Alex Kingston A Taste of My Life

Welcome to A Taste Of My Life, the show that serves up famous lives on a plate.

The food of one's life can take us on a surprisingly emotional journey.

Whether it's the highs or the lows, what we were eating back then

can tell us an awful lot about who we are now.

Which is why I'll be taking yet another guest back down Memory Lane

to taste, smell and even cook the foods and dishes of their life.

You'd be forgiven for not knowing that today's guest's first TV role

was as the school bully in our longest-running children's TV drama.

It is my handwriting. I just took more time over it, that's all.

-It doesn't look like your writing to me.

-Well, it is, all right?

She has since gone on to be something of a bawdy

seductress-cum-swindler in the steamy costume drama Moll Flanders.

CHEERING

No, my love, I can't lie to you.

I have nearly £100 and that is all I have in the world.

She really hit the big time, avoiding all those hand-held

cameras and saving lives, in the smash-hit American TV series ER.

Yes, today's guest is actress Alex Kingston.

And, so long as I'm not rushed into A&E, coming up and in today's show:

Alex Kingston's mum bakes a cake from her childhood,

and tells us about Alex the fashion victim.

She was voted the worst-dressed actress in LA.

Her best friend, Jen, makes a pumpkin cheesecake, and remembers the day Alex left for LA.

Very odd feeling of absolutely wanting her to go and yet

at the same time thinking, "That's the end of an era."

Alex and I revisit a culinary blast from her past that involves a lot of garlic!

Didn't it ever cross your mind

that this just might be a little too much?

Alex Kingston, welcome to A Taste Of My Life.

-Thank you.

-You were born in Surrey.

-Mm-hm.

Your father was a butcher. Tell me about your mum.

My mum's German. She came over as an au pair.

She and my dad met at some sort of international youth club in London.

-Who did the cooking?

-My mum.

Only my mum. My dad -

I know he tried once to do beans on toast in a pan of water.

-He turned it on and the can exploded.

-Was it very traditional

British cooking or was there some German cooking included?

Aside from the Sunday roasts, the food was quite European actually.

I know dishes like - am I going to pronounce this correctly? Is it Rippchen?

-Rippchen, yeah.

-Wonderful.

Yeah. Sauerkraut und Rippchen is a traditional thing for Christmas or New Year.

Sauerkraut is simply dried, salted and preserved cabbage.

Before boiling it, I'm adding some Frankfurters to give the Sauerkraut some extra flavour.

Next I'm preparing a breadcrumb batter in which to coat the Rippchen.

The meat over there... Rippchen are like pork ribs.

What they tend to do over there is that they're smoked.

Rippchen is notoriously difficult to buy here in the UK,

but you could use pork chops.

Although I'm simply frying the Rippchen, you could

also pop a spare one in with the Sauerkraut for even more smokiness.

Remember, Sauerkraut is a very healthy dish, packed with Vitamin C.

No wonder Captain Cook considered it to be the key to his successful foreign expeditions.

Somebody, a little bird, told me you used to eat lemon meringue pie.

Actually, that is one of my favourite English desserts.

I don't know if it really is English, but my mum used to make that.

Lemon meringue pie - a joy to eat, but something of an epic to make.

Preparing your pastry, never rush it.

Let it cool in the fridge.

For the best lemony flavour, be sure not to grate your lemons too hard.

Any white pith will make your meringue taste bitter.

I love citrus. I'm not a huge person...

I don't like the chocolate fondant puddings or chocolate cake.

I much prefer the sort of tart, citrussy flavours.

So if I'm in a restaurant or anywhere and I see lemon tart,

that's what I'll go for rather than some big chocolate gateau.

Once you've made your lemon filling, it's a case of adding the yolks and

stirring until a thick paste-like consistency.

Prepare your pastry and simply pour in your filling.

I've been trying to replicate my stepmother's lemon meringue pie

for the last 40 years and I can't do it. It was so wonderful.

-It's one of my favourite things.

-Yeah.

-It is that tartness, isn't it?

Yes. It's really good.

A meringue is really nothing more than a fabulous collection of bubbles.

The sugar is what stiffens it into a work of art.

And that is Alex Kingston's taste of childhood.

Can I help you to a...? This is the Rippchen.

Fantastic. Fantastic!

Can I offer you one of these chappies, too?

-Oh, my God! OK, then.

-You don't have to eat it all. As a child,

-you know, you tuck into something like this.

-Yeah.

But what was your childhood like?

Your sisters at home and you wanting to be the actress.

I think it was just a given that that's what I was probably going to be.

There was no question about being a nurse or a...?

At one point I entertained being a barrister.

I think, again, it was just the dress-up.

I liked the look of the wig!

The cloak and all of that. You can't ask me a question now cos I have to eat this.

-I tell you, it's very good.

-Mm!

-I think you might be tempted to have some of that.

-I so will be.

Look, the meringue is perfect.

God, look at that! Sorry!

It does look good, doesn't it?

Ooh! Oh, dearie me. Sorry!

-This is delicious.

-Does this bring back happy memories?

-Mmm.

So, were you a close family? Cos there were three daughters.

Yeah, I'd say we are fairly close. I'm the eldest.

My middle sister was born physically and mentally handicapped

and she lives at home with my parents.

My younger sister, she and I are seven years apart.

-And you've got a daughter of your own now.

-Yes, I do!

Yes - five and three quarters.

She loves baking and loves being involved in cooking.

I think that also comes from me watching my mum cook. She really was in the kitchen all the time.

I think some cooking you don't set out to learn.

You pick it up by osmosis almost.

-Yeah.

-You watch mum do it.

-Yeah.

But then if I think about my father, he's had years of osmosis.

It hasn't somehow worked!

-I've actually got a little message for you. A little surprise.

-OK.

Oh, my God, that's my parents' house!

Oh my God, were you there?

Were you at my parents' house?

Oh, my God! Oh, my God, that's my mum!

I'm gonna make a cake that in German is called Streuselkuchen.

Translated, I suppose it's crumble cake.

Absolutely Alex's favourite cake from when she was quite young.

As a little girl, when we used to go to Germany, and of course I used to make it at home all the time.

And Alex used to absolutely adore it.

I can't believe this.

Alex used to be quite, at that time, quite a bossy little girl.

The important thing is the yeast.

All children do a lot of dressing up, and Alex, it was obsession which never stopped.

15-years-old she was still dressing up.

Put the flour, the sugar and the egg. Now we just want the butter.

When she first came to LA, she was voted the worst-dressed actress in LA,

because she just didn't care. She was wearing all these flowing clothes.

She dresses quite strangely sometimes, I must say.

But it's very unusual. It's just her.

The worst-dressed person , but I think she had to tone it down a bit.

Apparently Spielberg saw her and said, "We want her in ER."

That's fantastic. So, at the time, she had broken up with Ralph and

she thought it would be fantastic just to get away from England.

If it hadn't been for that, she might not have gone. I don't know.

Streuselkuchen!

Streuselkuchen, Alex!

Oh, my God!

-I love it.

-It's slightly chewy and crisp. I've seen it.

I didn't realise it was a bread dough and a crumble topping.

And all German households, the people, mothers, grandmothers, everybody, would have their own

slight variation on how to make Streuselkuchen.

A little bird told me...

about Mexican bean...

was it soup or stew?

I don't know quite what it was!

-As bad as that?

-Yeah!

-What happened?

This is another very, very dear friend of mine called Clea.

We were... 12? Something like that.

12 or 13. We didn't quite understand what a clove of garlic was.

So we sort of hummed and aahed, and I, being the bossy one,

made the executive decision that a clove was a bulb.

-The whole lot? That's about ten cloves!

-Yeah.

So we put three bulbs of garlic!

SHE LAUGHS

Apparently we stank for weeks.

-Will you make it for me?

-Oh, my God. OK. I don't mind.

-Yeah, I'll do it.

-Thank you.

-What's three bulbs?

It's a lot, that's what it is!

So, Mexican bean soup - with just a hint of garlic!

-Bit of a blast from the past, isn't it?

-Yes, it absolutely is.

The famed Mexican bean soup.

-Now, the garlic.

-Yeah, you'd better get peeling

-cos you've got three bulbs to go!

-I'll be here all day!

It's almost like a student food.

I think this was a sort of a mid-Seventies thing.

-I think this was very cool in the seventies.

-Yes.

It would be the quintessential meal, wouldn't it? The big beany soup.

It was that time when England was just learning

about foods from other countries.

-You mean, like garlic?

-Like garlic, exactly!

Tell me about your time as Moll Flanders.

It really was huge fun.

-I mean, Moll was a very bawdy story.

-I know!

And it's amazing because Daniel Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe.

Which is good family viewing.

SHE LAUGHS

And show me the way to live honestly.

And deliver me from all evil, I beg you.

Because if you don't, on your head be it! So there!

-A quite revealing part.

-Oh, I know. It was.

-How did you feel about all that?

-I didn't mind.

I just thought it was integral to the character.

'Come back! Don't leave me!'

You can't accept that role and then say, "By the way, I won't show you my breasts."

Absolutely part of the story!

I think I'm nearly at the end of this garlic.

Didn't it ever cross your mind at any point that this just might be a little bit too much?

Funnily enough, it didn't.

-The good thing is, we're not going to get flu this season, are we?

-Nope!

We're not gonna get anything this season!

-Got some whole ones in here.

-That was me. I got bored!

-Naughty, naughty!

-I know, but so many!

Here we go.

I've never seen so much garlic go into a recipe in my life.

And I've made garlic soup!

And chilli pepper, of course.

Oops! Oh, whatever.

-Bung in a bit of salt.

-It's making my nose run!

It smells pretty good.

It does smell pretty good. OK, let's see how it tastes.

Ooh, it IS hot!

But it doesn't taste garlicky. D'you think it tastes really garlicky?

-No.

-No, it doesn't, does it?

But it isn't bad. I'm actually quite pleased.

I think when you look at something like that

you're not actually supposed to see quite so much garlic.

Still to come on A Taste Of My Life: Alex is baked a very emotional cheesecake by her best friend, Jen.

We've been friends such a long time.

That's all I can say.

Alex reveals the hidden perils of working on hit US medical drama ER.

I clamped this poor man's nipple.

And we salivate over one of the most sumptuous final feasts yet!

Tapas representing different countries and cultures of the world.

Your mum did say at one point that you were a bit bossy

as a youngster, but actually your first part was as the school bully.

It was actually, yeah, on television. I think it had been going for about six months, so I knew the show.

And they said they were looking for a school bully - a judo bully.

You're gonna wish you didn't do that!

-Then, of course, the RSC.

-Yes.

Yes, my first husband, Ralph, he had been in the RSC for a year,

and he'd been asked to do another year,

and I couldn't bear the thought of him being away

again for another whole year, so I decided that I was going to audition.

All my childhood and growing up, when I wanted to be an actress,

being a member of the RSC - that seemed to me like the pinnacle.

Did things changed sort of food wise at that point, when you were suddenly a success.

Does it change what you want to eat?

Well, it was really nice actually.

We decided that we were going to take the money that we'd saved and we were going to have

a fantastic meal in a really good restaurant - five-star Michelin.

And I had never, I'd never been

in a restaurant like that before. It was just incredible.

I don't remember the wine, I don't remember the main courses or anything,

but between each meal we had this little appetizer, little thing

that they just bring - a little taste.

It was scrambled egg in an eggshell.

Firstly, empty your eggs of yolks and whites, but you must,

must boil your eggshells afterwards to clear them of all bacteria.

Then you're all set.

For cloud-like scrambled egg, add cream or creme fraiche

rather than milk, and don't be shy with your pepper.

A very good tip to avoid serving rubbery scrambled egg is to dish it up slightly too early.

It will keep cooking on the plate.

So it was the egg -

just scrambled egg, and then I think...

It can't have been caviar, it must have been truffles on the top, just shaved.

And a tiny little teaspoon.

I tasted this scrambled egg and it just was heaven.

It was like eating creamy cloud.

Truffles - always a true sign of success, but also something of an acquired taste.

Be warned, they are also very expensive.

Essentially, a truffle is a knobbly fungus found at the roots of oak trees.

The largest was recently bought for £90,000, so a little must go a long way.

And then the very last thing we had was cheese.

I remember there was one cheese that was under - it was like in a glass box.

I remember the waiter lifting it up and Simon Russell Beale going, "Ooh, les vaches, ooh les vaches!"

Whenever now I have a strong cheese, I will always go, "Ooh, les vaches!"

because it was just such a pungent smell.

A beautifully fragrant accompaniment to any strong cheese is quince jelly.

Simply boil your quinces, blend them to a pulp,

add sugar and let it work its magic.

Divine.

So, these wonderful little eggs. Do you want one?

I do want one. I want to try one.

Mm, it's nice, but it's not...

I'm sorry, it's just not the taste of heaven that I had.

That's all right. I'm going to have some cheese.

Who wants to do Desert Island Discs when you can do this?

-Exactly, Desert Island Dishes.

-Desert Island Dishes, very nice.

-Oh, I should go for that one.

-Yeah, I think I will.

This is definitely a kind of "Ooh, les vaches." I can't tell you.

Whoa! Oh!

How have you coped with the whole success thing, because ER was a huge thing.

I have to say, I've seen pretty much every episode of ER since number one.

Your part as a doctor, there was a patch where

you seemed to be permanently up to your elbows in blood and gore.

You were always marching in...

-That was my favourite bit actually. I loved that.

-Really?

-Yeah, yeah.

I think being a butcher's daughter...

-Oh!

-Sorry!

Sorry.

Make you choke!

But, when I was younger, I would go with my dad to Smithfields sometimes,

and there was a point where they had their own sausage-making factory...

THEY LAUGH

Sorry!

And I also know how to truss a chicken, so...

So stitching up was kind of...

Stitching up or sticking my arms in wherever. So yes, doing ER, I actually loved it.

It's so realistic.

I mean, it is absolutely amazing.

Yes. There was one instance where I had these clamps,

and I thought it was still the prosthetic chest...

-THEY LAUGH

-Wonder what's coming.

I clamped this poor man's nipple and he let out such a shriek.

Because I thought we were still on the fake one.

Alex, what sort of friend are you?

I think I'm a good friend.

Once I make a friend, pretty much they are there for life.

-Do you cook for them?

-Oh yes, absolutely.

After my first marriage broke up and I was still living in the flat we had together, one of my best girlfriends,

her marriage had broken up, so she moved in and lived with me.

We were constantly having dinner parties.

I've got another little surprise for you.

OK...

-All right.

-A nice one, honest.

-OK. Is that me?

Oh, it's Jen!

-'The very first occasion...'

-Oh, it is, it's Jen!

We were at drama college together.

We weren't instantly friends.

One day, because there was an American, and I'm a Canadian,

Alex got the idea that we ought to have Thanksgiving.

I wasn't sure that English people could cope with pumpkin pie,

so I did pumpkin cheesecake instead, a recipe of my mother's.

Alex used to create a sensation when she came in.

She had a red all-in-one cat suit, do you remember?

It was a days of Fame and things,

so it had a little tank-top and then these tights, all-in-one.

And the boys... I think some of them used to have to excuse themselves

and go off and have a little breather every now and then.

It smells nice. It smells quite Christmassy actually.

I think when she was thinking about going to Los Angeles, it was a sad

thing because we had been living together and having a lovely time.

I remember when she went to Los Angeles, and I waved out of the...

I was still there, living in her flat, basically, looking after it.

Oh, this is going to make me cry.

Off she went and I was waving out of the window.

And I just knew that it was...

that she was... that was it, she was gone.

I remember walking around the flat and feeling...

There were bits of her in every room

that the dust particles were still holding.

It was a very odd feeling of absolutely wanting her to go,

and yet at the same time, thinking,

that's the end of an era, the end of a chapter of our life together.

Put that in there...

I don't think there is anything to say.

We've been friends such a long time, it's all been said.

Ooh, I can't wait for this, this is so exciting.

-Fab friend.

-Mmm.

I just have to say, Jennifer, this is fantastic. Thank you so, so much.

Time to visit Alex Kingston's culinary comfort zone, Los Angeles style.

So Alex, your comfort foods.

-Cup of tea, please.

-I thought so.

These comfort foods are to do with time and place and situation.

Tea is an absolute staple.

For me, comfort foods are very much about needing to feel cosy...

-It's a blanket.

-It's a blanket. And of course, Los Angeles is so hot,

but if I'm feeling a little bit run-down

I need something that makes me feel cosy, very often I'll have miso soup.

And then kedgeree is something that...

I'm not so sure I would call it comfort food, but I really

miss it because it's impossible to make kedgeree in the States because you cannot get smoked haddock.

What about the pressure of being an actress. Do you feel that there is a pressure?

You're asking me this as I've got a chocolate biscuit in my mouth!

-Pressure about weight?

-Sorry about that, yes.

Well, to look a certain way.

You think there is?

Mm, absolutely.

Were you asked to do Desperate Housewives?

I was seen three times.

I think it was between me and two or three other women, of which Felicity Huffman then got the part.

I wouldn't have fitted in with those women.

I mean, I would have literally looked like a beefcake next to them.

They are incredibly, incredibly skinny.

They are incredibly skinny, and the thing is, because

they are all universally skinny, it looks like that is what women are.

-Two freckles on a stick is not attractive.

-But women are being encouraged to think it is attractive.

Having said that, if I was a few pounds lighter, I would be very happy.

But it's not going to happen on this show, is it?

So what better way to celebrate Alex's life so far than over her final feast?

-So the final feast, Alex, it's looking gorgeous.

-Thank you.

I couldn't think of one huge dish, or anything that

I would want to have again - there's so many.

So I thought more about, why don't I have a series of tapas,

but tapas representing different countries and cultures in the world.

So the caviar, immediately one thinks of Russia.

Blinis. Kobe beef, Japan.

Onion bhajis, that's India.

Swedish meatballs... Funnily enough, oysters, the way I like them, is

a way that I associate with America because I like Oysters Rockefeller.

Oh, yeah. What's this little thing curling up in the corner, it looks fantastic? Oh, that's a strudel.

That's an apfel strudel, which, of course, for me represents Austria.

-You're going to make the Rockefeller.

-Yes.

You've got a little mixture there of onion and celery and spinach.

Yes. The other thing is, you can put grated cheese and melt it.

Oysters Rockefeller is actually a really good way to introduce you,

if you're an oyster virgin, so to speak, and if you're a bit squeamish.

So the Swedish meatballs, this is a mixture here of pork and beef.

-Yes.

-I'm going to put a little bit of chopped onion in there.

-Yes.

Some grated nutmeg.

-Allspice. I love allspice.

-Yes.

Just a little bit of clove.

-This beef, this isn't just any old beef, is it?

-No, this is Kobe beef.

I think it tastes delicious, but I'm not sure if it's a bit like

foie gras, whether their cattle are really stuffed. They're pampered...

-They are pampered beyond words.

-They're stroked and cuddled...

-Massaged!

-Massaged.

But they certainly are looked after, and they do have this regular massage.

I love onion bhaji, so I'm really interested to see how you cook them.

Very simply. Onions...

Flour... Baking powder, some ground coriander and some whole cumin seed.

So it's really like a very casual batter.

If I was a really neat cook, I'd have cut these up

a little bit finer, but I quite like knobbly food.

Wow, they cook really fast, don't they?

They cook really fast and they puff up really lightly.

Yes. That looks fantastic.

So that's Alex Kingston's final feast, including Kobe beef,

blinis and caviar,

onion bhajis,

and Oysters Rockefeller.

So tell me, is there anything that you haven't done that you would like to?

I would love to do another costume drama, I really would.

I've been in scrubs for too long.

I need... I would love to be in a corset again.

I mean, I'm so blessed with everything that's happened so far

that I certainly can't complain at all.

You haven't got to eat your final feast alone.

Well I would definitely have my family there.

Certainly my girlfriend Jennifer, my girlfriend Clea...

I think I'd go for Henry VIII

because he...was supposed to be incredibly charismatic.

I'd like to invite the Marquis de Sade,

just because I think it would be fascinating to get into

the mind of that man.

I'd like to invite Judi Dench because she's...

I don't know her terribly well, but she's a really good laugh and

-she and I would have fun with the Marquis de Sade.

-I think you might.

And I'd quite like to invite George Clooney because he also is a really good laugh at dinner.

Oh, and I would have to invite Shakespeare, wouldn't I, really?

-So Alex...

-Yes.

-Any regrets?

A few, but then again, too few to mention.

And it's been a good day today?

It's been fantastic. It's been really, really good.

Alex Kingston, thank you so much for being a guest on Taste of My Life.

Thank you, thank you.

We've nearly finished this bottle.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2007

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