0:00:02 > 0:00:06Welcome to A Taste Of My Life, dishing up famous lives on a plate.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25Like DNA, by analysing the food of one's life,
0:00:25 > 0:00:30a truly revealing portrait of who we are starts to emerge,
0:00:30 > 0:00:35so I'm turning back the culinary clock on yet another famous life.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40Today's guest is a memorable face from the alternative comedy scene.
0:00:40 > 0:00:46I'll move the microphone stand as you won't be able to see me otherwise(!)
0:00:47 > 0:00:54She carved a name for herself as someone not afraid to state her mind about pretty much anything.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58Inside every fat person is a thin person trying to get out.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Cos we've just eaten one!
0:01:01 > 0:01:07Having had huge success as a provocative stand-up comic, she's started to mellow a bit.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11- Because you see me on the telly shooting my mouth off.- Yeah.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15But I'm not really like that.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19I thought you were going to be really horrible, you two.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22And you are, so...
0:01:22 > 0:01:27Today's guest is comedienne Jo Brand. And coming up today...
0:01:27 > 0:01:31'Jo Brand's mum reveals how Jo used to eat meat as a small girl.'
0:01:31 > 0:01:38You'd give her the piece of roast meat, she'd chew it and tuck it into a pouch at the side.
0:01:38 > 0:01:43'Jo's mate Harry Hill shares in some peculiar childhood memories.'
0:01:43 > 0:01:47Remember at school when you used to steal my packed lunch?
0:01:47 > 0:01:52'And challenges Jo to bake a cake impersonating the singer Morrissey.'
0:01:52 > 0:01:56Unfortunately, Jo's had to go, and I'm Morrissey.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01'And Jo reveals what life holds in store post-stand-up.'
0:02:01 > 0:02:08I'll probably try and win Strictly Come Dancing. I want a thin bloke to try and throw me up in the air.
0:02:11 > 0:02:17- Jo, welcome to Taste Of My Life. - Thank you.- You were born in London. You've got brothers?
0:02:17 > 0:02:23- Two brothers. I'm the middle one. - What sort of little girl were you? Sweet and well-behaved?
0:02:23 > 0:02:31I was quite well-behaved, but that was more because my parents were incredibly strict. We were held down.
0:02:31 > 0:02:37- What were Mum and Dad like? - My dad was an engineer and my mum was a housewife.
0:02:37 > 0:02:44It wasn't until I was 10 or 11 that my mum trained as a social worker and was basically never seen again!
0:02:44 > 0:02:47- Was it traditional cooking?- Very.
0:02:47 > 0:02:55It was very rare that she would put something in front of us and I would run off and cry and vomit.
0:02:55 > 0:03:02My mum will kill me for telling this story, but I don't care. This wasn't me. This was my elder brother.
0:03:02 > 0:03:09She'd spent ages making some hideous dish for him and he just looked at it and went, "Oh, no, thanks."
0:03:09 > 0:03:12She just put it on top of his head.
0:03:12 > 0:03:19- Were there any favourite dishes? - We had a lot of instant whip in our house, pretty much five days a week.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24- Favourite flavour?- Butterscotch. - It's the best.- Yes, gorgeous.
0:03:25 > 0:03:32'At its simplest, butterscotch is made with melted butter, brown sugar and cream.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36'Heat slowly until all the ingredients dissolve.'
0:03:37 > 0:03:43I remember thinking as a kid, "When I get older, I'll buy a whole one,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46"make it up and eat the whole lot!"
0:03:46 > 0:03:50- I've done it.- And? - It says, "Serves four." Lie!
0:03:50 > 0:03:55You'd get this little splodge and think, "That's nowhere near enough!"
0:03:55 > 0:04:02When I was a kid, we started off with blancmange and then we ended up with instant whip.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06- Did you have blancmange at school? - Yes, pink.- And lumpy.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09- With a thick skin on it. - It was vile!
0:04:14 > 0:04:19'A mousse can be whisked or blended, depending on what you do with it.
0:04:19 > 0:04:26'It'll either be smooth and creamy or light and airy. This is an extra-rich mousse with added cream.
0:04:26 > 0:04:31'Fold in the egg whites using a metal spoon in a figure of eight.'
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Salads would be lettuce, tomato and cucumber.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43And if she was being exotic, celery.
0:04:43 > 0:04:51My mum would make something she called "winter salad", but it was coleslaw without any mayonnaise.
0:04:51 > 0:04:58- So it was...- Cabbage. - Cabbage, onion, grated carrot. - A do-it-yourself coleslaw.- Yeah.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02I put loads of vinegar on cos I loved vinegar.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07I went to a Church Of England school, so I knew the Bible back to front.
0:05:07 > 0:05:13You know that story when Jesus is on the cross and they hand him up a sponge soaked in vinegar?
0:05:13 > 0:05:19It implied that it was a cruel thing to do and I thought, "That's great!"
0:05:19 > 0:05:21- "What a treat!"- Yes, really!
0:05:21 > 0:05:28'When making vinaigrette, you could add shallots, fresh herbs, garlic, mustard or honey.'
0:05:28 > 0:05:35- I'm very picky about coleslaw and how crunchy it is.- It can be so horrid. It's got to be crunchy.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40It has cos you get that horrible kind of gloopy, sort of slightly...
0:05:40 > 0:05:44- It's like wet hair.- Yes, it is like wet hair and that's horrid.
0:05:44 > 0:05:51'Coleslaw is of Dutch origin, "kool" meaning "cabbage", "sla" meaning "salad".'
0:05:53 > 0:06:00- I know I can interest you in a little pudding.- You certainly can. That looks gorgeous.
0:06:02 > 0:06:09- That's heavenly.- Completely heavenly. - It was a relief to have this at home, compared to school blancmange.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Because it had that wretched skin.
0:06:12 > 0:06:19We had to clean our plates, so I swapped it with a boy from the caravan site who ate everything!
0:06:19 > 0:06:26- I love the sound of him.- Got me out of trouble.- Every school should have one. "Eat my blancmange skin!"
0:06:26 > 0:06:32LAUGHTER While everyone's laughing, I'll have three more!
0:06:32 > 0:06:38- Is it right that you went to church?- Yes, but I got out of it by volunteering to be a bell-ringer.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43- You know that furry bit on it?- Yeah. - The handle, as I used to call it!
0:06:43 > 0:06:47I can't remember what it is actually called!
0:06:47 > 0:06:50If you miss that, all hell lets loose.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54This guy said, "Can you hold this for a minute?"
0:06:54 > 0:07:01I put my hand up and I went about 20 feet up in the air, came down, landed on someone and nearly killed them!
0:07:05 > 0:07:09- Did you get on with your brothers? - I got on with them...ish.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13I have memories of one of my brothers trod in a wasps' nest.
0:07:13 > 0:07:21They ran one way, I ran the other way, the wasps followed them and stung them to bits. I was so happy!
0:07:21 > 0:07:23Jo, was it a happy home?
0:07:23 > 0:07:31My parents didn't stay together in the end and I think there were a few rumblings of it not going too well,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35but I think most parents hide that fairly successfully.
0:07:35 > 0:07:41- I've got a little message for you. - Have you?- Yes. - It's not my dad, is it?
0:07:41 > 0:07:46'Jo's mum will make the mince and onion pie of Jo's childhood.'
0:07:46 > 0:07:50When Jo was a little girl, this was her favourite lunch.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54She tells me we used to eat it on a Saturday.
0:07:54 > 0:07:59She had a difficulty when she was first learning to eat solid food.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03- Here we go! - She could never manage roast meat.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08You'd give her the little piece of roast meat, she'd chew it,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12- then she'd tuck it into a pouch at the side.- Oh, God!
0:08:12 > 0:08:17You knew she was carrying on eating her lunch, but still retaining...
0:08:17 > 0:08:23I reckon she was the model child. Her school reports were lovely.
0:08:23 > 0:08:28People were always pleased to see her. She was very sweet-tempered.
0:08:28 > 0:08:35The first real complete sentence she ever said, somebody gave her a sweet and she replied,
0:08:35 > 0:08:40"And one for Billy too," her elder brother. That sums her up as a little girl.
0:08:40 > 0:08:46She always looked very sweet. She looked great in her Brownie uniform.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50- What kind of teenager was she? - That's a different story!
0:08:52 > 0:08:56She'd always been a child who had wanted to please you,
0:08:56 > 0:09:03but it was almost inevitable that there would be changes and she did rebel and roust about.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07I almost never, ever watch her live
0:09:07 > 0:09:09because she loves to be heckled.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13The heckler is a real gift to her.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18But, for me, I'm driven to anger if people are rotten to her.
0:09:18 > 0:09:23It's like watching your child go off the top of the diving board.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28You don't want to look as you don't want anything to happen to them.
0:09:28 > 0:09:35I'm immensely proud of her. I love the fact that she will not be swayed by what is required of women.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40I believe kindness to be the greatest of all the virtues and Jo is very kind.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45- Now, Mum's pie...- Yum-yum!
0:09:45 > 0:09:48So this was a big Saturday treat?
0:09:48 > 0:09:53It was a big great. It was a very regular one as well that...
0:09:53 > 0:09:56- Are you having that one?- Yeah.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Showing off was extremely discouraged in our house.
0:09:59 > 0:10:06- My parents would've been glad of it. I hid in a corner. I pretended I wasn't there.- You sound lovely!
0:10:06 > 0:10:14Look at the different sizes! Have you calculated my calorie intake and gone, "I'll give her twice mine"?
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Mum's told us you rebelled a little.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24I can't remember how conscious it was but I got in with the worst group
0:10:24 > 0:10:31and then, of course, the inevitable unsavoury boyfriend who was a local drug dealer.
0:10:31 > 0:10:38I would wait until they had gone to sleep, I'd get out the window in the garage and go to the pub.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44I'd come back in drunk and occasionally I fell on the bonnet of the car.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46They hated the way that I dressed.
0:10:46 > 0:10:52My dad took all my clothes down to the garden, poured petrol over them, set fire to them
0:10:52 > 0:10:55and burnt every item of clothing.
0:10:55 > 0:11:03In the end, they said, "Get rid of him or leave home." That was the opportunity I'd been looking for.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07Presumably, you weren't exactly eating well at that point?
0:11:07 > 0:11:11No, when I left home, I certainly wasn't.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16I had this very chaotic life really. I was in a bedsit.
0:11:16 > 0:11:22- I just ate rubbish, you know. - Kebabs and beans and stuff?
0:11:22 > 0:11:26Yeah, anything that was easy - a tin of soup...
0:11:26 > 0:11:30'So with virtually nothing sensible on Jo's menu as a teenager,
0:11:30 > 0:11:34'here's how to make a student dish healthily - baked beans.
0:11:34 > 0:11:40'When making your bean sauce, add spices, but also throw in some brown sugar.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43'Or use black strap molasses.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48'I'm using haricot beans, but you could try black-eyed beans.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51'Throw in spices like cumin or paprika
0:11:51 > 0:11:55'or you could go hotter with chillis for a Mexican flavour.'
0:11:55 > 0:12:02When you're a teenager, although you know to some extent, if your parents have brought you up that way,
0:12:02 > 0:12:07- that you should eat vegetables and you should eat...- Green things.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11At that point in your life, you just...
0:12:11 > 0:12:15'Another dish out of a tin. Well, not necessarily.
0:12:15 > 0:12:21'Tomato and pepper soup is a colourful dish to make and is incredibly good for you.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26'Roasting the tomatoes and peppers intensifies the flavour.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29'Make sure you add herbs like thyme
0:12:29 > 0:12:34'or you could use rosemary or oregano and cover in olive oil.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39'Blackened peppers give this dish a lovely smoky flavour.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45'Did you know the Elizabethans were wary of tomatoes and peppers?
0:12:45 > 0:12:49'Their redness was seen as a sign of danger.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53'Jo Brand's taste of youth - a healthy tomato and pepper soup,
0:12:53 > 0:12:58'a kebab from down the road and some fish and chips.'
0:12:58 > 0:13:02- You did rebel clothes-wise? - I did. I used to wear...
0:13:02 > 0:13:08- You know that patchouli perfume that you can smell from two miles? - And smells like health food shops?
0:13:08 > 0:13:14Yes, but also a bit of...there's a dead rabbit in your knicks as well.
0:13:14 > 0:13:20I burnt my bra - heated a small village in Scotland for two weeks!
0:13:20 > 0:13:24- Were they quite worried?- They used to come looking for me regularly.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27- Where would they find you?- In a pub.
0:13:27 > 0:13:33My dad would go in one door as I came out the other cos I had a lot of lookouts!
0:13:33 > 0:13:38- You were in the smoke room and he was in the lounge?- Yeah.
0:13:38 > 0:13:45I got grassed up by my Auntie Reenie once cos she caught me drinking vodka with about six hippies!
0:13:45 > 0:13:51'Still to come, Jo Brand is challenged to make a cake dressed as the singer Morrissey
0:13:51 > 0:13:53'by friend and comic, Harry Hill.'
0:13:53 > 0:13:55Really...
0:13:55 > 0:14:01'Jo's best buddy Jane remembers their college days, making a curry.'
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Very mischievous in many ways that I couldn't repeat.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09'Jo shares her thoughts on the opposite sex.'
0:14:09 > 0:14:15Quite a few blokes say to me, "You hate men, don't you?" I go, "No, I don't, but I hate you!"
0:14:19 > 0:14:21What sort of friend are you?
0:14:21 > 0:14:27Having been a psychiatric nurse, I'm a good listener. I think that's very important.
0:14:27 > 0:14:34So many of my female friends, including myself, had appalling relationships with appalling men.
0:14:34 > 0:14:41It's very difficult not to go, "Let's just go round his house and kill him with a rolling pin!"
0:14:41 > 0:14:45- I've caught up with one of your friends.- Oh, dear.
0:14:45 > 0:14:51'Jo's college friend Jane will take us back to their student days at Brunel University.'
0:14:51 > 0:14:54I will make a vegetable curry.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58A very fun time. We had a brilliant time at Brunel.
0:14:58 > 0:15:04There was about eight men to every woman. It was...interesting times.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09There was quite a lot of beer on our menu.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13Jo was great, real life and soul of the party.
0:15:13 > 0:15:20Such a laugh, very mischievous in many ways that I couldn't possibly repeat on camera at all!
0:15:20 > 0:15:27When Jo qualified as a psychiatric nurse, she went on quite quickly to work in a unit in the Maudsley,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31the Emergency Clinic, which gives you a clue!
0:15:31 > 0:15:37It's really, really stressful and people don't last long in that job,
0:15:37 > 0:15:43but Jo managed it amazingly at the same time as beginning out on the circuit,
0:15:43 > 0:15:50so I suppose tolerating abuse and hostility, it was a seamless kind of pathway.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55I remember when Jo started off on the circuit, I was pathetic.
0:15:55 > 0:16:02I just used to go along and have my hands over my face, kind of crouched down,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05thinking, "I can't bear it!"
0:16:05 > 0:16:09But very proud, obviously, of her courage.
0:16:10 > 0:16:16It was a really rough old world, starting off on the circuit then.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21I think that shines through all of it - Jo's integrity
0:16:21 > 0:16:27as just as a really warm, generous, kind person.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29None of this is true, you know.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32And vulnerable at times with it.
0:16:35 > 0:16:41- It might be- BLEEP - cos I wasn't really concentrating on what I was doing.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47Are you allowed to say that on the telly...? Thank you.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52A lack of portion control going on here. Look at this!
0:16:52 > 0:16:56But meat in curry can be a bit kind of gristly and...
0:16:56 > 0:17:00"Oh, look, they put its ear in!" Do you know what I mean?
0:17:00 > 0:17:05- Or eyes?- Or nostrils?- Have I convinced you, Nigel?- You have.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12'Having spent five years as a psychiatric nurse,
0:17:12 > 0:17:18'Jo finally took the plunge into the world of stand-up in the late '80s.'
0:17:18 > 0:17:24With stand-up, do your best joke first, your second best joke last and put the rubbish in the middle.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29That's what they tend to remember. I used to wear a white T-shirt
0:17:29 > 0:17:35and just before they announced me on, I'd put a blood capsule in my mouth.
0:17:35 > 0:17:41I'd cough blood all over this white T-shirt and go, "Must give up smoking."
0:17:41 > 0:17:43I thought that was hysterical.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48Was there ever a point that you realised that you were a success?
0:17:48 > 0:17:55I suppose that the markers were my first telly which was Friday Night Live.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59I was on with The Pogues and Mark Thomas.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03The Pogues had a fight which was par for the course.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07The sound of smashing furniture. "Oh, showbiz, I've arrived!"
0:18:07 > 0:18:12Did you find that what you were eating, did it change at all?
0:18:12 > 0:18:18We would go to nice restaurants and I'm so rubbish at experimenting,
0:18:18 > 0:18:23me kind of ordering the sort of traditional prawn cocktail,
0:18:23 > 0:18:27- fillet steak type thing.- Yeah.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31That was the meal you would have in Abigail's Party.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36But I love all that food, so I couldn't care less really.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Exactly. It's all so delicious.
0:18:38 > 0:18:46'Season both sides of your steak and fillet steaks like this one are less flavoursome than other cuts,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50'so making a sauce is generally quite a good idea.
0:18:50 > 0:18:57'Allow your steak to rest a few minutes before serving. Resting it will guarantee it's juicier.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01'Use the leftover juices when preparing the sauce.'
0:19:01 > 0:19:05I did the Edinburgh Festival a lot and went to posh restaurants
0:19:05 > 0:19:11and looking at the menu, thinking, "What's the least horrible thing I can have?"
0:19:11 > 0:19:16I remember at one restaurant pigeon being the least worst option,
0:19:16 > 0:19:20so ordering that and it was revolting.
0:19:20 > 0:19:27I was depressed cos I was bloody hungry. "What's for pudding? Oh, a mint leaf with a block of ice!"
0:19:27 > 0:19:34I love those parties where you get little things with mini burgers in them or little fish and chips.
0:19:34 > 0:19:40- Yeah.- But you have to garner about 12 of them to have a proper meal!
0:19:40 > 0:19:43'I'm making a morel mushroom and wine sauce,
0:19:43 > 0:19:49'but you could try a bearnaise, peppercorn or hollandaise sauce.'
0:20:03 > 0:20:07- This is a nice thing.- Very nice. Is that cooked right for you?
0:20:07 > 0:20:11Hmm... Yes, I think so.
0:20:11 > 0:20:18You did your first performance after a few pints. Would you still have done it if you hadn't got drunk?
0:20:18 > 0:20:23- Probably not.- I would've run away. - If you were drunk, you wouldn't.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27You wouldn't have cared and you couldn't have run!
0:20:27 > 0:20:33When your career first started, you were portrayed in the press as a man-hater.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36I am a man-hater. That was correct!
0:20:37 > 0:20:44Quite a few blokes say to me, "You hate men, don't you?" And I go, "No, I don't, but I hate you!"
0:20:44 > 0:20:47They never see it coming.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52Over the years, people have become very fond of Jo Brand.
0:20:52 > 0:20:58Probably because I've got older and they realise I couldn't knock them out in a fist fight any more!
0:20:58 > 0:21:02There's a lot of stuff around, now I've got married...
0:21:02 > 0:21:09"Phew, I'm not a lesbian after all, a man-hating separatist, feminist one at that,
0:21:09 > 0:21:15"who travels on the tube with my drill looking for men's testicles!"
0:21:15 > 0:21:20- You're almost a national treasure. - I'd rather be a national disgrace.
0:21:20 > 0:21:27Michael Parkinson said I was a national treasure, at which point I had to wee on him!
0:21:30 > 0:21:38- You like a challenge.- All my life has been a challenge. Are you going to give me one I'm going to regret?
0:21:38 > 0:21:43- It's not my challenge, but I caught up with a mate of yours.- Oh, dear.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47Hello, Jo.
0:21:47 > 0:21:53It's me, your old friend, Harry Hill. Do you remember at school
0:21:53 > 0:21:59when you used to steal my packed lunch and eat it, and that fight we had over a Penguin biscuit?
0:21:59 > 0:22:04So I hear you're doing this show, A Taste Of My Life.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07They've asked me to give you a challenge.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12I'm a big fan of Morrissey and you're a big fan of cakes.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15- At least, you used to be. - Thanks, Harry!
0:22:15 > 0:22:21I'd like you to make me a cake, bake me a cake, but do it dressed as Morrissey.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26Would you do that for me, Jo? Hmm, yum-yum! Cake!
0:22:26 > 0:22:29It's a lie about the packed lunch.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36- Are you up for that?- Making a cake dressed as Morrissey?- Yeah.- Go on.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48Unfortunately, Jo's had to go, and I'm Morrissey.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53- Harry Hill's challenge.- Yeah, thanks, Harry, you're a mate(!)
0:22:53 > 0:22:59So, some butter and some sugar. You give it a whizz with that.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03- Ready then?- I'm ready. - I'm going to go on to turbo.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07- How did you know that was turbo? - It says "turbo" on it!
0:23:09 > 0:23:14- You are coming unstuck. - Me leg's fallen off!
0:23:14 > 0:23:19I'll just do single turbo. Sorry. Come here, you naughty little lumps!
0:23:20 > 0:23:23That lump's a bit naughty.
0:23:23 > 0:23:31- You said that anger when you're on stage is better than indifference from the audience.- Definitely.
0:23:31 > 0:23:38I don't like the psycho murderer, "I'd like you strung up and beaten by the soles of the feet" heckle.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43I knew I'd get heckled and it wouldn't be, "You're so beautiful, will you be my wife?"
0:23:43 > 0:23:49So I had a kind of pre-prepared set of heckle put-downs,
0:23:49 > 0:23:53which went from kind of whimsical to nuclear.
0:23:53 > 0:23:58It's a bit tamer these days. It's very rare that you get this crowd
0:23:58 > 0:24:04of drunken Neanderthal apes, unless you go to Nottingham!
0:24:04 > 0:24:08- You're there now. I'll do the rest by hand.- Hello, Nottingham!
0:24:08 > 0:24:14- I'm impressed. Shall we have some colour?- Red is crushed-up beetles
0:24:14 > 0:24:17and green is a sample from the local hospital.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Which one are we going to add?
0:24:23 > 0:24:27- Lovely. Vampire cake. - That looks great, doesn't it?
0:24:27 > 0:24:32- You're still rebelling. - I can't help it. I am a teenager.
0:24:32 > 0:24:38- That is gorgeous.- Will that do, Nige? Do you want individual, obsessional Smartie placing?
0:24:38 > 0:24:43- Or scatter-gun, Jackson Pollock Smartie placing?- Jackson Pollock.
0:24:43 > 0:24:51- I quite enjoyed that actually cos they go in with a really...- It's so satisfying, it's so satisfying.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Oops!
0:24:57 > 0:25:03- Jane Asher would be proud of that. - Jane Asher would be jealous. - She would be jealous.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05It's beautiful, Nigel. Beautiful.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12# Happy birthday to you... #
0:25:12 > 0:25:18- It's quite tacky as well. There you go.- For Harry.- Harry would like that.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21- He would.- Mm-hm.- Well done.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24'Time for Jo Brand's final feast.'
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Your final feast - what's that?
0:25:27 > 0:25:32- That's beef with a coat on. - Oh, the Beef Wellington!
0:25:36 > 0:25:43'Fry your fillet in hot oil and fry it very quickly in order to brown your meat without drying it.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47'Smother the meat in mustard.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55'Blitz your mushrooms till finely chopped.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59'And I'm adding thyme and parsley to the pate.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04'Cool your meat before laying it on the pastry.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08'Cover the meat with the mushroom pate, wrap it in your pastry
0:26:08 > 0:26:15'and once you've popped it in the oven, you can serve a Beef Wellington either hot or cold.'
0:26:20 > 0:26:24Oh, hurrah for the old working-class prawn cocktail!
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Looks lovely, doesn't it?
0:26:27 > 0:26:31'Prawn cocktail - I'm using langoustines for this one.
0:26:31 > 0:26:37'If you cook them alive, pop them in the freezer to anaesthetise them.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42'Making mayonnaise - make sure your ingredients are at room temperature.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47'Lemon juice is good and stops the avocados from browning.
0:26:47 > 0:26:53'I'm using tarragon vinegar, but a plain white wine vinegar is good. This is Jo Brand's final feast.'
0:26:53 > 0:26:58What do you think about, looking back through what you've eaten?
0:26:58 > 0:27:05When I look back through the food that I've chosen, I'm probably quite a dull person food-wise.
0:27:05 > 0:27:12- But that doesn't bother me.- As well as your TV work, you've written three novels, you play the organ.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16"Ish." My repertoire is only about 37 seconds long.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20I'm trying to extend it, so I could do a short wedding.
0:27:20 > 0:27:26- Is there anything you'd like to have done?- I'd quite like to be Prime Minister.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29That probably is slightly hard work,
0:27:29 > 0:27:34so if I don't go into politics, I'll try and win Strictly Come Dancing.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39- I fancy a thin bloke trying to throw me up in the air!- Look at you!
0:27:39 > 0:27:43- This is your final feast! - I know, but I love vegetables,
0:27:43 > 0:27:47which is politically unacceptable for a fat person.
0:27:47 > 0:27:55- Anything you've done that you regret or anything you regret not doing? - I've done lots of appalling things.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00- But I'm not telling you what they are.- Tell me later.- All right.
0:28:00 > 0:28:07I don't suppose I'll be able to say I regret anything until I'm about to die and hopefully that's not now!
0:28:07 > 0:28:12What's the best bit of everything that you've done over the years?
0:28:12 > 0:28:16When I won Miss World in 1971, I'm pleased with that(!)
0:28:16 > 0:28:24- Have you enjoyed today?- I have immensely. I'm a bit hungry still. - You have a little bit left to eat.
0:28:24 > 0:28:30- I've had a fantastic time. - Jo Brand, thank you very much for being a guest on Taste Of My Life.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34- Cheers.- To you.- I forgot to tell you I was a vegetarian!- Oh!
0:28:49 > 0:28:53Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd 2008
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk