0:00:02 > 0:00:07For many, Mary Berry is best known for her appearances as a judge on the Great British Bake Off.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11The white chocolate ganache has a lot of cream in it and it is too wet.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13I love the combination of flavours.
0:00:13 > 0:00:19Today she is followed by an ever-growing band of home cooks who turn to her for her trusted recipes.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22- Thank you very much!- Mary Berry!
0:00:22 > 0:00:24APPLAUSE
0:00:24 > 0:00:28The most important thing to me is for people to make my recipes
0:00:28 > 0:00:30and have success with them.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Last week we saw that Mary struggled at school
0:00:33 > 0:00:36but in domestic science she excelled.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Here was something I could do, and I was getting praise, it was lovely.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42In 1957, aged 22,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Mary left her home town of Bath for London to forge a career.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51And by the mid-60s, she had become food editor of Housewife magazine.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55I had to work exceedingly hard, most evenings.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57But I was doing something that I loved.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01This week, with a flourishing career and a young family to raise,
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Mary makes some difficult choices.
0:01:03 > 0:01:09I was really awfully nervous that if I took time off, would I get my job back?
0:01:09 > 0:01:12And Mary's career goes from strength to strength,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16- taking her on the nation's TV screens.- The pan is boiling.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19We are not pretending with this one, look at it. It is piping hot.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22Mary's commitment and dedication have seen her enjoy
0:01:22 > 0:01:25a life in food that has spanned over 50 years.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28I don't think I am a workaholic,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32because what I do is something that I enjoy, I don't think of it as work.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35This is the Mary Berry Story.
0:01:43 > 0:01:48This year, Mary will celebrate 47 years of marriage to her husband, Paul Hunnings.
0:01:50 > 0:01:55But back in 1966, their life together was just beginning.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00I met my husband through my brother at a party,
0:02:00 > 0:02:04they were friends through rugby and were playing rugby and so forth.
0:02:04 > 0:02:09And Paul said to my brother, "I quite like your sister,"
0:02:09 > 0:02:11and my brother said, "You'd better get stuck in there."
0:02:11 > 0:02:16Or something equally rude. And so he began asking me to do things.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23This was an important time at work, too.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25As food editor of a magazine,
0:02:25 > 0:02:27Mary Berry was starting to make a name for herself.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32When I got married I was dying to be Mary Hunnings,
0:02:32 > 0:02:37and my boss, the editor, said to me, "Keep Mary Berry, they have
0:02:37 > 0:02:41"gotten used to the name, why should they bother to have another one?"
0:02:42 > 0:02:44The young couple set up home in London,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48buying a house in the up and coming area of Notting Hill.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52By 1968, they had their first child, Thomas,
0:02:52 > 0:02:54followed a year later by William.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59With two new members of the family to accommodate, Mary and Paul left
0:02:59 > 0:03:03their London home, moving out to Buckinghamshire and the Red House.
0:03:05 > 0:03:0945 years on, Mary is returning to her former family home
0:03:09 > 0:03:12to revisit those early days of motherhood.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17This is the home that I came to when the boys were...
0:03:17 > 0:03:22They must have been nine months and Tom was one and a half.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25And Annabel was born here.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32I remember being in this kitchen with my brand-new Annabel,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34so it has fond memories for me.
0:03:35 > 0:03:41After I'd had the children, I had about...six weeks' maternity leave.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44I never had the feeling that I wanted to stay at home with the children
0:03:44 > 0:03:46because I knew what I wanted to do
0:03:46 > 0:03:49and I wanted to do it well,
0:03:49 > 0:03:53and I wanted to move on and I really have to thank my husband, Paul,
0:03:53 > 0:03:58for encouraging me, but saying, "It is your decision."
0:04:02 > 0:04:07I did feel guilty, working, because it wasn't the done thing.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11My girlfriends all gave up work and then took it up later.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13But I was really awfully nervous.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16If I took time off, would I get my job back?
0:04:16 > 0:04:18Lots of people would have liked to have been
0:04:18 > 0:04:21the cookery editor of a magazine and would do it very well.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Leaving her three young children at home,
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Mary returned to work as the food editor on Housewife Magazine,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35commuting to London and the offices of publishers, IPC.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39Today she is visiting their new head office,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42where they hold an archive of her early work.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47This is very strange,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50coming back today to a totally different building.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53This is so smart, so grand, so light.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58Our offices in High Holborn were dark, dingy, grotty,
0:04:58 > 0:05:02but I was very happy and I was doing exactly what I wanted to.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07In her six years on the magazine, Mary's readership grew.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12But in 1968 Housewife was merged with sister publication Ideal Home
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Mary was the only person to keep her job.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20Nobody on the magazine knew that we were about to have a merger,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24but one day somebody came into the office and said,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27"This is the last issue of Housewife magazine."
0:05:29 > 0:05:33Sadly, every single person at Housewife was made redundant,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35and I hated that.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41But this was a big break for Mary. Ideal Home was a top title
0:05:41 > 0:05:46selling 200,000 copies per issue and it still thrives today.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Mary is here to meet the current editor,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51who sourced some of her articles from the '60s and '70s.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56Isobel, do you know what strikes me? It is so peaceful.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58There is a little bit of chitter-chatter.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03In my day, there was this sort of chitter chatter of typewriters.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07And when I look at your magazine now, it is all brightly coloured.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09We had very little colour in the magazine.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13Yes, it is very different now. Recipes are always photographed,
0:06:13 > 0:06:18I have some of your old pieces here that were very interesting, I think.
0:06:18 > 0:06:24You have had them all. They are beautifully bound. You can't lose them.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28No, we don't lose them, we get them out for inspiration.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31I thought this was a particularly interesting piece where you were
0:06:31 > 0:06:35teaching people to make mayonnaise. This was a step-by-step guide.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39And it's great, the method is brilliant.
0:06:39 > 0:06:40Nowadays, we would video this
0:06:40 > 0:06:43and put it on YouTube for people to follow.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Then you were illustrating it with a pen and ink drawing, how did that work?
0:06:47 > 0:06:50How did that work? Would someone come and watch you do it?
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Yes, the artist would come and it was too expensive to photograph it,
0:06:53 > 0:06:58and this was much cheaper. I was just bringing in olive oil.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Now everybody has olive oil
0:07:00 > 0:07:04but in this day you got it on the whole from the chemist.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07How about some of the others that we have found?
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Something like this,
0:07:09 > 0:07:13- when you are writing a story about fish.- That was done with an artist,
0:07:13 > 0:07:17and that was the sort of thing I really did not like and I do not like.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21I would do the recipes and they would say, "There is no picture this month"
0:07:21 > 0:07:24and they would just do... That is just a pretty picture.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28I would have liked a photograph that you can see a mackerel,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30a Dover sole and a lemon sole.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33We couldn't get away with doing this now,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36we have to show them what the finished dish is going to look like.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38We just can't get away with that.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40There is another interesting piece here that
0:07:40 > 0:07:43I thought seemed out of character for you. Do you remember this?
0:07:43 > 0:07:47Good gracious me, do I remember that?
0:07:47 > 0:07:51I can remember a huge argument with the editor.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55The magazine industry, or so I was told,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59was hard up and we were beginning to buy in pictures.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04And so I was presented with that, in that disgusting bright green
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and I would spend time making a recipe to fit the picture,
0:08:08 > 0:08:10and the whole thing, when you look at it, yuck.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13It is very lurid, isn't it?
0:08:13 > 0:08:16She was in ecstasy about its beautiful bright colour
0:08:16 > 0:08:19and I thought the whole combination was absolutely horrible
0:08:19 > 0:08:21but you did as your editor said.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28As the newly appointed food editor of Ideal Home magazine,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Mary's recipes were now seen by even more readers.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34And with her growing fame it wasn't long before she came to
0:08:34 > 0:08:36the attention of book publishers.
0:08:38 > 0:08:39Ah.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48Brings back happy memories. That was my first major cookbook.
0:08:49 > 0:08:56And what was different about it was that each recipe had its own
0:08:56 > 0:08:59picture at the top, the recipe,
0:08:59 > 0:09:04everything in order that you used it, a simple method and that was
0:09:04 > 0:09:08one of the first books to do that and people really liked that.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12In modern times, many of the food pictures are a bit misty
0:09:12 > 0:09:16and a bit ethereal. These pictures, you see what you get
0:09:16 > 0:09:20and people can look at it and think, "I am aiming at that."
0:09:20 > 0:09:24I can remember every recipe as though it was yesterday.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29These little chocolate pots, I got on my honeymoon.
0:09:31 > 0:09:32It even had breads in here,
0:09:32 > 0:09:37I don't think Paul Holly would think too much of my breads, but not too bad.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Put a nice shine on those buns over there.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44It turned out to be the most successful book in Britain
0:09:44 > 0:09:50at the time, and it sold in the end something plus 2 million.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55I know that I was paid about £162 per 60,000 copies sold,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59which is a pretty rum deal.
0:09:59 > 0:10:00I think they felt a bit guilty
0:10:00 > 0:10:02and when it got to 2 million, they gave us
0:10:02 > 0:10:09a presentation book in leather and we were given £1,000 as a present
0:10:09 > 0:10:11from Hamlyns and I was thrilled to bits with that.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16With her books now bestsellers,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20Mary Berry was fast becoming a household name.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23But Mary wanted to find other ways to teach the nation to cook,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26and TV was the perfect channel.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33So many of you have asked me how it is possible to avoid cakes
0:10:33 > 0:10:37splitting on the top and having that disfiguring crack, and I want to share with you the answer.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41Cooking on TV had started back in 1955
0:10:41 > 0:10:44when Fanny Cradock's television show hits the airwaves.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49David, come back, I have forgotten an egg. Come here and let me break it in for you.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53You must never miss a point even if you make a mistake.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Fanny's show ran for 21 years,
0:10:56 > 0:11:00but by the 1970s times had moved on.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04And her love of the piping bag, brandy and cream was
0:11:04 > 0:11:08a world away from the cookery that Mary was promoting in her magazine.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12In a moment you will hear how to obtain the booklet which has
0:11:12 > 0:11:14all of the details of everything in the series.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24In 1971, Mary made her first foray into TV on Collectors World,
0:11:24 > 0:11:26hosted by Hugh Scully.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30But this would be no opportunity to show off her modern recipes.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Someone has gone to an enormous amount of trouble and
0:11:33 > 0:11:37taken a lot of time to recreate a dinner as it might have been eaten
0:11:37 > 0:11:40in this Georgian house in the 1800s.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44And that someone is Mary Berry, the cookery editor of Ideal Home.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47I was so nervous, really nervous,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50because remember, I had not done any of that.
0:11:50 > 0:11:55It is bland and very firm, rather like chicken legs.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Mary was in the spotlight, as was her food.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01And this was no ordinary menu.
0:12:01 > 0:12:07He wanted a pike, they wanted ox eyes, an udder, and udder pie.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11I mean how do you cook an udder when it is presented to you?
0:12:13 > 0:12:17And they wanted sparrows.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21About 30 sparrows arrived in this plastic bag, feathers on,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24and I am really scared of dead birds,
0:12:24 > 0:12:28and my brothers used to chase me with them on a stick.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33I said, "I am sorry I will roast them but you will have to take feathers off."
0:12:33 > 0:12:37I had to pretend that I was very confident about it and I certainly wasn't.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39This little chap looks so much better now than
0:12:39 > 0:12:42when I saw him when he had his feathers on.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48Mary's first appearance on British TV came at a revolutionary time for food.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53A time that saw the nation broaden its horizons and its palate.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57By the mid-'70s, cheap package holidays gave Britons
0:12:57 > 0:13:01the chance to travel abroad, to experience the sights, sounds
0:13:01 > 0:13:04and tastes of far-flung destinations.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09Where once roast beef would do,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12know the people of Britain pined for paella.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19To cater for this demand, foreign product started to hit the shelves.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23Olive oil and spaghetti both made their debut,
0:13:23 > 0:13:25as well as the avocado pear,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28which caused confusion with shoppers who complained that it did
0:13:28 > 0:13:30not taste very good with custard.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36Mary was at the forefront of this food revolution and one dish she was
0:13:36 > 0:13:41quick to promote was a little-known Italian main course called lasagne.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45Today in her own kitchen,
0:13:45 > 0:13:50Mary is going to recreate the dish following her original 1970s recipe.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52This was a lasagne al forno.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55and I tried to make it as authentic as possible.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59And it is really quite similar to what we do today.
0:14:01 > 0:14:06To make the Ragu sauce, Mary mixes bacon and mince with garlic, onion,
0:14:06 > 0:14:11celery and thyme and then fries them in that old fashioned staple, dripping.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17We were beginning to know in 1976 that it was good to use a little
0:14:17 > 0:14:21less fat, but we were still putting the odd blob of dripping in the pan.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25Now none of us have dripping.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29My husband would like us to have dripping in the fridge to get that
0:14:29 > 0:14:33nice meaty jelly on the bottom put on toast, but there is no chance he is getting it.
0:14:33 > 0:14:40Now I will add the stock and bring it to the boil.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42I have some redcurrant jelly
0:14:42 > 0:14:45because I am going to add lots of tomato puree,
0:14:45 > 0:14:50which is quite sharp, and I would suggest to people that
0:14:50 > 0:14:54if you bought tomato puree in a can, a big can, you could use
0:14:54 > 0:15:01a bit of it and freeze the rest because often it goes to waste.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03You have a tin of it and you have it in the fridge
0:15:03 > 0:15:07and you carefully cover it up and then one week later you lift the lid
0:15:07 > 0:15:11and you see a nice little grey fur on the top and you chuck it in the bin.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Far better when you have taken off what you want in one dish,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18to take the rest out and put it into an ice cube tray,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22freeze it and then add it when you want it.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28So I am now going to let that simmer with the lid on and you can do that
0:15:28 > 0:15:32on the hob like this or put it into the oven, it will take about an hour.
0:15:32 > 0:15:39For the bechamel or white sauce, Mary cooks butter and flour before adding milk and Dijon mustard.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43So this was becoming quite popular to make at home.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46People already were making spaghetti Bolognese
0:15:46 > 0:15:49but this was becoming very, very popular.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53And it was a good thing for entertaining.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57Another good thing was freezers were becoming popular,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00people were having freezers in their own homes.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05First of all the chest ones and then upright ones.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08And lasagne was perfect for freezing.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12You could make it just as I am doing today, assemble the whole thing
0:16:12 > 0:16:15and put it into the freezer for a party in two weeks' time.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Today, lasagne is a simple and quick dish to prepare.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24Back in the '70s it wasn't quite so easy.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29In 1976 there was no pre-cooked pasta,
0:16:29 > 0:16:34Pasta had to be cooked in boiling water until it was soft.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36And I decided that was a real bore to do
0:16:36 > 0:16:41so I came to this idea of making the sauces a little bit thinner
0:16:41 > 0:16:46so you could actually put the pasta in the layers without
0:16:46 > 0:16:49cooking it first so that the pasta will take the moisture
0:16:49 > 0:16:55from the sauces and cook in the time that it normally does in the oven.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58And then of course a few years later you had this pasta
0:16:58 > 0:17:03manufactured that you did not have to precook so that worry was gone.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09So that is our lasagne. Completed and ready for the oven.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20That's...quite heavy. Doesn't that look good?
0:17:22 > 0:17:24That's the 1976 lasagne.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30And the pasta is absolutely tender.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36It looks good, it looks very meaty, not too much pasta. Let's have a go.
0:17:41 > 0:17:46It is very, very hot. And it is very, very good.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49I don't put celery in my lasagne now
0:17:49 > 0:17:54but I think I will go back to my old one, it really is very good.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59By the early '70s, Mary was an established food writer and author
0:17:59 > 0:18:03but her big break in TV came when she was asked to present
0:18:03 > 0:18:06a food slot on the Good Afternoon show with Judith Chalmers.
0:18:08 > 0:18:1140 years on, the two lifelong friends are meeting up
0:18:11 > 0:18:14to look back on one of Mary's earliest appearances.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18'Hello, some of us have been feeling the effects of...'
0:18:18 > 0:18:20Oh, my God!
0:18:20 > 0:18:23I look like my daughter.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26'Mary, what have you worked out?'
0:18:26 > 0:18:31'I thought casserole would be a good idea
0:18:31 > 0:18:35'because we are asked to use gas at off-peak times.'
0:18:35 > 0:18:38That awful voice, it sounds like the Queen.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42I am putting three onions in.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45You made people feel always that they could do it, Mary.
0:18:45 > 0:18:50Judy, I was so nervous and I didn't know where to look,
0:18:50 > 0:18:53whether I talked to you or whether I looked straight to the camera.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57You said to me, "Talk to one person.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01"They might be doing the ironing and if you are not interesting
0:19:01 > 0:19:02"and fun they will turn to the other side."
0:19:02 > 0:19:07Well, a good idea is to use the old haybox method.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10- I say haybox method, perhaps you weren't a girl guide.- I wasn't.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12'At guide camp, we would...'
0:19:12 > 0:19:15I would get everything ready the day before
0:19:15 > 0:19:21and arrive at Thames Television and they would build the whole scene.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23But of course the drawers didn't open.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27I was washing lettuce or something and I turn the tap,
0:19:27 > 0:19:32and someone would signal to one of the props people,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35they would turn the handle and out would come the water,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39I would chat away to you and under the sink there was just a bucket
0:19:39 > 0:19:44and no proper plumbing, so the water, as I was washing and chatting,
0:19:44 > 0:19:48would go into the bucket and I can remember on one occasion,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52the water filled the bucket underneath and we were flooded. And you were in
0:19:52 > 0:19:55your best shoes and you are trying to say, "Turn the tap off!"
0:19:55 > 0:20:00There we are, mix the coleslaw all together with the sauce.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Shall we tip it into this dish?
0:20:06 > 0:20:11I still meet people now who say, "I can remember
0:20:11 > 0:20:16"sitting down at two o'clock to Good Afternoon, feeding my baby.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21"And the baby is now 40." I think it's years and years ago, isn't it?
0:20:21 > 0:20:25'And just some curry powder.'
0:20:25 > 0:20:30With the growing demands of TV and a flourishing writing career,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32these were busy days for Mary.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34When she did find time for a break
0:20:34 > 0:20:37she and her family would head west to the Devon coast.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Summers in Devon have been a tradition in Mary's family
0:20:45 > 0:20:47for as long as she can remember.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53We would always come to this part of Devon for our summer holidays.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59I can remember such happy times as a child.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07I never remember a wet holiday. We went on the beach all the time.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16My father was a very keen photographer
0:21:16 > 0:21:20and I can remember Dad saying, "For goodness sake, smile, you lot!"
0:21:24 > 0:21:28It was awfully strange, I was looking for a birthday card in a shop
0:21:28 > 0:21:30and I was looking along the racks
0:21:30 > 0:21:33and suddenly I came across a very familiar picture.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39It was a picture of my mother, my brother
0:21:39 > 0:21:43and a little rather fat me in a knitted swimsuit.
0:21:43 > 0:21:49And it was entered into a competition in 1938 in one of the newspapers
0:21:49 > 0:21:51and it was the photograph of the year.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56We have this picture at home on the wall,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59it has very happy memories for me.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03Decades later, in the 1970s,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Mary would bring her own children to the beaches of Devon.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10With a busy career at home, these trips were precious.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14A chance to spend quality time with her family.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17I think they were the happiest days, when the children were young.
0:22:17 > 0:22:23And we would always take a picnic, paddle, made sand castles,
0:22:23 > 0:22:27cricket on the beach. And we came back here year after year.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31It was a great time in my life.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36For Mary, this place holds strong memories.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40The excitement of youth and the fulfilment of motherhood.
0:22:40 > 0:22:41Even on holiday,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45Mary couldn't pass up the chance to improve her culinary skills.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49In Salcombe they had the most wonderful bakers
0:22:49 > 0:22:54and in the mornings we would go down to get croissants and bread.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59It seemed to be so good, and I got chatting to Jenny, who owns
0:22:59 > 0:23:01the bakery, and I said, "Do you think I could come and bake with you?"
0:23:01 > 0:23:06Because they were quite ahead of their time, making croissants.
0:23:07 > 0:23:13The hours fitted in very well because we would all have supper about six,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16the children were exhausted so they went to bed,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18and I used to go to bed with them.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22So I had a kip until around 11, then I would walk down the hill
0:23:22 > 0:23:26to the bakery and became alive again, I really enjoyed what I did.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28I was learning all the time
0:23:28 > 0:23:31and I would be back with the bag of croissants for breakfast.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35Paul thought I had a slate loose.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39To him it was mad but I do not think I am a workaholic,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42what I do is something I enjoy, I don't think of it as work.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49While Mary and her family spent summers on the Devon coast,
0:23:49 > 0:23:53Christmas was always held at her parents' house in Bath.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Every year festivities started on Christmas Eve,
0:23:56 > 0:23:58with her mother Marjorie's fish pie.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08This is the family fish pie, the Berry family fish pie.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11We have had it every Christmas Eve.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15We used to go down to my parents' for Christmas
0:24:15 > 0:24:19and we would all be in the car, my mother-in-law, the dog, everything,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23and the children would always say, "Can't wait for Granny's fish pie.
0:24:23 > 0:24:24And we love it.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28To start her fish pie, Mary fries onion
0:24:28 > 0:24:31and then makes white sauce before adding fresh haddock.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33But it wasn't always this way.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38In my childhood time, every Sunday you had a roast
0:24:38 > 0:24:44and then you would have on Monday, cold meat, Tuesday, it would be made
0:24:44 > 0:24:48into a pie, a shepherds pie, cottage pie, and it is the same with fish.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51If you look in old recipe books,
0:24:51 > 0:24:54fish pie always started by being leftover fish.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57I think it is much nicer to start with fresh fish.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00The fish and the sauce is just cooked.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03And I'm going to pour that into there.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08This is the very same pie dish that my ma used,
0:25:08 > 0:25:12and it's got a big chip in the side, and I don't mind one bit.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15Blow health and safety - it's in the dishwasher every time I use it.
0:25:15 > 0:25:20It's a good family size. This could well serve about eight people.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24Mum always welcomed everybody.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26All the boyfriends I ever had
0:25:26 > 0:25:29- whether she liked them or whether she didn't. I never knew.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31She welcomed everybody at home.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33There was always something in the fridge.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36She would make something out of nothing.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39And I've learned that when you open the fridge,
0:25:39 > 0:25:42before you think what's for supper, you use up what's there.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44I am quite frugal like that.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47But, on the other hand, if there was a lobster around the corner,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49I'd like that too.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51Following her mother's recipe,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Mary tops the mixture with a layer of boiled eggs.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56That may be too much egg for some people,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59but when Mum used to do it we had chickens,
0:25:59 > 0:26:03and we always had an abundance of eggs.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Push them down so that they're absolutely level,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08and all we've got to do is put the potato on top.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10And I have my mother's ricer.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15I'm not too sure if it wasn't her mother's before her.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18It is an excellent bit of machinery.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21You put the potato in there and squash it down,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24and you let the little worms come out.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27And of course the children love to do this.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31When I'm making this, if they're passing,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34when the little grandchildren are here, they love to push it through.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37They think it's a great machine.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41And then just push that so it's evenly over the top,
0:26:41 > 0:26:43and it gives it a lovely crunchy top.
0:26:43 > 0:26:48So there we are, into the oven for about 30 minutes.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03That looks a bit of all right.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Perfect golden brown - quite homely, bubbling at the sides.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11It brings back really happy memories when I look at this.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15It's something that's been passed down from generation to generation,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19and it certainly will go on. And that's as it should be.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23Can you see the sauce underneath is runny.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26It's just a perfect consistency.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29You know what's missing? We always had peas with it.
0:27:29 > 0:27:35And in the old days it would be big great peas.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37But in our house now, we have petit pois,
0:27:37 > 0:27:39because it is a special occasion.
0:27:46 > 0:27:47That's what I remember.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51Throughout the 1970s,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Mary's fame continued to grow.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56Her magazine readership rose ever higher
0:27:56 > 0:28:00and by the early '80s she was fronting her own television show.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03I had been doing television in London -
0:28:03 > 0:28:07packing up everything, kitchen built up there -
0:28:07 > 0:28:08and that was a real chore.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13And I persuaded the producer, Diana Potter -
0:28:13 > 0:28:16please could we do it in my own house.
0:28:16 > 0:28:21Because it would be much easier, there would be running water,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23you wouldn't have to build the scene...
0:28:23 > 0:28:24So she said OK.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27What do you want to do?
0:28:27 > 0:28:31So we did the first one, I think, was Mary Berry At Home. It was lovely.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33And I always used to start the programme
0:28:33 > 0:28:35with walking the dog around the village pond.
0:28:35 > 0:28:40And when that music set up, you knew you were on the go. It was lovely.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Hello, welcome to the new series.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46There are going to be six programmes over the next three weeks
0:28:46 > 0:28:49on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at this time.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52And they're all going to be here in my own kitchen at home.
0:28:52 > 0:28:53Which is nice for me!
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Gosh, that was just so wonderful to be able to prepare everything
0:28:57 > 0:29:02ahead in your own home, everything worked, so we set to and did it.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04But it was so different.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08We took the main window out in my kitchen
0:29:08 > 0:29:12because we had two cameramen, and they went in the garden
0:29:12 > 0:29:15because the worktop was in front of the window.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17Which made the kitchen jolly cold, and I'm a cold mortal,
0:29:17 > 0:29:21so we had a blow heater at my feet, so I didn't get cold.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24If you cook it in a water-surround, the French call it "bain-marie",
0:29:24 > 0:29:27you'll find that you get nice even baking,
0:29:27 > 0:29:29and this will take just about two hours.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31So, I'm going to put it in the oven.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34On one occasion I was making a chocolate cake
0:29:34 > 0:29:38and I was talking to camera and all of a sudden there was a dog -
0:29:38 > 0:29:41our dog, Wellington.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44Her little face came up over the front here,
0:29:44 > 0:29:48and I went on looking at the camera and beating away,
0:29:48 > 0:29:50and she took all the chocolate.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53But I went on beating, because I'd learned by then,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56that you didn't stop until they said - "Stop!"
0:29:56 > 0:30:00So I went on, and then at the very end I said to the cameraman,
0:30:00 > 0:30:02"Why didn't you tell me to stop?
0:30:02 > 0:30:04"What will the viewers say?"
0:30:04 > 0:30:08And they said, "We knew what was happening and filmed straight
0:30:08 > 0:30:12into your bowl and all we saw was you making the chocolate mixture."
0:30:15 > 0:30:19During the 1980s, Mary continued to champion simple recipes
0:30:19 > 0:30:20that anyone could make at home.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25But this was the decade that saw the birth of the ready-meal.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28And one piece of technology more than any other,
0:30:28 > 0:30:32made that possible - the microwave.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36It was a kitchen appliance born from the most unlikely of places.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44- MALE NARRATOR:- Radar - mystery name of an even more mysterious weapon,
0:30:44 > 0:30:47result of the inventive genius of the 2,400 men
0:30:47 > 0:30:49the RAF called "boffins".
0:30:49 > 0:30:54Dr Percy Spencer, who developed radar during the Second World War,
0:30:54 > 0:30:56was in his laboratory in 1946
0:30:56 > 0:30:58when he stopped by a magnetron -
0:30:58 > 0:31:02the power tube that creates microwaves to run a radar set.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06He noticed that the chocolate bar in his pocket had begun to melt.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09Thinking the microwaves were responsible,
0:31:09 > 0:31:12he experimented with an egg. Which exploded.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14It would be another 40 years before the microwave oven
0:31:14 > 0:31:16caught on in the UK.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20But when it arrived it would cause a revolution in home-cooking.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22Why did you get a microwave cooker?
0:31:22 > 0:31:24Well, it's small and I haven't got much room,
0:31:24 > 0:31:26and it's a much quicker way of having a hot meal
0:31:26 > 0:31:28whenever I want one, basically.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32Mm. Right, now, that's the meat in. I'll just do the veg.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34I don't use the microwave very much,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37but one thing I find it's very useful for
0:31:37 > 0:31:39is taking the juice out of lemons.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42I find, if I've got to make something like a lemon tart,
0:31:42 > 0:31:44you know, using five lemons, say -
0:31:44 > 0:31:47to get the juice out takes an awful lot of effort.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49And I haven't got great strong muscles!
0:31:49 > 0:31:54So this is where a microwave earns its keep.
0:31:54 > 0:31:59Take a lemon, cut it in half, across the lemon,
0:31:59 > 0:32:00then put it in a bowl,
0:32:00 > 0:32:02to catch some of the juice,
0:32:02 > 0:32:05and just heat it until it's very hot.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08That'll take about 30 seconds.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11If you've got a lot of lemons, it's going to take a bit longer.
0:32:11 > 0:32:16So, let's put it on full power - which it is.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22So it's whizzing round.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25PING! There it is.
0:32:27 > 0:32:32And there's just a little bit of juice, in the bottom there.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35The juice is beginning to come out without being asked,
0:32:35 > 0:32:38so when you put it on to get the juice out
0:32:38 > 0:32:41it comes out without any pressure,
0:32:41 > 0:32:45and you're not exhausted when you're doing, say, five or six lemons.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47And you watch how much juice you get out.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53All that out of one lemon.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56Without any effort.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04As the 1980s came to a close, Mary's career was still in full swing.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08Now aged 55, her children Tom, William and Annabel
0:33:08 > 0:33:13had all grown up and left home to start their own lives.
0:33:15 > 0:33:20I'm very lucky. The children always wanted to come home at weekends.
0:33:20 > 0:33:25And Will came back from Bristol Poly on the Friday night.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28He hadn't been home for a few weekends,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31so I thought "I'll do roast lamb, cos it's his favourite."
0:33:34 > 0:33:36We had the meal in the dining room.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38Now we only have Sunday lunch in the dining room,
0:33:38 > 0:33:41but I thought they're all going to be here, I'll make it special.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46So we had roast lamb, mint sauce, redcurrant jelly - the works!
0:33:47 > 0:33:52I can remember Will walking through the door on that Friday night
0:33:52 > 0:33:54and saying, "Mum, who's coming?"
0:33:54 > 0:33:56And I said, "It's you!
0:33:56 > 0:34:01"It's so lovely to have you home, and Annabel is here, and Tom too."
0:34:01 > 0:34:04So we had a nice family meal.
0:34:07 > 0:34:12And then on Saturday, he asked if he could borrow the car.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15It was a glorious January day,
0:34:15 > 0:34:20and it was sort of one o'clock and he wasn't home.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26The doorbell rang, and there was a policeman there.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30And immediately then I knew why.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36And he said, "There's been an accident and, erm...
0:34:39 > 0:34:42.."I'm sorry to say, your son is dead."
0:34:45 > 0:34:50So we both quickly got in the car and went to Wickham hospital.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52I don't know, there seemed so many corridors,
0:34:52 > 0:34:57and we were waiting in a room, and really they were so understanding.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03And then they said, "Would you like to see William?"
0:35:03 > 0:35:09And he just look so beautiful and so lovely - his little cold face.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11And it was nice to say farewell.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25As usual, the next day, we went to church.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35And there's a plaque in church which happened to catch my eye -
0:35:35 > 0:35:37it was just on the left.
0:35:37 > 0:35:44And it was the Busbys had lost their three sons in the First World War.
0:35:46 > 0:35:48And I looked and I thought...
0:35:48 > 0:35:51I knew how I was feeling having lost one -
0:35:51 > 0:35:55how would Emma be feeling, having lost all three?
0:35:55 > 0:35:57In a way, I thought, erm...
0:35:58 > 0:36:01Well, we're just so lucky to have the other two.
0:36:01 > 0:36:07And I began to think, we had him for 19 years. And he was such fun.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10And, you know, we have great, great memories.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16I didn't really want to work in London after that,
0:36:16 > 0:36:19because I didn't want to leave Paul.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24It was a great comfort to us both to have each other.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26Your lifelong partner.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30I was so lucky to have him.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38Following William's death, Mary left her working life in London,
0:36:38 > 0:36:40retreating to her home in Buckinghamshire,
0:36:40 > 0:36:45and for the first time in her life, she turned her back on cooking.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51One year later, Mary felt strong enough to face the world again.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53But on her terms.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57Based in her own kitchen, she started the Aga workshop.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59It was the perfect way to get back to work,
0:36:59 > 0:37:02yet remain close to friends and family.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06I thought, well, how do I start a cookery school?
0:37:06 > 0:37:11And so, what I did, was write to all my friends that were journalists
0:37:11 > 0:37:15and said come and have a cookery demonstration on the Aga.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18I think we had two days of it.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20And immediately they went back
0:37:20 > 0:37:24and wrote about their day and said what they'd learned,
0:37:24 > 0:37:29and people started ringing and saying when could we come to the school?
0:37:29 > 0:37:32So we made two dates. Then another two.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35And from that day on for the next 12 years, we never advertised.
0:37:35 > 0:37:40It was always personal recommendation and we gave people a right day out!
0:37:41 > 0:37:47In 12 years, the workshop attracted over 14,000 people to Mary's kitchen.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51Book writing proved another way for Mary to continue
0:37:51 > 0:37:54doing what she loved, from the comfort of home.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58It's an occupation she continues to this very day.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00I've always been very fortunate.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02I've never had to suggest or ask a publisher
0:38:02 > 0:38:05if I could write a book and would they publish it.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07It's always been the publisher coming to me
0:38:07 > 0:38:10and that's quite a nice feeling.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14Then I have one or two things that I think about before I even start -
0:38:14 > 0:38:21I want not too many ingredients, every ingredient must be available
0:38:21 > 0:38:25all over the country, and not difficult to get.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28And then we test the recipe.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32I say "we" because we are a team here.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36Lucy Young has been working with Mary for over 20 years.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38And alongside Lucinda McCord,
0:38:38 > 0:38:42they help Mary to test her recipes before they go into print.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46Gherkin would go very well. I love sweet gherkins, but...
0:38:46 > 0:38:47I don't think it needs it, does it?
0:38:47 > 0:38:49And if you take these prawns and take...
0:38:49 > 0:38:52'Testing takes quite a lot of time.'
0:38:52 > 0:38:59It's got to be so perfect that everybody who does it must have success.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01- I'll let you have some in a minute. - After you!
0:39:03 > 0:39:07That's absolutely fine. Put a quarter of that on top.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11I always ask the publisher to pay for the ingredients,
0:39:11 > 0:39:18because it means that I will test them as many times as it needs to get perfect.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21I have a slight feeling, if they weren't paying,
0:39:21 > 0:39:24I'd say "Maybe that's good enough." I hope I wouldn't.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27Before it goes on the table we would put a little dressing
0:39:27 > 0:39:31around the outside, and a tiny bit of celery salt.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33- So you could make that in the morning, could you?- Exactly.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38I always say to people, just do as I say first time round,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41and then make your own additions.
0:39:41 > 0:39:46We're all brought up, aren't we, never to write on books,
0:39:46 > 0:39:49but sometimes if I'm giving a talk somewhere
0:39:49 > 0:39:53people bring a really old tatty book without a cover,
0:39:53 > 0:39:57gravy all over the side, little notes on the side...
0:39:57 > 0:39:59I'm chuffed to bits to sign it!
0:39:59 > 0:40:02Because they've used it, they've loved it,
0:40:02 > 0:40:04and they've had success with it.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09If ever the girl who left school with just two O levels,
0:40:09 > 0:40:12and failed at English, thought she couldn't write,
0:40:12 > 0:40:15those doubts must be long forgotten.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18Today Mary has over 80 cookbooks to her name,
0:40:18 > 0:40:21which have sold in excess of six million copies.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27During her career, Mary has witnessed many food fashions
0:40:27 > 0:40:32come and go, but throughout she's stayed true to her loyal readers.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36But even in the early 1990s, after 30 years of food writing,
0:40:36 > 0:40:40Mary still had one weak spot - bread.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43So when she was asked to write a book for Aga-owners,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46to be delivered with every new cooker,
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Mary was horrified to discover
0:40:48 > 0:40:52that the publishers wanted a whole chapter on breadmaking.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57I was daunted at the thought of having to write
0:40:57 > 0:40:58a whole chapter on breadmaking.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01I just didn't have the confidence.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03So I came here.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06And "here" is the Devon home of Tom Jaine,
0:41:06 > 0:41:10former editor of The Good Food Guide,
0:41:10 > 0:41:14and the man who taught the nation's Queen of Cakes, to bake bread.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18I have to think you for teaching me how to make proper bread.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20And I even gave you a little mention in the book.
0:41:21 > 0:41:26It's saying that I had blissful two days in deepest Devon
0:41:26 > 0:41:31with your family, goats, ducks, sheep and all.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34- And they had names! - Well, they did. Ajax and Flash.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Yes. No longer, I'm afraid.
0:41:36 > 0:41:41But the bread then was different to what we would do now, actually, I think.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44It was different.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46The yeast was the main difference.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49Everybody used fresh yeast
0:41:49 > 0:41:53and you also explained to me that it should be lukewarm water.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56Everything had to be warm.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59But now you say that you use cold.
0:41:59 > 0:42:04Yes. I tell you when heat is still necessary - or advisable -
0:42:04 > 0:42:06is when you're making wholemeal.
0:42:06 > 0:42:12And there you do like to keep your rising temperature all the way through the process.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15Because the wholemeal is much more...um...
0:42:15 > 0:42:18Well, it's much more fragile, really.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21Mary, go on, you get your hands filthy.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25- And, of course, most people now would do this in a machine.- They would.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27With a dough hook. And I don't see too much wrong with that.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29What do you think? TOM LAUGHS
0:42:29 > 0:42:32You know, the really good thing about this, is the large bowl!
0:42:32 > 0:42:34I'm not getting flour all over me.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38- No, no, you're still looking quite nice, Mary.- So far so good.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42Still got some at the bottom there. Isn't really coming up.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44- Do I have to go on working? - I've got an answer.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47I think. Which would be a little bit of oil -
0:42:47 > 0:42:50we used to say butter, sometimes, in the dough,
0:42:50 > 0:42:53but nowadays oil is easier.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55- Just a drop?- A tiny bit.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59Now that's a good idea, because it's just going to take up the rest.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02- Now that to me looks all right. - It's not bad.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04We could knead that on the table now.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08So, I'll move the bowl away, and you can slap it down there,
0:43:08 > 0:43:10and I'd better do a bit of work.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12You've been floggin' your guts out!
0:43:12 > 0:43:16Now, you remember I used to make you do this for HOURS!
0:43:16 > 0:43:18You did, and it was very mean.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21- I get away with it now doing it in the machine.- Hello. Yes.
0:43:21 > 0:43:22Hello, mixer!
0:43:22 > 0:43:27No wonder you've got such muscles! I'm going to hold the table still
0:43:27 > 0:43:30or we'll be out of the window, in a moment.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33Tom and Mary are going to make three white tin loaves.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37Once the dough has proved it is split into sections...
0:43:37 > 0:43:40and left to prove again for another three hours...
0:43:40 > 0:43:42- Looks pretty good. - Very nice. very nice.
0:43:42 > 0:43:47..before being taken outside and placed in Tom's special bread oven.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49After 20 minutes, they're ready.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53Oh, gosh, I remember that.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56And you swore by it - said it made the very best bread.
0:43:56 > 0:43:57Well, it does! It does!
0:43:57 > 0:44:01It's not like a modern oven, with air going through all the time.
0:44:01 > 0:44:02There's no ventilation.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06So it's a perfect sort of environment for baking bread.
0:44:09 > 0:44:13- That's the first. - It's a big deep oven, isn't it?
0:44:13 > 0:44:15It is. Yeah. You can do 20 loaves in there.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21I've got my gloves on. Hot, hot, hot!
0:44:21 > 0:44:23Oh, they're a good colour, aren't they?
0:44:23 > 0:44:26I can't stand it when the tins stick!
0:44:26 > 0:44:28Well, they're well used, they won't stick.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31That looks a good white tin loaf.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35Yeah, they're great. Perfect for sandwiches. Wonderful for toast.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38What England has existed on for 150 years.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40And it's got a lovely crust.
0:44:40 > 0:44:45I'm doing it halfway down, so we can see what the middle's like.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48That's exactly what you do when you're judging the village show.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53- Needn't be too thin for me.- Oh, no, you've got to have them thin.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56We're lady-like here, you know!
0:44:56 > 0:44:59- Right, the moment I've been waiting for!- Well, there you go.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03I like my butter like cheese - vast quantities.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05It doesn't need any jam or anything.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09CRUST CRUNCHES
0:45:12 > 0:45:14That's sheer heaven.
0:45:14 > 0:45:16Well, the honour is all mine, Mary. All mine.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18- Ohhh..! - What do you think then?
0:45:19 > 0:45:23Mm! Well, it's not bad.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29Throughout the 1990s, Mary continued her career in food.
0:45:30 > 0:45:32But as a new century dawned,
0:45:32 > 0:45:35her professional life shifted down a gear.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40After 12 years, her cookery school had shut its doors.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43Her magazine days were well behind her,
0:45:43 > 0:45:47and TV appearances were, by now, few and far between.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55So everything had got a bit quiet, and Mum doesn't like quiet.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59She was writing one or two books a year,
0:45:59 > 0:46:05and I remember looking at her, saying "Are you all right?"
0:46:05 > 0:46:08And she just looked like she wanted to be busier.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12She was not used to not having all the people around, all the hubbub.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14And I think she was bored.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18I was doing more charity demonstrations,
0:46:18 > 0:46:22I was still writing books, but time was quieter.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29And then came the telephone call to say
0:46:29 > 0:46:33would I like to be judge on the Bake Off.
0:46:33 > 0:46:38And I was chuffed to bits, because I do know about cakes.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40Every slice should look good on the plate.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44Now, just how that looks is lovely.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47Everybody is crazy about the Bake Off.
0:46:47 > 0:46:52It is quite amazing. I can't really believe it.
0:46:54 > 0:46:55It's just too bitter.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59I disagree with you, and I have got a very sweet tooth.
0:46:59 > 0:47:00I think it's plenty sweet enough.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04Paul and I are really close friends now.
0:47:05 > 0:47:11We don't always agree, but we share the love of baking, Paul and I.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13Is it dry?
0:47:13 > 0:47:15Mary Berry is the Bake Off and Bake Off is Mary Berry,
0:47:15 > 0:47:18- without a shadow of a doubt. - Absolutely.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21There's a reverence that the bakers will have towards Mary in the tents.
0:47:21 > 0:47:23Because they don't want to disappoint her.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27I think Mary brings a real authority to the Bake Off.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29It's lovely - the fruit and the cream and the sponge -
0:47:29 > 0:47:32that's absolutely fine, but it's just not cutting right,
0:47:32 > 0:47:34and it's looking a little bit untidy.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38We enjoy enormously what we do.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42And we gather that the viewers love it too.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45Her position as a judge on the Bake Off has introduced
0:47:45 > 0:47:48a whole new generation to Mary Berry,
0:47:48 > 0:47:52and has put baking on the agenda in a way she's never seen before.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54Are you getting excited down the front there?
0:47:56 > 0:48:01I'm very proud to think that Paul and I have encouraged people.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04Just like you've disturbed mine! LAUGHTER
0:48:04 > 0:48:08You meet dads and the father will say,
0:48:08 > 0:48:11"I've been baking with my daughter"
0:48:11 > 0:48:13and then you bend down and she says,
0:48:13 > 0:48:15"Yes, I made cupcakes."
0:48:15 > 0:48:20And it's really got people, families, closer, I hope.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22And people are learning that you don't need to take
0:48:22 > 0:48:26a bunch of flowers or a bottle of wine when you see friends,
0:48:26 > 0:48:28they're taking their own bake.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30And I think this is lovely.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33I'm very proud to have been part of it.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40It's been over six decades since Mary's love affair with food
0:48:40 > 0:48:44began as a student at Bath High School for Girls.
0:48:44 > 0:48:49To her father's disappointment, Mary struggled academically,
0:48:49 > 0:48:52but in domestic science, her favourite subject,
0:48:52 > 0:48:54she excelled.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56The course is still flourishing.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00And Mary's returned to the Royal High School to join today's students
0:49:00 > 0:49:04as they prepare a pudding that Mary made here over 60 years ago.
0:49:09 > 0:49:14Well, good afternoon, girls. It is lovely to be back at my old school.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17I was here in the '40s - a long time ago!
0:49:17 > 0:49:21Do you know my favourite subject was Home Economics.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25It was so much better than doing Latin and Maths.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29So today you are going to be making one of the things
0:49:29 > 0:49:33I made in my class, steamed syrup pudding.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36And I'm going to be the lucky one to taste it.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39You'll work in pairs, so off you go.
0:49:42 > 0:49:47The girls have a list of ingredients and the very recipe that Mary followed.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57And when have you done creaming before?
0:49:57 > 0:50:01I did it quite recently when we were doing cupcakes.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04- So you're really skilled at it! - We've done it quite a lot.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07It doesn't matter now but you can put a little square
0:50:07 > 0:50:10of foil, like it says, at the top.
0:50:10 > 0:50:12- Does it matter if we haven't? - It doesn't.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14And we've got so much treacle it will come out.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18- But it means that it comes out on top.- Then you take the square off.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27You really need to beat that butter and sugar until it's very light
0:50:27 > 0:50:30and fluffy to start with.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33And then when you add the other ingredients, they'll go in smoothly.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42So how are we getting on here?
0:50:42 > 0:50:46- Um, good. - But we forgot the baking powder.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48- You forgot the baking powder? - Yes.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51It actually isn't the end of the world,
0:50:51 > 0:50:53because we are using self-raising flour.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55You might not get such a rise,
0:50:55 > 0:50:58but it's very important, before you start,
0:50:58 > 0:51:02- to read the recipe through. So it's in the steamer ready.- Yep.
0:51:02 > 0:51:04And about how long is it going to take?
0:51:04 > 0:51:05Erm, 45 minutes.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09- Good, you're on the ball now.- Yes! - Though you made a mistake earlier on.
0:51:20 > 0:51:26Well, there are eight steamed sponge puddings a-steaming,
0:51:26 > 0:51:28and a lot of mirth and laughter.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31One or two of them have not followed their recipe,
0:51:31 > 0:51:36but it brings me back to the day when I did a steamed syrup pudding
0:51:36 > 0:51:38all those years ago.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40I was so proud when I took it home,
0:51:40 > 0:51:47and I opened the lid and Mum and Dad tasted it - their eyes lit up.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50And I really felt I'd done something properly.
0:51:50 > 0:51:56Suddenly, particularly my father, was taking an interest in what I did.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59It was lovely. And I couldn't wait to get back to school
0:51:59 > 0:52:01to do the next weeks's project.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04The puddings have steamed through.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09Now to see how today's students have fared with Mary's 1940s recipe.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17That's it. Over you go.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20GIGGLING
0:52:20 > 0:52:24It's difficult with small hands. That's it.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27And it should, underneath, have the most beautiful pudding.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30And do you know, that looks really, really good.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33And I can't wait to taste it.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35Right.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37I'll pinch some of the treacly top.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44- Mm! That is... What do you think? I think it's really good!- Yeah.
0:52:46 > 0:52:47So, the second one, come on.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50Looks nice and spongy.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53- Now are you going to make that when you go home?- Yeah, definitely.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56So keep the recipe and give your families a surprise.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01A lovely even texture. You must have given it a good beat.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06And that tastes...absolutely beautiful.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11I think we've got some brilliant results there.
0:53:11 > 0:53:12You're very good bakers.
0:53:12 > 0:53:15So a good round of applause for everybody!
0:53:19 > 0:53:21Throughout Mary's life,
0:53:21 > 0:53:25food has always been at the heart of family gatherings.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27Picnics were a childhood favourite
0:53:27 > 0:53:30and today Mary's preparing one for her own family.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33She's set the time and the date
0:53:33 > 0:53:35and now with the help of her daughter Annabel,
0:53:35 > 0:53:37Mary's going to make the centrepiece.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40An express chocolate cake,
0:53:40 > 0:53:45layered with white chocolate icing, and to decorate...chocolate curls.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49OK, so we've got some self-raising flour, which we'll pop in first.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52Followed by the caster sugar.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57And the cocoa.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59- And the bicarbonate of soda.- Yes.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02And the baking powder.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05And I'm cooking with your children,
0:54:05 > 0:54:10I always put a big plate underneath, because particularly little Hobie,
0:54:10 > 0:54:13when he cracks an egg on the side most of it goes on the table.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16- So everything in the bowl then?- Yes.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19And all you have to do is mix it. All so simple.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25I can remember you making one of your first cakes -
0:54:25 > 0:54:27you made William a cake.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30Can you remember that? With the tennis racket on top.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32We took it to him on his birthday at school.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34Drove it up to Scotland.
0:54:34 > 0:54:38Yes, and you did... I remember thinking will she be able to do it?
0:54:38 > 0:54:41You did a criss-cross right across the tennis racket.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43Wonder where I got that from?
0:54:43 > 0:54:46Now that's fairly equal in the tins,
0:54:46 > 0:54:48and we're going to bake those - fan 160.
0:54:50 > 0:54:51To ensure they bake evenly,
0:54:51 > 0:54:54the sponges are placed on the same shelf of the oven.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58As they cook, Mary makes the white chocolate icing.
0:54:58 > 0:55:03Now, the heat of the cream is going to melt that. Then stir it.
0:55:03 > 0:55:08Annabel spent her childhood surrounded by the trappings of Mary's celebrity.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11As a young girl, these were exciting times.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15We had the television crew from the age of about six in big tents,
0:55:15 > 0:55:18- like a circus, in the garden. - That's right.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21That was all part of life. And it was great fun.
0:55:21 > 0:55:25But also I have many happy memories of you doing demonstrations
0:55:25 > 0:55:27and you'd haul me along and we had a whale of a time.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30I can remember a demonstration in Launceston,
0:55:30 > 0:55:33and you came with me - you might have been about eight.
0:55:33 > 0:55:37And I turned on the processor without the lid on.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39It was oil - a salad dressing - you were making.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43And the oil spun around you like that. And the audience.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47- But it got all over you and you had to carry on.- I did.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50- And I think I might have cried. - You did. You cried.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53And I was more upset that you were upset.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56And we had 400 in the audience. It was group WI.
0:55:56 > 0:56:02And...when people say, "Do things go wrong?" I often remember that story.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08Once the sponges have baked for 25 minutes,
0:56:08 > 0:56:12and have been set aside to cool, the cake's ready to assemble,
0:56:12 > 0:56:15using Mary's luxurious white chocolate icing.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18- It is lovely, isn't it? - Delicious!
0:56:18 > 0:56:21So just push that all over the top,
0:56:21 > 0:56:27and you could put a spreading of redcurrant jelly underneath if you wanted to.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29And let's have this one on top.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32So many people have difficulty with white chocolate -
0:56:32 > 0:56:38but this one, using full-fat cream cheese and cream, it works.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42And you don't need to add extra sugar.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44- How about you doing a bit of decoration?- Oh, lovely.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47You were always very good at decorating.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50It's easier to manage doing curls with plain chocolate.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52Milk chocolate doesn't roll so well.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54That looks good.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58And I don't go far without my shaker with icing sugar.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00It just gives a finish.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03And that's all ready for the picnic.
0:57:03 > 0:57:04Can't wait.
0:57:15 > 0:57:16With her family assembled,
0:57:16 > 0:57:19Mary leads them out to her favourite picnic spot.
0:57:22 > 0:57:28I've really been so lucky to have had this passion for cooking and baking.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33And I've had the backing of my family.
0:57:36 > 0:57:38So lucky with it being dry.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41What a view down there!
0:57:42 > 0:57:46For 60 years since I left college, I have been cooking.
0:57:46 > 0:57:48And showing people how to cook.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52I couldn't have changed my life, really.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54It's just what I wanted to do.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04I do get people very often saying "When are you going to retire?"
0:58:04 > 0:58:07Now, why would I retire?
0:58:07 > 0:58:10I'll retire when somebody doesn't want me!
0:58:10 > 0:58:13And I'll do that quite graciously.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16CHATTER
0:58:16 > 0:58:18I am so lucky. And I know it.
0:58:35 > 0:58:38Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd