Best known for being a judge on Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off, Dame Prue Leith is pleased as punch to be hosting her new ITV1 Saturday morning show, Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen.
"I’m a glutton for attention. I've always wanted to host my own show, where I help choose the guests," Dame Prue says of the 10-part series, set in the chef and restaurateur’s own Cotswold home kitchen.
"I liked inviting friends and people I admire to join me in my home to chat and cook - though the chat is almost more interesting than the cooking!"
Each week, Dame Prue prepares her all-time favourite dishes and shares her top kitchen hacks and shortcuts to make cooking simple, with the help of her regular co-host - husband John Playfair - and some familiar TV faces.
"As I get older, life needs to be easy, so I want simple things; food-wise I’d often rather have something on toast," she says. "You're not compromising gastronomy by making it quick and easy - and I do cheat a bit. I’m not above using puff pastry out of a packet or having a blob of mayonnaise as a base for something else. I don't think you should be a snob about food!"
In an exclusive interview with What To Watch Dame Prue tells us more about what's cooking on the show, and reveals the must-have gadgets her Cotswold kitchen couldn’t be without…
Why did you want to film this show at your home in The Cotswolds?
"I love living in the country and The Cotswolds is a really pretty part of the world. One of the main reasons I wanted to make the show here was because I wanted to champion food heroes; people who give up their city jobs to become a cheesemaker or bee-keeper. I also knew that if we did this at home there would be a really good slot for my husband, John…"
What’s it been like having John as your co-host for this series?
"John’s happiest when he's pottering in our garden, driving a tractor or on his three-wheeler Harley Davidson, which I sometimes go on! In the first episode he makes a wreath. And he makes amazing cocktails - I do the food and he ends up with a drink! He’s so good, I’m worried he’ll be offered his own show - but I keep telling him I’M the telly lady of this family!"
Your first guest of the series is your friend and former Bake Off host, Sandi Toksvig…
"Sandi brings with her a collection of 500 little recipe books, dated from 1905 and ending in 1946, so from both world wars, and we found a recipe for a ham and egg pie by children’s author Enid Blyton. Nobody gave any timings for anything in those days, though, so we didn't cook it for long enough - the pastry was raw in the middle!"
Current Bake Off presenter Alison Hammond [who hosts alongside Noel Fielding] appears later in the series…
"Alison made soft and gooey chocolate brownies with crunchy Daim Bar pieces inside - it’s what she made when she appeared as a contestant on The Great Celebrity Bake Off [for SU2C] in 2020. I adore working with Alison - she can't be anything but herself and all the bakers love her. I think she's done Bake Off a lot of good."
How does filming in your own kitchen compare to filming in the Bake Off tent?
"To be honest, I have a very easy time on Bake Off. I don't have to learn lines, write scripts, or rehearse anything. I just walk on, eat cake, walk off and get paid!"
Who’s easier to work with - your husband, John, or your work ‘husband’ Paul Hollywood?
"I’d say Paul. Working with John is huge fun but he’s unable to take direction. He does what he wants to do whereas I'm used to being on sets that are very disciplined and where what the director says goes. To be honest, I spend so much time with them both that I’ll often say the wrong name. I’ll be with Paul in the Bake Off tent and call him 'John Darling'!"
You’re in your Eighties and it seems you’ve never been busier. Will you ever retire?
"Of course I will, I'm definitely feeling my age. I’m very stiff first thing in the morning but 90% of the time I'm cheerful and energetic. I love what I do so, while that continues, I'll continue. I certainly don't want to stop!"
All the must-have gadgets and fail-safe hacks for Dame Prue’s perfect kitchen…
The right ingredients…
"I hate scrambling in drawers for things, I like to have everything where I can see it, so any utensil that can hang up, hangs up! All ingredients I’m constantly using like salt, sugar and flour, rather than storing in packets in cupboards, I keep them on shelves in jars. It’s so quick and easy to pull down the sultanas, dried apricots or whatever you need. I've spent so long cooking, I've perfected what I like in a kitchen."
Perfect steak?
"The trick is to have a really hot pan, press the steak down and cook it for three or four minutes on each side. People always want to eat steak straight away - while it's still rare in the middle and charred on the outside - but let it rest for five minutes and all the juices forced into the middle during the cooking, even themselves out and the steak is pink right through."
Go-to recipe
"It depends what’s in the fridge - I’m the leftover queen, I can turn anything into something worth eating! I always have to have salads and veg but I think the most important thing to have in the fridge is John's yoghurt, which he makes in episode one. That will cheer up any dish. I like to have it for breakfast with muesli and fruit."
Reliable gadget
"I've got an old Thermomix, a powerful blender that also heats, which I love. It breaks breadcrumbs, it chops up ice - it does everything! The company has since made a fancy new one but I don't want to change my old one - I’m so devoted to it!"
Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen starts Saturday, February 24 at 11.40 am on ITV1.
