. I think the talking mongoose, there was a, on the Isle of Man, there was this family that started to be plagued by a talking mongoose that called itself Geff. It's pronounced, it's spelled G-E-F, and some people said Jeff, but I think it's creepy to call it Geff.

32:44Yeah, Geff. I've always called it Geff. I don't know why. Too mundane. It's like Dave or something. Not Dave. That's not scary, is it? No. But Geff. Yeah, Geff. Quite creepy. And the first encounter with it, it bit one of them and then in perfect clipped English said, put ointment on the wound. Sounds like Chris Eubanks.

33:10Might have been him. Might have been him. It's just Chris Eubanks. It's just Chris Eubanks. in those it's Chris Eubank in the walls again oh it's Chris Eubank so then he began to ride the buses on on the Isle of Man everyone got an encounter with Geff yeah he even got to parliament there were talks of it really and then in the end the people sold the farm and the new owner shot something on his land and they think that was Geff and that was the end that was Geff yeah so that was a great strange story that was fun as well it's like it's not it is a bit creepy but it's not And my first encounter with it actually was in a book from school.

33:48It's the Usborne Book of Ghosts. And it had it. And these people will remember these books. There was one about ghosts, one about dinosaurs, and one about monsters, I think. And it was my first encounter with the supernatural. And it was all written as if it was like a textbook, the way it was all real. It was like, place a penny on a grave at midnight and the ghost of the person in the grave will, the hand will raise and take the penny. And when you dance three times around the grave. It wasn't like, this is a favourite. It was like, that's his fact. That will happen. Go and do it. So I've not done it.

34:19Well, we'll do it when we wrap. Yeah, we'll do it. Now the book begins with you telling us a story about trying to catch bats with a net. Yes, from the age of about seven to about 17. Yeah. So you're going to say 57. No, 57. I spent most evenings at the end of our garden with one of my dad's fishing nets trying to catch bats because they would be fluttering by. We lived right next to my school. There was all these trees and there were bats every, you know, as it got dusk. And I just spent about nine years of my life trying to catch one and never quite realising, of course, that it was almost as if they knew somehow that I was standing there.

34:58Some sort of ultrasonic pulsar was allowing me to not catch them. Oh, my God. You would have thought maybe one of the adults would have told me that. Yeah, you'd have thought. They would just love you. They would just say, we know where it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't have to watch the horror now. He's out in the back garden. Oh, it's at the end of the garden with a net. Oh. That was my childhood. Never happened. Never. And it never happened. I never got one. Rhys, you met your wife in a spooky situation as well? In a coffin. Oh. Yeah. Right. It's not just as weird. We were touring in a play in Germany.

35:34And we were playing vampires. And it was called Neighbours with Long Teeth. It was a school's thing. you went around schools in Germany teaching English, essentially. But the story was about acceptance and there was sort of like vampire neighbours and the person next door didn't like them. So it was me meeting the vampire Filthia was her name. And that was Jane. She was playing the vampire. And we had a bit where we were in a coffin. And we just got very close in that coffin. And the next thing is, I married it. You married it. Coffin girl. Have you been in a coffin? No. I've been in a coffin.

36:08Have you? I remember what for. It was something to do with the Edinburgh Festival. Right. Right. It was quite nice. Comfy. Calming. Yeah, very calming actually. That is my fear. Buried alive. Buried alive. Yeah. We've got stuff in the book about buried alive. It happened all the time in Victorian times because of the catatonic side effects of things like malaria and cholera. And they'd pass out. And they'd pass out. 12 hours later, you're in a coffin. You wake up. I'm not dead. Oh, God, yeah. And then even now thinking about it. Well, we won't do it. That was the end of the show question. We won't do it.

36:46Yeah, we won't do it. We won't do it. Yeah, we won't do it. We won't do it. And then you went on to quite a witchy wedding. Are we saying witchy wedding? Oh, yes, we did. Spook. We had a sort of pagan-like wedding in Highgate Woods. Yeah, we had a little candlelit procession. Oh, fab. We did the vows in the woods, yeah. Oh, lovely. It was very quick. some people propose and then it's the years before they do the thing I proposed in October and we were married in February that's good get it over with that's why we intended to do and how long has it been now 10 years as long as I've done 4 and a bit 4 and a half why is it because you have this mythical idea of this day you can't face it I think we've just we forgot and then we go oh we no genuinely we forget and then we go oh shit we should do it we actually went to a few weddings this summer and we talked we were like oh we actually need to go yeah I do like the idea of a wintery one yeah that's a nice one yeah yeah I went to a great winter wedding when he came out of the church and it was mulled cider oh nice that was a lovely time nice that's another great thing of the season yeah this is my favourite time of year actually we love it don't we love it

37:59Rhys Shearsmith it is time for your fast food quiz should we do this okay tell us please quick fire your favourite way to eat eggs Boiled. Favourite sandwich for Lynn? Jam. What's your favourite form of potato? Oh, roasty. What's your favourite crisp? Cheese and onion. Do you have a favourite fruit? Banana. It's a fruit, isn't it? It is, yes, yes. What's your favourite chocolate bar? Ripple. Ripple. What's the best kitchen utensil? Oh, garlic crusher. Okay, favourite Sunday roast? Chicken. What's the best pasta? Oh, Fusilli. No, change my mind. Yes. Tagliatelle. They're all good. No, what's that?

38:44Linguini. Linguini. That's my answer. That's the one. Final answer. And favorite ice cream? Oh, salty caramel. Oh, very nice. You've won. Have I? You've done it. You've won. I've won it. You've done it. Brilliant. Now, we should talk about inside number nine because there's so many passionate fans of you for that show. Yes, there are. Many in this room. Many have been telling you before you joined us when they came to see it. And it went to the stage for, what, a year? Yeah, nearly. Yes, we did it three months in the Wyndham's and live stage version of it. We always thought we would because it's quite theatrical.

39:22And then we toured it. Yeah, we didn't think we would tour it but we did and it was great and it was lovely actually to... Ian McKellen said it's really important that you're touring this. He was really pleased that we took it to the regions, not London-centric. And people loved it that we made that effort and came to see it. And it was good. It was everything we wanted it to be. It was like a creepy night, but funny, scary, and properly theatrical. We embraced that. And it was so... You never get a sense of anyone watching your thing until you do that. We did League of Gentlemen finally on stage after years of doing it on TV.

39:58And it was like, oh, they know it. That's when you get the proper people that have come out. dressed as your characters. And you go, wow, there's such a wave of love for it. It's the one time you get actually an awareness of it, not just putting it out as content, you know. So it was very lovely, yeah. I read somewhere that you thought that it wouldn't make it like past the first series inside Number Nine. Or there was a worry about it being a success. There was, yeah. I mean, it was something pitched at the time when there was a lot of resistance to one-off stories on telly. Everything is the box set and a continuing story and a reason to return to your thing.

40:36And we were like, it's just going to be like Tales of the Unexpected. Each week's a different thing. So it was a surprise to us that they even went for it first time around. And then 10 years later, we got nine series out of it. And we were the ones that chose to stop it at Series 9. We thought, poetically, let's just end it. Series 9, we've got there. Let's leave it. Because the bar was high. We were always fans of it ourselves and we didn't want to, you know, when you start to see something slightly unravelling and think, I used to like it, but they should stop this now. We didn't want anyone to say that about it.

41:07Yeah, sure. 55 we did in the end of different stories every week, you know. That's a lot. And it's a lot of ideas to come up with. I loved it. It's so good. And do you still get fans coming out wishing you'd done more or would you do it again? Yeah, yeah. When is it coming back and please do it again? Again, everyone in this room. Yeah. So we might come back if they'd have us for a special. would you yeah come on why not yeah we regret it now that we've stopped it yeah we've got all the things we are planning on working but you had when you did the live show the list of people that came on a guest come on every night like a celebrity guest every night many of our dish favourites yeah the list is ridiculous Nick Muhammad David Harewood Sue Perkins Dara O 'Brien Amelia Fox Lenny Henry Rob Brydon Bob Mortimer your friend he's the one off the telly I remember it Ramesh, Stephen Fry, Simon Pegg I mean Who do you think was your most memorable guest or is that too hard a question?

42:04It is hard of course with that list Or it was like the biggest like liability Oh It was hard There were some ones that were completely out of control Bob did it It was great Sue Pollard was a handful Right She was like Oh I don't know And the other one who was sort of a minx and very uncontrollable Debbie McGee Debbie McGee She was really funny, yes. It was great. She was really good. Yeah. She was like, you didn't think I was going to do what you told me, did you? I was like, yes, we did. We did, Debbie. We need you. It's live. So it was fun, yeah. That's so funny, Debbie. We do love that. It was great, yes.

42:43Steve had a funny line. Is it true that your husband used to split you in two every night?

42:52So it was great, yeah. Ian McKellen was a great guy. Oh, yeah. We wanted him in the TV forever. Yeah. And he could never do it. I don't think he likes horror much, actually. He was a bit reticent. But he did the live thing and we sort of finally got him. Yeah. And he was great. I mean, that's someone to get. He was there, yeah. Yeah. Amazing. Well, he's quite good on the stage, isn't he? Yeah, he's done a bit. That's what he's doing. I didn't know, but he'd done the episode. He'd done a few bits on there, yeah. And you and Steve, you've been friends for what? Since like college days? I mean, is it lately 30?

43:24It must be 30 odd years. And do you remember your first meeting and what it was that made you guys click? I remember seeing him. He was in the year above me. And I remember him and Mark Gatiss were in the same year. Right. So they were like these people. They were doing their own stuff at college and writing comedy sketches. And they were already like, oh, these are people to watch. And I remember seeing Steve in a production of Taming of the Shrew when I was in the second year and he was in the third, I think. Or I was in the first and he was in the second. Yeah. And he was stealing it with, he had an inhaler, a walking stick he was just doing all these things that were very funny I mean terrible because he was pulling focus completely upstaging everybody but I thought that's what I want to try and do yeah so I sort of got to know him and Mark and then we all went our separate ways really after Bretton Hall which is where we went and then we came back to do some sketches for the Fringe and then that became Edinburgh Show and that was when the beginning of the League of Gentlemen Jeremy as well and when did League of Gentlemen go on the telly like what year was that?

44:25We filmed it in 1998. It was on in 99, I think, or 98. And I just remember it because our Andrew loved it. My brother loved it. And I remember thinking it was like the freakiest, maddest thing I've ever seen. Yeah, it did feel like a bonkers show. Was it, because now looking back, like I don't know, would some of it as bonkers and as brilliant get on the telly? Was it a fight to get it on? I didn't realise it was so out there that people were going, it's like there's nothing quite like this. And I thought, well, that's a good thing. Yeah, of course. Now I don't know whether it would be allowed to be on telly.

44:58I mean, it was so sure of itself, because we'd done it so often on stage, it arrived fully formed, and it was sort of like you couldn't deny its own identity. And I think maybe now they'd be more cautious about trying to tick more boxes about what they think people want. And we were just more left alone. It was undiluted. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think in a way that was better for it. Yeah. People still shout. Are you local? me and Steve added one here we were in Soho and someone said sorry are you local I went yes do you know the way to the Dominion Theatre oh right you really want oh right sorry I thought you meant that I'm sorry yeah he didn't know anything about that it's brilliant Rhys we come to the end of the show question okay for your chance to win this Waitrose goodie bag here, as wheeled by Angela Hartnett herself.

45:57There's pasta in there as well. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, baby linguine. And all you've got to do is answer the question in the golden envelope. So near, but so far, isn't it? We'll take it away. Right. Hi, Rhys. Thank you for coming on today. You're welcome. And getting us into the Halloween spirit. Yes.

46:16Slightly mocking me. Anyway. Paul, your chance to win the Waitrose goodie bag. We invite you to play a new game. It's not been played before and it's unlikely to be played again. The game is Pumpkin or Bat. It's a classic. Over to Nick and Andrew to read out the instructions. Thank you, Team Dish. Yes, you are welcome, Rhys. All right, you ready for Pumpkin or Bat? Yeah, I think I'm not going to... They've been to commission this, I've heard. Right, okay. Big show on Netflix. We have nine names. Some are pumpkins, some are bats. Is it a pumpkin or is it a bat? Okay, yeah. So I'll start. Yeah. Queensland blue.

46:52It's got to be a pumpkin. That is correct. Okay, great. How many is there nine? Nine. So now a long segment. Right. The Honduran white. Is there a bat? It's a bat. Well done. Two nil. Two nil. Two nil. Moonbeam. Shaking. Moonbeam? Moonbeam. Pumpkin or bat? I say pumpkin. Correct. Three eyes. I know about these things. Okay. Jonathan. I say it's a pumpkin. It's a pumpkin. Is it? It's a pumpkin. Jonathan's a pumpkin. Jonathan is a pumpkin. Okay, number five, thumbless. It's a thumbless bat. It's a thumbless bat? It is a thumbless bat. Five out of five. I knew that. Okay, what about good old smoky?

47:39Smoky. I'm saying it's a smoky bat. It's a smoky bat. Smoky bat. So number seven, baby bear, pumpkin or bat? Baby bear. Baby bear pumpkin. Pumpkin. Correct. This is unbelievable. Two more to go. Two more. The hammerhead. Hammerhead bat or hammerhead pumpkin? It's in the book. It's a hammerhead bat. It's in the book. It's in the book. It's in the book. It's in the book. And the final one. Could it be nine out of nine? Come on. The great round leaf. Pumpkin or bat? I say it's a pumpkin. Oh, no. I say it's a bat. That's correct.

48:26Unbelievable. Oh, unbelievable. The goodie bag is yours, Rhys. I won it. You won the goodie bag. Legitimately. Legitimately. Thank you so much. The goodie bag is yours. There's one pumpkin and one bat in there. It's delicious. Batten pumpkin risotto. Thank you so much. All the fun. Yeah, it's good. Rhys, thank you so much. Thank you so much. That was so fun. Brilliant. Thank you, Rhys. A round of applause for Rhys here. Thank you, Rhys. If that episode has left you wanting more, find us on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Just search 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.

49:16Email your questions, thoughts and suggestions to dish at waitrose.co.uk. Dish from Waitrose is a cold glass production. Waitrose, the home of food lovers.