01/10/2012 The One Show

Hello and welcome to the One Show with Matt Allwright. And Alex Jones.

Tonight's guest is classissima, bellissima, it's the one and only

Nigellissima. APPLAUSE

Thank you. Welcome. Nice to see you. Nice to be here. I have to tell you

this, the last time I saw my other Matt, Matt Baker, he went home with

a copy of your new book and he said he would cook a recipe over the

weekend. Today he calls in with a mal di... Checking your cooking

times. That's all we're saying. You're making light of his illness.

No, love him, he is very well. Get well soon. She's all heart.

Nigellissima is the title of your new series and book. It's about

your love of all things Italian. If we were going to put you on the

punto, the spot... Very good. hope that's right! What would you

say is your favourite Italian thing? My favourite Italian thing,

apart from food - can I rule out food otherwise the whole programme

is given over to listing that. I would say a sort of 60s little

cinquicento in black. I'd take. That That's nigella's. If you have

a favourite Italian thing, something you eat or someone you

love, send in your photos telling us why and we'll show the best

later on. I'd like to see that. ah, part from the obvious risks a

career in the army used to be seen as one with long-term prospects.

Many soldiers are finding out their country no longer need them.

Defence cuts are putting an end to thousands of jobs with claims that

the timing of some redundancies is highly suspicious.

By the year 2020 the British army will have slashed 20,000 personnel

from its ranks. Sergeant Lee Nolan was informed a year ago he was one

of the first to be made redundant. His only consolation was that his

pension would offer some security. The immediate pension, as it's

called in the army s, a regular payment given to soldiers who leave

after a given time of service, before their full pension at 60. To

qualify, sergeant Nolan needed to have served for 18 years. Lee was

told he'd be redundant on August 31, 2012. By that date, he'd have a

recordable service of 17 years 362 days. He'd be missing out on a

pension by just three days. Moved to protest his position last

week Lee sent a package to David Cameron. It contained his hard

earned military medals. To me those medals are a reminder of the last

12 months in which my life has been turned on its head. And my near 18

years loyal and exemplary service to my country has been sullied. I'm

not ashamed to say that I was on the brink of suicide at one point.

Not only was I made redundant, I'd lost a job that I love, my

livelihood. They seem to have just drawn a line and you're either on

the right side of that line or the wrong side. To me that doesn't seem

fair. How much have you lost? considering that I won't get paid

an army pension until my 60th birthday, over the next 18 years,

it runs into tens of thousands of pounds. And what difference would

that have made to your life? For me, an immediate pension provides a wee

bit of financial security for soldiers, as they go on that

transition from military life to civilian life. It would have made a

vast amount of difference. transition back to civilian life is

often not an easy one. Soldiers and their families can experience poor

meantal health, family break down and alcohol related problems.

Recognising the difficulties, the MoD in their redundancy settlements

has lowered the length of service required of Lee's rank by four

years. While Lee's distress is understandable what the MoD say is

look, we have made concessions to people in his position and we had

to draw the line somewhere, but there is another group of soldiers

who don't get any concession and stand to lose a lot more. Higher

ranking soldiers, the officers are required to complete 16 years of

service to gain their immediate pension. Laura Richards' husband is

a major due for redundancy next summer. At that point he will be

eight months short of that deadline, which means he loses out on an

immediate pension, worth �250,000. He's a serving officer, so can't

speak to us, but Laura can. I've done four moves in four years. I

had my daughter on Boxing Day, in Cyprus, thousands much miles from

my family. Those are the sacrifices you make. We had banked on him

getting to his immediate pension point. We had no reason to think

otherwise. We're both looking for jobs now. We'll probably have to

move from our family home. As an officer, what kind of deal is your

husband on? He will get a payout, which is about �115,000 when he

leaves. Then he'll get nothing till he's 60. At which point he'll get a

reduced pension from what he would have got if he was allowed to serve

the eight months. A lot would say it's a lot of money. Over the years

I've lost pension contributions because I've followed him around.

Financial sacrifices have been made. I don't think we're asking for too

much. I don't think we're asking for more than they've earned.

Laura's joined with other Army families in starting an E petition

in the hole that Parliament will review the issue. We asked the MoD

to explain their position. They sent this statement: "Proximity to

immediate pension point was not a factor in selecting those to be

made redundant. We have done all we can to limit the numbers involved

and to give those selected a generous redundancy package." It's

often said being in the Army is more than just a job, to be made

redundant after fighting for Queen and country must be a very

difficult issue to cope with. In addition, finding out you're not

going to get the pension you were promised when you signed up,

perhaps you can understand why these people are very angry. You're

talking about long serving members of the armed force that's have

given the best part of their work lives in the service of their

country. Tony's with us now. No-one should underestimate the sacrifice

that our servicemen and women make, but at the same time, there are

those who would say they're getting a payout, a solid pension, which is

more than many people are getting. Some of the figures there, people

will be delighted to get that kind of pension. There are lots of

categories of a sergeant, if a sergeant missed out on his pension,

he will get a payout of �87,000 and a pensionable salary of �34,980 at

60, which sounds like a lot of money. That person would still be

missing out on tens of thousands of pounds. What the soldiers are

saying is that think about the sacrifices, their part -- partners

are following them around the world. And sometimes we ask them to make

the ultimate sacrifice. They wanted to get across, it's fair enough

drawing a line, but in an office that line is on a piece of paper,

but it's going through human beings. I'm sure that no-one thinks it's a

great thing to be happening, but the tragedy is to feel so

undervalued after making those sacrifices. It's linked to the

money and but also the treatment. They're talking about how it's

affecting soldiers serving now, they fear that could happen to them.

You don't morale undermined in that way. Even those people who were in

charge of these decisions don't feel good about. It I don't think

anyone can feel good about it. the weekend, some former senior

Army personnel like Colonel Tim Collins have spoken out about the

redundancies. Rblgts The phrase he used was that the army is in melt

down. The plan is to get the numbers down to 82,000 by 2020. The

controversy of how many will go in each tranche. Those are the lowest

figures since the Napoleonic Wars. One of the most couldn't vaersial

aspects is that the regular soldiers will be replaced by

members of the Territorial Army. I've been trained this weekend for

the One Show in Yorkshire with the TA. We'll show that film at a later

date. These guys have worked in supermarkets, banks and phone

centres, but they've served on the front line in Afghanistan as well.

They've had the training, they say, that equips them and they are

capable of doing it. Great stuff. Thank you. Now nigella, if we

handed you a bag of flour what would you do with it? What would I

do with it? I suppose that's whole meal stone ground, I make -- might

make a loaf of bread. I might make apple and cinnamon muffins. They

sound nice. Anything else I'm meant to do? No, it's up to you. It's in

the a cryptic question. Sadly, the windmills that once produced the

flour to feed our country have all by ground to a halt. However in

sales -- Yorkshire the sails are once turning again.

Standing proud, these windmills were once symbols of a thriving

industry. Over the years thousands of them have been left to ruin as

modern machines took over. Thanks to the love of the local community

and generous grants, this windmill in York is now turning again. What

a beautiful sight it is, because until now, for almost 100 years,

the mill lay dormant. These sails first turned in October 1770. That

wasn't an unusual sight at the time. But now it's only one of two

working mills still producing flour in Yorkshire. Steve Potts oversaw

the building work on the mill. It's beautiful, but I take it it wasn't

in this state when you got it? years ago, it was derelict. It

stopped working in 1930. The doors were locked and the wind yods board

up. It was left to its own devices. We had to start from scratch. It

was a major refurbishment. special is this mill to everybody?

It's been here empty for so many years and I think everybody that

has been past this mill was a man and a boy, and they have wondered

what it's like. It's an important and popular attraction. Bob lives

next to the windmill and has been instrumental in saving it. He's now

training to become a miller. Bob, where are we in the mill and what

happens here? We're on the stone floor. The grain in these hoppers

here falls down into a wooden shoe. The shoe is activated by this quant.

As it's working it shakes the grain into the eye of the stone. As the

stone is turning the grain goes in and is ground into flour. It comes

out round the edges as flour. It goes down a hole into a chute and

we collect it at the bottom and it's flour. How much can you

produce and does it take ages? decent wind about a ton of flour a

day. It's whole meal flour, that means a ton of grain goes in, a ton

of flour comes out, there's no wastage. I'm told the slow milling

process means flour retains its natural protein and tastes a lot

better. I've never tried windmill ground flour. The only way to Taste

the Difference is to try making bread with this flour. We have the

flour from the mill. We're going to make bread. We are indeed. Easy

process? Yes with this one because it's called lazy loaf. A nigella

recipe. We want 200 grams of muesli. 320 grams of flour. Teaspoon of

salt. That's it. We're putting it That is nice. I know where it's

come from, 100 metres that way. Just up there.

That looks lovely. That was crying out for a bit of butter. Good old

Bob for restoring the mill. You say in your book that when you were

working as a 19-year-old in Florence bread was one of the few

things that you could afford. I'm more interested in the fact that

when you were there, you used to make beds and clean bathrooms is

that right? I was a chambermaid. Talk me through the outfit? Matt!

This is a family show. I did used - I didn't have an outfit, it wasn't

such an upmarket hotel. But I did used to wear my hair in plats and

tie it over my head. Dungarees, little ankle boots. It was after

all, that time. I went to Italy, I wanted to speak Italian. I became

obsessed with being Italian. I went with a school friend and we made a

vow that we could absolutely anything except for clean laugh

triz so of course, that's what we - - laughers to, so of course, that's

what we ended up doing. I used to try on people's scent, maybe a

jacket. I never took anything, I just tried them on. Just borrowed.

Just tried them on. That's why I know when you stay in hotels that

people are trying your clothes on. I'd never even thought about that.

Is that right? Yes. As long as it's not undies, it's fine. Your love of

Italy is clear. Your book and series is based on it. How Italian

are you then? Not remotely Italian. I have no Italian blood, I just

have willed myself into looking Italian. But you know, the thing is

that I went there as a teenager, so it was like emerging from

adolescence which is not everyone's favourite time any way. I had been

such a shy child that somehow going toitly, I learned not to be shy. I

wasn't Italian, I had that freedom and that was great. One thing they

do love in Italy is gelato. You I love the colour of this, as well

as the taste. It is delicious. Very sweet at this

stage. That is for a reason. When you freeze any food, it numbs

the flavour a bit. So you eat ice cream so cold, you want the

flavours slightly more emphatic at this stage. Emphatic, they most

certainly are! It looks heavyly. At the end of that episode, you serve

it in a brioche, like an ice cream burger? Funny enough, I had been in

LA, I saw on the menu it was like an Italian hamburger. It was ice

cream and a brioche. Someone has done mean sandwiches, who has eaten

the ice cream ?! You need more ice cream per bun. It is hardly any

work at all. Great ingredients, but it works. I don't complain.

Now, you thought you would be in trouble with the foodie purists

with this, you are? They are not all saying positive things? I don't

know, I have made it a habit not to read things positive or negative,

but I would be surprised if negative things were not said.

But the great thing about the book, even though you don't make it all

from scratch it is practical and good for families that are busy?

Quite. You can make things quickly. I always say if something is awe

then tickally Italian or not. As long as you don't make false

claims, that is fine. I think that cooking is like

language it evolves. And we have this still, we think it

is of your house of your cookery books. We just need to know, are

they all cookery books and how many do you have? Yes. I have just under

5,000. I know.

Wow! I am an obsessive food person and an obsessive online shopper.

The combination is bad. Nigellissima is on BBC Two at

8.30pm. It is 50 years this week since The

Beatles' first record was released. As Carrie discovers, the debut

single did not exactly set the world alight.

# Love, love me do # You know I love you. # Today,

they are still the most famous pop band of all time. Every year

hundreds of thousands flock to Liverpool to pay their respects.

# Love me do. # But all of this may never have existed.

The first single, and most don't get a second chance, but when the

The Beatles released Love Me Do it was not that popular. It did not

make them rich or famous. In fact it reached number 17 in the charts.

It was Please, Please me, released the following year that shot to

number one. In retrospect, Love Me Do has been seen as The Beatles'

false start. At the time the record shops did not stock up on companies

and even the band were not that worried about the success or lack

of it. When the first single Love Me Do

came out out, were you thinking that they are going to be huge?

Really? Really! I can't belief -- believe that! I know it is

ridiculous. We thought they had a lucky break. That the record was OK,

but that was it. Love Me Do was the single that was

out, and you were dating, you were dating a The Beatles, but was it

about you? I don't think so. He said he could not write a song

about me as nothing rhymes with Iris. Love Me Do marked the

beginning and the end of Drummer Pete Best, working with the band.

He joined in the 1960s. He was working with The Beatles and

slogging two years before getting a single, a chance to record a studio

in Abbey Road in London. There were four singles in mind.

I played them. Love Me Do was one of them. There was a base to give

the sound guys. The P and R men and George Martin what were our

portfolio. Little did I know that I would not be going back to the next

recording session. George Martin booked a second

musician to play the drums on Love Me Do. Best was edged from the band.

There was confusion. They were saying that the guys

could not handle my sound it was a powerful sound.

How do you feel about that? At that time, very angry. Two years I had

been with them. We had performed. Developed a sound. Given them a

drum sound that was unique. It was nicknamed the Atom Beat. A lot of

drummers copied it even Ringo, even though he denies it, that is

between him and me. Meanwhile, Roing -- Ringo Star was

waiting in the wings. Fronted by Iris brother, Rory.

Sadly for Pete Best. That was the real straj diof the whole thing, he

was playing in another band. He was given more to play for The Beatles.

How does it feel not to be in the band now? A little bit of sadness

as it is not all your versions, but some pride.

# Love, love me do # You know I love you

# I'll always be true # So please, love me do. # Love Me

Do may not have been their best song, but what it did do was

showcase the energy, the charm and the brand new take on what pop

music should sound like that influenced musicians for decades.

As John Lennon said, this song gave them somewhere to go.

Great stuff. Well, Nigella. 20 years ago, you

had a completely different career, reviewing restaurants. You were on

the other side of fence? I didn't have a career reviewing restaurants.

20 years ago I was a book reviewer. I was I think the deputy literary

editor of the Sunday Times. Before that? I moon lighted with

the restaurant reviews. I did have a.proper job.

Well here we go." Provincial England is a culinary disaster zone.

Wales is far worse if you are English, that is some comfort."!

years ago that I may well have been true.

.Have You been back? I love Wales. My late sister lived in Wales. So I

must have been teasing her, but no, I mean the thing thais like in

Wales are things that not many Welsh people would want me to say.

Here is another one, "I had a large glass of Grappa di Brunello, the

restaurant described it as rich apricot and cream cheese-scented,

but I would have added paint stripper to that list.".

Well, Cantina has been living with that slur for over 20 years,

tonight, the manager is here to put it right! He was not around to

years ago! Feast your eyes, that is why he looks so good.

It is a lovely grappa. It is nice and tasty.

It is delicious. Thank you. See, my tastes have matured now.

We put it right. Why haven't you given me Welsh food

to eat while you are about it. I have some in my dressing room.

What have you got? A sandwich! Now, Nigella may say you can tell about

a person because of what they eat, but according to Mike Dilger, the

feeding habits of birds can say a lot about them too.

The islands of northern Scotland are some of the UK's wildest places.

They are also home to some of Britain's fiestest seabirds. Skua.

Skuas are the hooligans of the bird world. Not only are they ferocious

hunters, but they think nothing of dive-bombing humans who get close

to them. Getting close is what I'm about to do. Skuas are migrants.

Flying north from Spain and Africa each summer. When they get to

Scotland they are known as bonss. Meaning dumpy. They use the frame

to great advantage. They cruise around looking for the

next victim... They are incredibly distinctive. Yes, the white wing

flashes. The largest bird that we have on the island as well.

They have big bellies. They are powerful birds. Using that power,

they steal happily from other birds. They hit into the other birds. They

chase them and when the birds are stressed they regurgitate what they

have in them, so the skua is then off with it. They are like the

pirates of the sea world. Skuas prey on birds too.

There is evidence strewn all over the territory.

They cough of anything that cannot be digested. With this one there is

no need to pick through it is obvious what they have eaten.

Are you telling me that a skua has eaten a puffin whole? Yes.

And this one here it probably droned a bird out of sea.

A massive 60% of the skua come here to breed. Here they want to keep

tabs on the population. That means ringing the chicks. Laura and her

team run this gunt the every week. As soon as we step out, they are

swirling over our heads. Another problem is that the nests are hid

no-one the grass it is easy to step on them. You have to watch your

feet, not the skies. That was close. The nests are really hard to find.

This relittle depressions in the ground, little scrapes. If I crawl

here, we have found one of the chicks right there. A little ball

of fluff. This is too young to be ringed so time to Lee it and the

parents in peace. -- leave it.

By ringing the chicks they are discovering how important the

population is to skua success and how far they are spreading and

migrating. The first sighting which was

brilliant, it was in the West of Ireland.

We have had fishermen and birders reporting it from as far south-west

as Morocco. That is fantastic. As we set off again, the rain sets

in. We can't lift anymore birds off the nests. Shame. I can't say I am

sorry to miss more dive-bombing. On the way back we spot something I

have never seen before. Skuas that happily attack each other having a

group bath. The researchers called this the club sight. They are

really enjoying themselves. Making a good splash? Yep. They are really

social here at the club sight, which is a difference to when they

are on their territory. Over here, the best of friends,

over there, the worst of enemies it is astonishing. Completely

switching while away from the breeding ground.

This year, the chix' success rate is high. They may not be the most

lovable of birds, but this Scottish stronghold is playing a big part in

their survival. Thank you very much.

Earlier on we asked for photos of your favourite Italian things, just

for Nigella. What is that there? This is the beautiful town of Rio

Majore. That looks gorgeous.

Matt? This is Milly the dog from Katherine Evans.

This is an Italian water dog. You have a new puppy? Yes.

This is from Kit and Kane. Delicious steak and chips inspired

by the first episode of Nigella. That is lovely.