She sat down with Christopher Kimball on a recent episode of Milk Street Radio to talk about her journey on Bake-Off, baking for Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday and why even being one of Britain’s most popular food media personalities isn’t enough to impress her teenagers.
Read excerpts from the interview below, and listen to the full episode here.
On almost going to university to study psychology
I suppose back then when I think about it, I was quite interested in understanding the mind. But I realized I was really desperate to know myself. As a young woman growing up in England, from a Bangladeshi home, first generation British, I think it was really hard to understand who I was. And I think that's partly the reason why I wanted to do a degree in psychology. And also, somebody once said to me that you could probably make loads of money as a psychologist. When you're 18, you're like, “That's what I want to do. I want to make lots of money.”
Laying on a bed of nails can be very relaxing
A Shakti Mat is a padded mat that is covered in thousands of plastic pins. I discovered it about a year and a half ago. And you have to eventually get to a point where you can lay on this bed of nails completely with bare skin. I'm quite competitive with my husband, but he's good at everything. So, I thought, what can I win? So essentially, I bought it in the hope that I could win and it turns out, he's not good at laying on a bed of nails. And I am. The reason why I initially bought it was because on an evening when I've worked really hard, laying on my bed of nails really helps my muscles to relax, and I can go bare skin for about 20 minutes. In fact, I fall asleep on it. That's how hardcore I am. I fall asleep on my bed of nails.
On not using an oven until age 12
We grew up in a family where it was stovetop cooking [only]. And we always had an oven, but I just didn't know what it was used for. So it was really interesting, because when I went to my first home ec class when I was maybe 12, I saw the teacher mixing eggs and butter and sugar and then she goes and pops it into this, what I called a “cupboard.” And I said to her, “'Mrs. Marshall, this cupboard is hot.” And she said, “Oh, you silly girl. That's an oven.” And I was like, “Oh!” And that was like a lightbulb click moment for me. It's like, “Oh, she's baking a cake.” And that magic will never really leave me.
On almost faking her death to get out of competing on The Great British Bake-Off
It wasn't something that I ever wanted to do. It was my husband who actually put in the application. We'd watch Bake-Off together and he'd say, “Oh, you've made that. But yours definitely looked better.” Or, “I bet yours tasted better.” So he would make comments, and I wouldn't really pay any heed to them. And then one day, he just said, “So you know, I've just done this application form. And I've done all the boring bits, but I can't do the actual baking questions. So do you want to just do this?” And I said, “Wait, this is for Bake-Off, I'm not doing this.” And he did sit me down and say, “Look, you've kind of spent eight, nine years at home raising the children. I've been able to do really well in my own career. And I'm just desperate for you to be able to do something without me and without the kids.”
Before you know it, I'd done three telephone interviews, six months’ worth of baking and screen tests. And then suddenly, I get this call saying, “You've made it into the final 12.” And I remember being completely overwhelmed and saying to my husband, “I'm not doing it. You're going to have to tell them I died. That's the only option we have.” And he said, “No, you ring them and tell them you died.” I was like, “Well, that doesn't work, does it?” And then he was like, “Just do it. What's the worst that's going to happen?” Then he said, “Whatever you do though, don't get kicked out week one, because that would be so embarrassing.” I'm like, ”Oh, great.“ Who even says that?
On baking an orange drizzle cake with orange curd and orange buttercream for Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday
What's funny is that I asked for direction, and they said, “We don't care. You just do whatever you like.” Which is like, well, what if she hates oranges? But bearing in mind, I never saw her actually ever eat any cake. But then I don't think anyone [ever saw] the Queen physically eat anything.
Weirdly, I took direction from my little girl, who at the time was five, I'm going to say. I said, “So, what do you think I should bake the Queen?” And she said, “Oh, but you've already baked for the Queen.” And I said,“No, I haven't baked for the Queen.” And she said, “Yes, you have. Mary Berry's the queen. Mary Berry is the queen of cake. The Queen is the Queen of England. You made Mary Berry a lemon drizzle, so you could just make [Queen Elizabeth] something with oranges.” I kind of took that literally, and that's exactly what I did. So, I took advice from my five-year-old who thinks the Queen of England is just an old lady in a very big house.
On the importance of having a multicultural culinary education
You know, I'm always kind of collecting this back catalogue of recipes that I love and that I create at home based on recipes that I've tasted around the world. But I think being British and being Bangladeshi, growing up with that kind of struggle, that fight between the two cultures, what happened was I kind of created my own gray area where I think lots of us sit. And I shouldn't call it a gray space; it should be a colorful rainbow, unicorn space. And that's exactly what it is for me because it is important to create that space for yourself.
When Bangladesh meets Britain in the form of a Bundt
It's a toasted flour cake, which is made with equal amounts of butter, sugar, and water. And then you keep mixing it until you get this gorgeous, sweet, toasted kind of batter. To me, it's a soft, spiced fudge. That's what it tastes like. And you just literally throw it onto a plate, and everybody gets their hands in and they pinch and take pieces of it while it's still hot. But I wanted to make my version of it in a small Bundt tin. So that was a kind of Bangladesh meets Britain for me.
Even when your mother is a professional cook, teenagers are never impressed
When I'm recipe testing, I am like a woman possessed. I spend about two months at home just testing, testing, testing, and so [my kids] could wake up to shrimp for breakfast and cake for dinner. But they don't complain. On an evening when they come back from school, they kind of walk through the door and they go past seven, eight different dishes—cakes, starters, main dishes, you name it all—laid out there and they go straight for the fruit bowl and say, “You all right, Mum? We’ll just have an apple.” Really?
Quotes have been edited for clarity.
This special episode of Milk Street Radio is made in collaboration with our sponsor Study UK, which encourages people from around the world to study, visit, trade, invest, live and work in the UK. You can learn more about Study UK at https://study-uk.britishcouncil.org.
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