0:00:00 > 0:00:02Hello. Welcome to A Taste Of My Life -
0:00:02 > 0:00:06the show that the serves up people's lives with something of a twist.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10This is a culinary trip down memory lane.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35Food is incredibly revealing about who we are and what we do.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38It tells us a great deal about the way we live our lives.
0:00:38 > 0:00:44So what better way to get to know our guest than by sampling the tastes and flavours of their life?
0:00:44 > 0:00:49Although today's guest has had a successful career as a musician,
0:00:49 > 0:00:54he first came to prominence in the bawdy costume drama Tom Jones.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57DOOR CLOSES
0:01:06 > 0:01:10When personal tragedy struck with the unexpected death of his mother,
0:01:10 > 0:01:16he dealt with the trauma by taking on a gritty role in the hit medical drama Bodies.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18Give her some more. WOMAN WHIMPERS
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Not me. WOMAN GROANS
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Give her some more.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30Or I will.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34But most recently, he's entertained viewers as the deputy manager
0:01:34 > 0:01:38of the most salacious hotel ever to grace our TV screens.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41You have all the attributes of a good receptionist.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45You're polite, handsome, flirtatious and, yet, strangely asexual.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47Thank you.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50Yes, today's guest who'll be joining me in the kitchen
0:01:50 > 0:01:54is actor, musician, keen chef and heart-throb Max Beesley.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58'Coming up on today's show, Max the chef is given something
0:01:58 > 0:02:01'of a rib-tickling by his step-brother, Jason.'
0:02:01 > 0:02:03Like I say, he can do it.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05He just needs to get the portion sizes sorted out.
0:02:05 > 0:02:12'College friend and singer Omar gives us the low-down on Max's taste in women.'
0:02:12 > 0:02:16He needed a little bit of learning, some teaching.
0:02:16 > 0:02:22'And he reveals how tough it was doing the medical drama Bodies after the tragic death of his mum.'
0:02:22 > 0:02:26It was my sort of homage to my mother, you know.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Max Beesley, welcome to A Taste Of My Life.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37It's an absolute pleasure to be here.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Now, you were born in Manchester into a family of musicians.
0:02:41 > 0:02:47My mum was a jazz singer and my dad was a jazz muso, so it was great.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50That kind of pushed me towards
0:02:50 > 0:02:52what I was gonna do.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56I wasn't really an academic at primary school. I was a bit naughty.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00I was always messing about and trying to make the girls laugh.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Your parents divorced when you were very young.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Yeah. I think I was about one, yeah.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11It was just natural for me to see my dad every weekend and go to school
0:03:11 > 0:03:15and get told off by my mother in the morning and at night times. D'you know what I mean?
0:03:15 > 0:03:22But my mum was just an amazing, amazing lady and my old man is an amazing guy, you know.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24So, it was my norm, really.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28So, mum cooked. I mean, that's the food that you remember, probably.
0:03:28 > 0:03:36Yeah, Mum tried to cook. My mum used to think by steaming fish and giving me jacket potatoes with no butter
0:03:36 > 0:03:40or low-fat butter was good for me.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44But I hated it because there was no taste, really.
0:03:44 > 0:03:51Which is precisely why I'm going to rustle up something tasty and succulent with some fried halibut,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55lightly seasoned flour, plenty of butter in the pan,
0:03:55 > 0:04:00and all those horrid memories of boiled fish will fade away.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03I can remember my mum steaming fish between two plates on top of a saucepan
0:04:03 > 0:04:08and I knew what I was getting for supper because you could hear the rattling from miles away.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Yep, yep. Well, that was the same thing.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16I had the fear in me whenever I saw the pressure cooker because I knew...
0:04:16 > 0:04:20I didn't know what she'd be cooking because she'd steam everything.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24So, the fish went in there, the new potatoes.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28I can see the new potatoes now with the skin still stuck to the metal plate
0:04:28 > 0:04:33that was in the pressure cooker and her trying to salvage them out of there.
0:04:33 > 0:04:41Parsley and oil on top, a plump baked potato and, as a tribute to Max's mum, boiled broccoli.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43I would have much preferred to have eaten this
0:04:43 > 0:04:45in 1978.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51What was your favourite meal of the day?
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Was it breakfast or was it teatime?
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Teatime.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01Teatime up there is like 6:30pm or 7pm.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06One thing my ma used to make great, actually, she used to make great spaghetti bolognese
0:05:06 > 0:05:11and she used to call it something different than that, which is rather rude but great spaghetti bolognese.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Really lovely. That was it.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16"I'm going in for me tea."
0:05:16 > 0:05:20It's just a weird thing that. I used to go, "I'll see you straight after and we'll have a vibe."
0:05:20 > 0:05:23And we'd go in and tuck in and get back out again.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31Your mum died quite recently.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35All our parents die. It's inevitable, isn't it?
0:05:35 > 0:05:40Yet, it's the one certain thing that we are probably most unprepared for as humans.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43But she was a naturally very talented woman.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45She had an amazing art for singing,
0:05:45 > 0:05:50and she started working of the age of about 14.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55So, a very strong, individual woman, a survivor,
0:05:55 > 0:05:59and I have a lot of her things, I think, in me.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02I've got a nice balance between me mother and me father.
0:06:02 > 0:06:08It's a strange thing because it's the biggest fear of your life yet it's something that you kind of
0:06:08 > 0:06:14work through and overcome, so there's that sense of guilt and there are many, many things going on.
0:06:14 > 0:06:20But... Yeah, she, she, she died a little too early, I'd say,
0:06:20 > 0:06:25by misadventure, you know, an accident in hospital,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28which made it very difficult
0:06:28 > 0:06:33for when the Bodies script came through to take that job on.
0:06:45 > 0:06:46Cheers.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53In hindsight, now, it was a really important role for me, that.
0:06:53 > 0:06:58Because it turned a lot of things round, I think, for me with the work
0:06:58 > 0:07:03and, more importantly, it was my sort of homage to my mother, you know.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Have you got any brothers and sisters or were you the only one?
0:07:06 > 0:07:11The family history is very similar to Dallas, if you ever saw Dallas.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15- I did see Dallas.- It's really crazy. I've got an elder brother, Gary,
0:07:15 > 0:07:22who's an amazing guy, and a sister, Katie, who, again, is one of the loveliest people you'd ever meet.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27She's just gorgeous, you know. I've got a step-brother, Jason, who I, really, grew up with.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31He's just one of the loveliest guys you'll ever meet. He's a diamond.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34I've got a little bit of a surprise for you.
0:07:35 > 0:07:41We were looking forward to a fantastic meal that Max cooked for us one Christmas.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Looking, probably about seven years ago now.
0:07:44 > 0:07:50It was just after Max had spent £3,000 on cookery course.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Do you remember that? It was going to be lamb.
0:07:52 > 0:07:59The plan was a lovely bit of lamb and we were told that all day long we weren't allowed to eat
0:07:59 > 0:08:02a single thing otherwise it would spoil our dinner,
0:08:02 > 0:08:07which was fine until we realised that dinner was taking at least seven hours to cook.
0:08:07 > 0:08:13So, by then, we're all absolutely famished
0:08:13 > 0:08:16and Max brings out the dinner,
0:08:16 > 0:08:18which was...
0:08:18 > 0:08:20a child's portion -
0:08:20 > 0:08:25like a newborn, actually - a newborn's portion of food,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28which left us all starving.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31So I'm just gonna attempt to recreate that dinner today.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Obviously, I'm not gonna scrimp and save in my portions. They're gonna be whoppers.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Obviously, this is just for one person.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44Had this been Max's portion,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46this would have been for 20.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49He's quite sarcastic, in't he?
0:08:49 > 0:08:51I've got all the equipment, as you can see.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55He's a scumbag.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57No, he's the best brother.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00How long are these gonna take, these babies?
0:09:00 > 0:09:01What's happening over here?
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Oh, yeah. I'm starting to get a bit of colour on these now.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Yeah, we were in a curry house that night and the After Eights came out,
0:09:10 > 0:09:12you know, they sometimes put After Eights,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16and we ripped the After Eight paper and stuck 'em on our teeth.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20Am I doing this right? I always forget that.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25He'll want to be better than Nigel,
0:09:25 > 0:09:27like he wants to be better than everyone.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30That's remarkably scalding on the fingers.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32Lovely. So this is the vibe.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37I think this is how you get your...your jus -
0:09:37 > 0:09:41or gravy, if you're from Levenshulme.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43'What he whacked in there? Oh, wine.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45'What's he put in there? Just wine, innit?'
0:09:48 > 0:09:50Jus.
0:09:51 > 0:09:57But if you come from Levenshulme in Manchester, it's gravy.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02He really is one of the kind of people who would give you the shirt off his back.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07And, in actual fact, I've had approximately 20 shirts off his back.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11My whole wardrobe's full of Max's clothes.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19Max's.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27There you go, mate. Tuck in.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34That's great.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38I'm sensing a little bit of competitiveness there.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40No, that's great, man.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42I had no idea he'd done that.
0:10:47 > 0:10:48You're a pretty popular guy.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51You've got a lot of, actually, quite high-profile friends.
0:10:51 > 0:10:59Yeah. I've got five or six very, very, very, very, very, very, very close friends, which is great.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02- And a couple of them are high profile.- Do you cook for them?
0:11:02 > 0:11:04I do, actually, yeah.
0:11:04 > 0:11:10And my girlfriend's friends - she's got all her girlfriends -
0:11:10 > 0:11:16do get the hump if the Sunday roast isn't on if I'm working or something, because there's nowhere else that
0:11:16 > 0:11:22they wanna go other than my house because I do make a blinding Sunday roast, you know.
0:11:22 > 0:11:23It's funny this thing about friends.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28- People who cook, you always end up with a lot of mates.- Yeah.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33- Yeah, you do.- One of your friends from a long time ago has got a little surprise for you.
0:11:33 > 0:11:39# There's nothing like this
0:11:39 > 0:11:40# There's nothing... #
0:11:40 > 0:11:45It's 20 years now since that we've known each other so, that's a...
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Or 20 years best mates, as he would say.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51So it's been fun, man, you know what I mean.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55He helped me when I was at school, I got expelled from boarding,
0:11:55 > 0:11:57because I was a naughty boy back then.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01- So he's great.- I can't believe he's cooking.- This is stewed chicken,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05as taught to me by several relatives.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08It's a kind of standard West Indian dish.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11I can't believe he's cooking. That's great.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14He was two years below us in school, and I just remember he was always
0:12:14 > 0:12:17trying to get in with the older lads.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20And he finally managed to do it because we had a band,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23a school band called Jazz Tracks.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28I remember, just after it was the end of term and my mum had met his
0:12:28 > 0:12:32mum for the first time after I'd stayed in the house or something.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35She said, "Was he all right?" She said, "Yeah, yeah.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38"He wanted to smoke but I told him he had to go out into the garden."
0:12:38 > 0:12:42And my mum didn't know I smoked at that time, so thanks a lot.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47Don't put this in if it's not appropriate but, I remember,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51he always wanted to introduce his ugly girlfriends to us at school.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Obviously, it's changed now because his taste's got a lot better but,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01when he was 15, he needed a little bit of learning, some teaching.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04- Chicken stock...- Chicken stock -
0:13:04 > 0:13:07- he's looking for his cubes. - ..which I don't think I have.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10- Bisto.- You're joking.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13- Oh, he's putting meat Bisto in. - 'Turkey will do.'
0:13:14 > 0:13:16It's the same species, innit?
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Oh, he's just whacking it in.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25I don't know how we're gonna do this but maybe put it in a piece
0:13:25 > 0:13:28of Tupperware or something and maybe you can have a piece.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32# There's nothing like this. #
0:13:32 > 0:13:36- So I can offer you a bit of Omar's chicken stew.- Absolutely.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38I'm very excited to see if he's...
0:13:38 > 0:13:40battered the chicken or not.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Let's have a look.
0:13:43 > 0:13:49# There's nothing like this
0:13:49 > 0:13:51# Not even remotely like this... #
0:13:51 > 0:13:56- It's nice, though, in't it?- Yeah, it's nice.- Very, very good, Omar.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00So, how come you ended up working with Robbie Williams?
0:14:00 > 0:14:02I played with Take That.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06I played with the band and befriended
0:14:06 > 0:14:09Rob there, became very friendly with Jason as well.
0:14:09 > 0:14:15He is a phenomenal, phenomenal performer - one of the best I've ever worked with, you know.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19On top of that, if he's your mate to boot, as well, that's just great, isn't it?
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Still to come on A Taste Of My Life,
0:14:21 > 0:14:26Max lets us in on the secrets of Mariah Carey's penne al'arrabiata.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Makes a great bit of pasta, old Mariah.
0:14:28 > 0:14:35Friend and co-star from Tom Jones, Brian Blessed remembers a very innocent and naive young actor.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38You always felt, cos you were very green as an actor,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42that you had to eat all food on the set all the time. We'd only nibble it.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44An experienced actor like me knows that.
0:14:44 > 0:14:51And Max reveals his fantasy dinner guests over a final feast that will have you swooning.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55Maybe Marilyn could be serving the food in a kind of pinafore with nothing else on.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Do you ever cook to impress?
0:15:01 > 0:15:03I'm talking maybe girlfriends here.
0:15:03 > 0:15:10If you can make someone laugh and play the piano and cook quite well, I think you're in good stead.
0:15:10 > 0:15:15Just maybe whack out a bit of Bach, then throw in a nice salmon tartare,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18and boom, surely, surely I've got to be in.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21The one thing that you use specifically. Is there one dish?
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Italian stuff, quite easy.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26A little bird told me you're quite good at pasta.
0:15:26 > 0:15:32I did some work with a lady called Mariah Carey who's lovely.
0:15:32 > 0:15:40The film wasn't lovely but when I was working with Mariah I tasted her arrabiata and it was fantastic,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44really good. She makes a great bit of pasta, old Mariah.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46You cook for your friends and you cook for your girlfriends.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50I was hoping you might cook for me.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52I can have they go, I'll have a go.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54I always like a bit of a challenge.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59Looks like Max is keen to go it alone on this one.
0:15:59 > 0:16:06OK, so. I'm going to start by dicing some chillies,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10just to give it a bit of a vibe.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13I like to use quite a lot of chilli
0:16:13 > 0:16:15and I also
0:16:15 > 0:16:17keep the seeds in there as well.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22It depends on who your guests are, whether they like hot stuff or not.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25I personally love it.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30What I want to do is, with the chillies and the garlic
0:16:30 > 0:16:35and the basil, flavour this oil up.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37Look at that, just great for the heart attack.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40Just throw this in.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43Now, my favourite bit. Basil.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Pull this out somehow.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52That oil is getting nicely flavoured now, lovely.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56Just wilted, not really overcooking it.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01Dry your basil off before you wilt it otherwise you'll get that
0:17:01 > 0:17:03horrendous effect.
0:17:03 > 0:17:04In goes the tomato.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09So throw that in round about now.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16Throw these babies back in now. Give it a little stir.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19This could burn our throats out, Nigel.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Just take a little bit of that.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24Keep some of the roots of the basil in, I just love it.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28Add a little bit of oil to the pasta to give it a nice glaze.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30Take the top off, that's always a help.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38Lovely, I like the idea of flavouring the oil.
0:17:38 > 0:17:45I used to throw everything in at the beginning and clutter it up with loads of different soft herbs,
0:17:45 > 0:17:50but I think the simplicity of it is what makes this really nice, just with basil.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56There it is, penne al'arrabiata.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00Mr Nigel Slater from his first student of the day.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07Really scared.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17- You weren't joking when you said spicy.- It is spicy, isn't it?
0:18:17 > 0:18:19That's gorgeous.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22- Nice one.- Thank you. Very good.
0:18:27 > 0:18:34- But of course your first real big break was Tom Jones. - Yes, it was, really.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36I suppose in hindsight
0:18:36 > 0:18:41that was a really, really great gig to get. I think it...
0:18:41 > 0:18:44took a few people by surprise, getting that role.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Since you do me the honour of asking, Sir, I am marching North
0:18:47 > 0:18:52against the pretender and his rebels in the service of liberty and his Majesty King George.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56'I was quite green in the first couple of days of filming
0:18:56 > 0:19:00'and my confidence grew throughout the five-month shoot.'
0:19:00 > 0:19:04It was a great, great...
0:19:04 > 0:19:06initiation, if you like, into the acting world.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Of course, you got a chance to work with Brian Blessed.
0:19:09 > 0:19:14Brian Blessed is such a lovely man, you know, he does these crazy things.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17I think he's attempted Everest a couple of times
0:19:17 > 0:19:22and he does things like say, "I'm going in the original 1920s gear."
0:19:22 > 0:19:26I'll go, "What?" He'll say, "If Sherpa Hensing can do it, so can I."
0:19:26 > 0:19:30I've got a little message for you from him.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33Did you really catch up with him?
0:19:33 > 0:19:41You once described me as being a cross between a yeti and a holy man.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44This is the yeti. And a holy man.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48You always said to people, "You've got to have the Brian Blessed experience."
0:19:48 > 0:19:53I mean I must say I also have a Max Beesley. I have always found
0:19:53 > 0:19:59you sensitive, a young man of great vision.
0:19:59 > 0:20:00Morning, master.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05HE SHOUTS
0:20:09 > 0:20:12There was a marvellous as regards food.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17You always felt, because you were very green as an actor, you had to eat all the food on the set.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21You nibble it, experienced actors like me knows that.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23There's no end to my talents.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28So I'd pretend to eat it but you ate it and your stomach got bigger and bigger and bigger.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30THEY SHOUT
0:20:34 > 0:20:40You've not spoken yet, you've got so much to offer, so much to discover about you as an actor,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44but you have all the seeds of greatness and I think you'll achieve it.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47I admire you immensely.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52I'm absolutely flattered and honoured that Brian said those things because
0:20:52 > 0:20:55I hold him right up there.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57It's a weird thing
0:20:57 > 0:21:00in this business that we're in, you're lucky if you meet
0:21:00 > 0:21:06one or two people, maybe one a job, one every two or three jobs, that you really stay in contact with.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10And then of course you moved onto Hotel Babylon
0:21:10 > 0:21:18and played the deputy manager in what was actually an incredibly salacious and saucy hotel.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Complementary sessions in our health and beauty spa.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25- 'Whatever or whoever you want to be.'- Thank you.
0:21:28 > 0:21:29'We'll look after you.'
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Very glamorous, very stylised.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36For me as an actor it enabled me to have a bit of fun with a character
0:21:36 > 0:21:41which is lovely juxtapose from doing something like Bodies, for instance,
0:21:41 > 0:21:47which is really mentally very, very heavy and depressing, you know, in a weird way.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52As you've become more and more successful, do you find that your tastes have changed?
0:21:52 > 0:21:57On the grapevine I've heard that you're rather fond of a bit of lobster.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Lobster is something that
0:22:01 > 0:22:07I hadn't really experienced as a kid, growing up in Burnage, south Manchester.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10It wasn't a delicacy of the area, really.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17I'm pulling out all the stops here, a beautifully boiled large lobster,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21coated in cheese sauce and grilled for just a short while.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26I used to see lobster on the menu and I have an attachment to that
0:22:26 > 0:22:34which as a working-class kid it was definitely a thing of, "That's for the affluent, the lobster.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36"I'll try that one day." I ate lobster for the first time,
0:22:36 > 0:22:41I can't remember now, it was years ago, in one of these places.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43I really liked it, I liked it.
0:22:43 > 0:22:49It had quite a weird texture and weird taste but I think half of it was the idea of ordering lobster.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53It was role-play, definitely.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55And if that isn't enough,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57some garlic breadcrumbs scallops.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Again the knack with these guys is not to overcook them.
0:23:01 > 0:23:06Literally a minute or two under the grill until they're almost opaque.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08OK, lobster is pretty wonderful.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11It's almost status symbol food, in a way.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14This is probably the largest one I've ever seen in my life.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17This is...
0:23:17 > 0:23:19the "I've made it" lobster.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23Yeah. This guy has had an incredible life so I don't feel too bad about eating him.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27It's like you do lots of things and you suddenly realise,
0:23:27 > 0:23:31"I'm doing something very exciting, something I want to do."
0:23:31 > 0:23:35Was there a point when you actually thought, "This is really rather good?"
0:23:35 > 0:23:40I do pinch myself and I feel very lucky to be healthy, first of all,
0:23:40 > 0:23:46but to be able to eat well, to go on nice holidays now and again.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48I also do have those
0:23:48 > 0:23:55working-class ethics installed which make me think whenever I do go and buy an expensive bottle of wine
0:23:55 > 0:23:58I can hear my dad going absolutely psychotic in the back of my mind,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01thinking you must be crazy to go in with all that money, you know.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09So your final feast, what are we eating?
0:24:09 > 0:24:12For starters we're going to have a carpaccio of veal
0:24:12 > 0:24:17with a bit of olive oil and some shavings of Parmesan cheese.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21Then beautiful pieces of meat here, sealed and then cooked,
0:24:21 > 0:24:25medium but sort of French medium, medium rare.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27Along with an aubergine gateau.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35I came across the veal by accident in Venice.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38I was doing the film with Mike Figgis called Hotel.
0:24:38 > 0:24:44We went over to Cipriani hotel and someone ordered it for me.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47I ate it and it just melted in my mouth, the most amazing thing.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51- It's your last meal, so I guess... - It's got to be that way.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54Do you like profiteroles?
0:24:54 > 0:24:56I adore profiteroles.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59I'm big on profiteroles and chocolate eclairs.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02It is naughty, that, isn't it?
0:25:05 > 0:25:08- How are they coming on? - They're coming on belting.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13Look at that, that looks beautiful.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Food doesn't get any sexier, does it?
0:25:20 > 0:25:22It's a lovely wow dish, isn't it?
0:25:22 > 0:25:26It's a wow dish. It looks very...
0:25:26 > 0:25:29It's what I call chef-y cooking.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31So pretty.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34If you want to hit it, we can.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38- They're nice, aren't they?- That's yours, that's a little bit firmer.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40That's right.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43And that's Max Beesley's final feast.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Carpaccio of veal,
0:25:46 > 0:25:48a layered aubergine gateau...
0:25:50 > 0:25:54simple steak fillets
0:25:54 > 0:25:57and rounding off with profiteroles.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00It's been a very full and busy life
0:26:00 > 0:26:06but there must be something you haven't done, you'd like to do.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11Yes, I haven't won a BAFTA, I haven't won an Oscar and I haven't filmed with Robert De Niro.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14What is it that makes you really happy?
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Do you know what? This is going to be a strange answer.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24I really like the sky.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27- Yeah?- Does that sound weird?
0:26:27 > 0:26:30I love the sky, I've got a weird thing about it.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33I can go home to Hampton Court, kneel on my bed, I've got a big open window
0:26:33 > 0:26:40at the back, and look at the garden for about two hours on my knees, and nothing else exists in the world.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43I really do love filming.
0:26:43 > 0:26:48I love work, I love going in and feeling like I'm doing something with my day.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Who would be present at your final feast?
0:26:51 > 0:26:54We know what you're eating but who are you going to eat it with?
0:26:54 > 0:26:58This is a tricky one, but I'd definitely like De Niro...
0:26:59 > 0:27:03sitting here, and Christopher Walken,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06who I love. I like Richard Burton,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10I thought he was a monstrous actor, just phenomenal, you know.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14- Steve McQueen.- Yes.
0:27:15 > 0:27:21If I could have had a lady in there it would have to be Marilyn Monroe.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23That was my first ever crush.
0:27:25 > 0:27:26OK.
0:27:26 > 0:27:32- Maybe Marilyn could be serving the food in a kind of pinafore with nothing else on.- OK.- Is that OK?
0:27:32 > 0:27:35That's absolutely fine.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39Max Beesley, thank you very much for being on The Taste Of My Life.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Thank you for having me.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43- I appreciate it.- To you.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Eh, to you, it's been a real pleasure.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2006
0:27:57 > 0:27:59Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk