John Barrowman A Taste of My Life

Welcome to A Taste Of My Life - a culinary trip back in time,

serving up famous lives on a plate.

In the next half an hour, we'll be telling the life story of a famous guest

by remembering, cooking and tasting the food that has gone into making them who they are.

Through the lens of food, you can find yourself on a surprisingly intimate, revealing journey.

Which is precisely why we're going to be feasting on the smells,

tastes and flavours of yet another famous life.

Great singer and all-round entertainer.

He's done time as a children's TV presenter.

Welcome to the second edition of Live and Kicking.

We're with you for three-and-a-quarter hours. Glad you could join us.

He's recently smashed his way on to our TV screens

as the intergalactic rogue and flirtatious time traveller, Captain Jack Harkness.

You want a little rough and tumble, huh?

Well, let's make it a fair fight.

And he's found himself the judge of a group of musical wannabes.

You won me over. You totally have won me over.

I want to see you take more of a risk each time you do something.

That was just safe. And you can't be safe as a leading lady.

You've got to push that limit, push the edge.

Yes, today's special guest is, of course, John Barrowman.

And, so long as he doesn't rope me into singing a duet from the Sound Of Music,

coming up in today's show...

Over in the US, John's family reduce him to tears as they remember the food of his youth.

It's John's favourite banana bread.

He talks about how HE solved A Problem Like Maria.

And I said, "That's your Maria."

-And ex-Corrie star and friend, Suranne Jones, issues him with a cooking challenge.

-Love you.

Love you, too.

John Barrowman, welcome to A Taste Of My Life.

-Thank you.

-You were born in... I was going to say America. But you're not, you're Scottish?

Yeah, I'm Scottish by birth. Born in Glasgow.

I think I screamed the place down when I was born, but, yeah.

-Do you remember much of Scotland?

-I do, actually.

I have a lot of fond memories of Scotland, of growing up there.

Specifically, Sundays when we would go to my gran's house.

I can remember my brothers and sisters and thinking, "Oh, we don't want to go."

Because it was the grandparents.

But as soon as we walked in, it would be full of cream cakes and scotch pancakes and Victoria sponges.

And that was always the incentive.

My mother loves to bake.

She'd either bake, there was is a zucchini bread and banana bread.

-And that was my favourite.

-I mean, tell me about that.

Zucchini is made with courgettes.

What you do is, if I'm correct,

it's basically the same kind of thing like the banana bread.

But instead of putting in bananas, you put courgettes.

And you put in the skin,

I'm not sure if you put in the pulp of it because the pulp would be too watery.

A classic American dessert,

it's no surprise John ate this growing up in the United States.

But don't worry, it's absolutely fine to use the whole courgette.

This is something that you eat, you don't eat as a cake, do you?

Yeah, it's a cake, it's sweet.

It's not like a bread roll.

It's not like that. Although we call it bread and they call that banana bread, it's still like a cake.

Although I'm using walnuts and raisins, for that extra moistness

you can also throw in crushed pineapple. Sounds like carrot cake.

-Green carrot cake.

-It is.

But depending on how much of the shavings of the skin you put in, that's how green it will be.

You get some flecks of green going through it, but you still get that lovely brown.

-I mean, it's really good.

-You sold me.

People go, "Ew, courgettes in bread?"

But it's really, really delicious.

But that's not all his mum was good at.

My mother was casserole queen.

She made this casserole and it had...

I remember it vividly. Chicken, it had broccoli, it had water chestnuts.

It had a cream sauce. And it had...

onions that were crunchy, like toasted onions put on top.

And then it was all baked.

-OK.

-Right?

Having pre-cooked your chicken for 30 minutes,

make your sauce by adding stock and double cream.

The reason I remember it so vividly is because we said we'd liked it.

And we ate it, like, every other night.

Although this casserole has broccoli, you could actually throw in pak choi or baby spinach.

But remember, add them at the last minute to avoid soggy veg.

She left my dad and I with a freezer full of stuff to cook.

We pulled out one night, it was the chicken casserole. Fine.

Next night, chicken casserole! Chicken casserole!

We just got sick of the casserole.

You can have too much of a good thing.

Sprinkle the caramelised onions and it's time for John to remember growing up in the USA.

Yeah. This was the casserole that we just didn't want any more of.

But I'm intrigued, cos it's been years since I've had it.

Tell me, were you bullied for being Scottish?

Yes. Absolutely.

American kids, if you're different in any way, they'll make fun of you.

Right? So here I show up, being this kid who has a funny accent.

This one kid, I hated his guts.

And he sat on top of me and wouldn't let me get up to go to the swimming lesson.

And I stayed on the bus for an hour.

This was all because I spoke differently and was a bit different from the rest.

Maybe the bullying, in a sense, and being made fun of

is what made me a little more... pushy and out there.

-Could have sent you the other way though?

-It could have.

But my parents, and my brothers and sisters never let me.

If my brother heard anything said badly about me,

-he would have punched them.

-That's what big brothers are for.

-Yeah.

So, how come the family ended up in the States?

My father, in 1970 and '71, first off we were sent to the US for a year.

Then we went back to Glasgow.

And I came back to Glasgow and had this American accent.

And my mother said the first thing I did when I walked into the kitchen,

I said, "Gee, Mom. What a cute little fridge you got."

Because I was used to all these massive, huge, great fridges.

In '76, my dad packed all of us up.

-Talking of America, I've got a little surprise for you.

-Right.

My mother's Wedgwood house!

It's John's favourite banana bread. With nothing in it, John.

Pure bananas.

He was a typical boy when he was growing up.

But he loved the theatre.

When we had parties, I would say to John, "Come on over. Come on and sing, John."

And you'd sing and I'd give him a wooden spoon, the baking spoon.

And that would be his microphone.

Oh, this was John's favourite. This had to be made every week.

Now, I haven't made this for years.

He got all his talent from his mother.

In the early days, my contribution was a credit card.

Now, he gives me a credit card.

When he's in a show,

every night is first night.

A third of a cup of the buttermilk.

It has to be buttermilk. John, don't faint.

-I'm in the kitchen.

-Your dad is in the kitchen!

-Pretending to help.

-Pour a little at a time.

He certainly has the talent. And he's been a very good son.

I love him dearly.

There's some things I need to tell you. I don't need any more shoes.

I don't need any more pants.

I don't need any more shirts.

I'd like a Rolex.

So would I!

Oh, John.

This takes me back years, John.

When we used to do this.

And then you would get the spoon.

And then I would smack your hand.

So, it's a pleasure to be making this for you, son.

-Ta-dah!

-Da-dah da-dah!

-Perfect.

-Success, John.

There you go, lovely banana bread.

Banana bread, courtesy of John's mum.

It's the banana bread.

And it's been microwaved just slightly.

You pour double cream over the top of it.

-Isn't that delicious?

-That takes me back.

I'm sort of picturing you as a little boy...

Fat!

No, I'm picturing you wondering when you knew that,

whatever happened, you were going to end up doing what you're doing now.

As a really little boy, about four or five years old, before we first went to the States, I remember Peter Pan.

And I remember sitting in the balcony.

And whoever was playing Peter Pan, they came up and they flew right in front of me and back.

And I just remember that, "Wow!"

Halfway through the show, my mum turned and said, "This is what you want to do, isn't it?"

I said, "Yeah!" I can't tell you how much I wanted it.

So, you're the youngest of three, is that right?

Yes. I'm the baby. I'm not going to give ages because my sister, who's the oldest, will kill me.

Her name's Carol. And my brother is in the middle, Andrew.

My mum and dad, they've nurtured each one of us.

I am the artsy one.

My brother was the sportsman, my sister was the academic.

Your sister is actually going to take you on a little trip down memory lane.

Oh dear.

Milwaukee!

This was the first dish that

Kevin made for my family.

We made wheat pizza crust and the thing that everybody remembered was broccoli.

-This is our lovely son, Turner.

-Hi.

John, believe it or not, he has a knife in his hands. So we're staying over here.

John, is this enough broccoli for you? He's a bit of a loony.

John doesn't really do anything halfway.

He does everything in a big way.

-Oh, yeah.

-And he's genuine. I think that's one of the things about John.

What you see is real.

When Clare was born, our daughter was a twin.

And the other twin was stillborn.

And he was one of the first family members who showed up

at the hospital when Ann died, and was right there.

And, ever since then, has been a really, really important figure in Clare, our daughter's life.

He always knows that, no matter what happens, he can always call us.

We'll always be here for him.

John, I hope you enjoy this. We've had a lot of fun thinking about all these old memories doing this.

-And we love you, sweetie.

-John, here's a piece for you.

Of course, now there is an action figure.

Hey!

He sent us and he had to send it back to the people who made it.

Didn't look enough like him.

If you have an action figure, it had better look exactly like you.

Yeah, the jaw wasn't strong enough on the first one.

You are in such big trouble now, both of you.

God, it makes me miss them.

Food for us as a family is a family affair.

It's like food and love, man.

Food is love.

When you said you are putting broccoli on pizza, I got cross. But this is lovely.

I almost threw up I heard the idea the first time. Broccoli on pizza?

There's one dish in particular that you ate as a family, this steak pie. It's like a tradition?

Whoever's hosting for Christmas doesn't do any cooking New Year's Day. Every year, it's steak pie.

No matter what. You can ask for anything else, you ain't gonna get it.

It's steak pie.

And that goes back to when I was a kid in Scotland and we used to go to my father's mother's house.

She'd always have steak pie.

Using stewing steak,

chop into bite-sized cubes and dust with pre-seasoned flour.

It's made with, you use the fresh meat.

Braise the meat in the morning.

Bring together the meat

with the onions, stock, parsley and thyme.

But watch the amount of liquid.

Too much will make your pastry soggy.

And then put the gravy and then the pastry fresh.

And put it all together.

And they put it in the oven, I'm guessing,

cos I have never cooked it.

I'm usually the one that stands back and goes, "That's your deal."

And it's ready, piping hot.

A good tip is to line the rim of your dish with pastry trimmings.

This way, your pie's lid is sure not to slip off.

It's a fantastic meal.

It's like, steak pie is that kind of...

..solid kind of food that brings everybody together.

It says, "Pie!".

-That looks delicious.

-Does that look right?

-That looks delicious.

The whole family thing, it is very, very important to you.

-Isn't it?

-Yes, absolutely.

Your family are who you turn to.

Your family are who,

family is unconditional. It should be unconditional. Do you know what I mean?

I've got a mound of the stuff here.

And a bit of the peas.

And you just...

When you want to shut me up, give me a steak pie.

Still to come on A Taste Of My Life, John reveals ex-Corrie star Suranne Jones' strange eating habits.

Suranne Jones, eating chicken out of a bin.

He talks about the huge success of cult sci-fi hit, Torchwood.

Honestly, I was very nervous.

And John remembers eating a lot of caviar with Shirley Bassey.

She said, "They throw the caviar away. Go tell them you want it."

-Tell me about John Barrowman, the cook.

-I love to cook. I don't know if I'm very good at it.

I love cooking big kind of family-style meals.

I love doing a roast. Sunday roast with all the trimmings.

Well, on that note, I have got a little surprise for you from somebody very special.

Right, here we go.

I fancied John when he was a presenter a few years ago and always thought he is a bit of a sort.

And then my West End debut was last year,

and John Barrowman walks into the room in rehearsals.

I was doing A Few Good Men with him.

John Barrowman!

Hi Pooky! How are you?

Now listen, I have got a little bit of a challenge for you.

D'you remember, in between shows, we would go around the corner and we would get bin chicken.

And chips and we would smother them in mayonnaise

and I'd dip them in the gravy and then we would lie on your dressing room floor

and pass out for about an hour before the next show.

I challenge you to make a healthy version of bin chicken.

How about that?

-I'll do it.

-Love yer.

-Love you, too.

-Bin chicken.

-Are you up for that?

-I'm totally up for bin chicken.

-Do you know the story behind bin chicken?

-No, tell me.

We would sneak off and get this fried chicken strips or whatever.

One day after we were finished with it, I wrapped it up in its wrapper and put it in the bin.

So Suranne comes into my room and she says, "Pooky, I'm hungry."

I said, "Well, there is some chicken left." And she went, "Yeah, but it's in the bin."

And I went, "Well, pretend it is bin chicken and have bin chicken."

She will kill me for telling you that.

Suranne Jones eating chicken out of a bin!

Time for some Bin Chicken, courtesy of Colonel Barrowman.

-So, Suranne's challenge.

-Yes.

Bin chicken. It is chicken in a seasoned batter.

Yes, chicken in a seasoned batter, that's eaten over a dustbin.

Sounds lovely. What's going in there?

I think we put some paprika in to add some spice to it.

Break that up.

Salt and pepper.

-A dash of each?

-Yeah, and I guess eggs.

Just break them in.

I'm rubbish at this.

I'm all right.

-You beat, I'll pour.

-OK.

Tell me about Maria.

Because when I switched on, I have to say,

I think I knew who was going to win. Did you?

I had it set in my mind from day one that I wanted Connie to win,

because she was the one who had the complete package.

I said, that's your Maria.

For me, she was always Maria.

-How you doing?

-All right.

-Everybody watched it.

-Everybody watched it, it was a huge success.

I was there as the representative of the West End, because I feel I know what people looking for in

the West End, and what I as a leading man would look for in a leading lady.

What other TV show has brought the West End into the living rooms?

-Not like this.

-In how many years?

They did a phenomenal job and the public felt

like they had a part of it in making Connie who she is.

-It was huge fun.

-I had a ball.

Suranne, girl, I'm gonna have you over and we're gonna eat bin chicken.

-Do you call her Suranne?

-I call her Pooky Noo-Noo.

-Dare I ask?

-You don't want to know!

It's a term of endearment. If you were to hug somebody, and you go, "Are you OK, Pooky Noo-Noo?"

-Can I turn my chicken?

-Yes.

Just touch it to hold it in place. Bake those, yeah?

Because that will then bake off...

I'm talking load of rubbish, I have no clue!

It will bake off excess grease and fat and make it fluffy and light,

at gas mark 3, or at 160 - perfect.

-How was that?

-Perfect.

Bin chicken.

Now, I know there is a plate there, but we have to do this.

And this is for...

We get some chips, we get some chicken, and a bin, and you go.

Mmm. Bin chicken.

And this is the best way to eat chicken and chips.

Fantastic. That is really good.

Your first big success was Anything Goes.

That's right, in 1989, opposite Elaine Paige.

Yeah, what a leading lady to walk in opposite.

-And still so young.

-I was in my early twenties.

Then on to Matador.

Then on to Matador.

That was with Stefanie Powers, who...

I laugh, because in this picture, Stephanie taught me how to smile.

I am blessed with good teeth and Stefanie said,

"When you smile, you have to bite an apple."

Think about it, it is really good. You have to go...

It explains every smile I have seen for a long time.

She said, that's what you do. "John, that is what you do. You just got to go..."

So every time I smile now, I bite an apple.

It's a good thing. Try it once. Go on!

-I will try it.

-Not now, though!

Having this success and having it fairly early on, have you got your own little indulgences?

-Are you a caviar boy?

-Things that I like? Oh, I love caviar.

-I adore caviar.

-It's good, isn't it?

Oh, man. Some people hate it, and I can understand that,

because it is an acquired taste.

It is fishy and it is salty.

But there is nothing better than having caviar with toast points and

chopped red onion and some egg whites and some creme fraiche.

Shirley Bassey was the one who put me on to this, if I can drop a name.

I was flying from London to the States and Shirley Bassey and I were on a flight together.

And I'm sitting up in first class, and it was probably one of the first times I'd been up in first class.

I'm sitting gripping the seat, and she leaned over and said,

"Darling, don't worry, when you are Shirley nothing can happen."

And we are pummelling down the runway and she started going, "Goldfinger!"

In the middle of the plane!

# Goldfinger... #

And we get up in the air, and they put it out on the tray, a little dollop, and a little dollop.

And I had all the trimmings.

Shirley's having a bit and a bit.

I took all the trimmings and piled it all together and mixed it all up.

Shirley said, "Darling, I know something you don't know."

I said, "What?" She said,

"They throw the caviar away.

"Go tell them you want it."

So I went up and I said, "I understand you throw the caviar away

"cos you not allowed to bring it into the US.

"Do you mind if Ms Bassey and I just devoured the rest of it?"

So they gave us the whole tub and she and I just sat and ate it. Fantastic.

And don't forget, you'll need to take out a bank loan to eat this much!

# Goldfinger! #

How beautiful is that?

Oooh! You're supposed to only do a tiny little bit.

-That is indulgence.

-You've done your time as...

as a kid's TV presenter, haven't you?

Yes, children's television was very good to me.

I did two years of Live & Kicking.

I love kids, I'm a kid myself.

I'm a big kid in a man's body.

Were you surprised at the whole Torchwood thing, because it has been a huge success?

Honestly, I was very nervous.

That was just a kiss.

Spin-offs usually don't do very well.

With Dr Who, it is an iconic TV series, that is part of British television history.

To try and do something like Torchwood, and we thought, "We have to create our own world,

"we have to create our own stuff, and just hope that the viewers will go with it."

The first five minutes, I thought, what have I tuned in to? What is this?

-About 15 minutes later, I was sort of...

-You're hooked?

-I was hooked. Completely.

-Yep.

Come on, I'm on top of the world

and enjoying every second of the success that Torchwood brought to me.

I was on the side of a bus, for goodness sake!

Let's find out how John Barrowman would celebrate his life through food.

-So, your final feast.

-Yes.

You've got gorgeous steak.

What is this?

This would be a crispy duck salad.

-Your favourite foie gras?

-Yes, sauteed foie gras.

And vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce.

That is what I call super, super, super, super moist carrot cake.

If you're gonna have a last feast, you've gotta get every piece of indulgent food in there.

-Would you like to make some hot fudge sauce?

-Yes.

This is like the wooden spoon my mother would give me to sing with.

Is there anything that you

haven't done? I've heard that there's the odd part that you might have got and didn't.

That was in Will And Grace.

I was up for the role of Will,

and down to what they call producer's call in America,

where you go and have a specific meeting with the producers.

I never heard back from them after that.

They rang up my agent and he said, "Why didn't he get it?"

And they said,

"Well, he was too straight."

It will do. It'll do.

All of it? All this sugar?

I'm afraid so. It is your final feast.

-This smells really good.

-Can I turn your steak?

-Yes, go ahead.

If anything goes wrong, I have a tardis out front. We can just pop in it, go back in time, re-do it.

-Can you frost that?

-I'll frost it.

This stuff is delicious.

You need Barry White music on, "Oh yeah!

"Baby, spread my frosting!"

Get this. This is the nice sound.

You like your foie gras very simply fried.

Yes, slightly sauteed.

So bing, bada bing. Brioche.

John Barrowman's final feast -

foie gras, crispy duck...

..good old-fashioned steak and mash.

Moist carrot cake.

And ice-cream with hot fudge sauce.

Dare I say it, are there any regrets?

No. I can firmly say to you that I am one person, I may make mistakes,

I may do things that are wrong, but I will never regret.

If an opportunity comes my way I will grasp that opportunity

so that later on in life I will never say I wish I had.

Mistakes.

No, I don't see anything as being a big mistake

or things that have gone wrong.

It's all happened for a reason.

You can have some guests. Who would you have?

The first person that pops into my head is

-Lana Turner.

-Lana Turner?

I think Lana Turner is probably of that era, one of the fabulous actresses of that time.

Number two would be Gene Kelly.

I have a couple of others, and this might sound strange, but I would like to invite my grandparents.

I just love to sit down with them and see if there is that image of

people who are past, who are watching over you,

just to sit down and go, "Do you think it's going OK?

"Are you enjoying watching?"

I'm going to let you have one wish with your final feast.

The obvious thing that comes to mind, and I know people will go that's really boring -

I'm not going to say world peace, because that is...

..that's perfection almost. But if I had a wish,

I would wish that people

would accept people for who they are,

not be judgmental, allow people to live their lives

and enjoy themselves.

And that would be my wish

for...people.

That sounded very Barbra Streisand, didn't it?

People who need people!

John, thank you so much for being a guest on Taste Of My Life.

Thank you. I really appreciate it. I've had such, such a great day.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd, 2007

E-mail: [email protected]