Ixta Belfrage

Summary

Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster

Guest: Ixta Belfrage
Episode Release Date: March 25, 2026
Podcast Description: Comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster invite special guests into their magical restaurant to choose their dream meal, from starter to dessert. This episode features acclaimed chef and cookbook author Ixta Belfrage.

---

Episode Overview

This lively episode welcomes Ixta Belfrage (chef, co-author of Ottolenghi’s “Flavor”, author of “Mezcla”), who joins Ed and James for a deeply food-focused and tangential conversation. The crew delves into Ixta’s culinary preferences, the process behind her most acclaimed dishes, food opinions, and a hilariously sprawling off-menu feast. The conversation traverses Italian and Mexican cuisines, beloved snacks, controversial food hot-takes (including the “proper” roast potato), and the yearning for that elusive perfect meal. Expect witty exchanges, digressions about Instagram comments, and lots of laughter—real or fake.

---

Key Discussion Points

1. Ixta’s Pop-Up and Culinary Life

• [13:05] Ixta shares stories about her recent pop-up at Decimo (The Standard Hotel, London), emphasizing her “elbow-deep in prawns” experience.

  • “I feel a bit mental, actually. And like, elbow-deep in prawns for the last two days.” — Ixta ([13:44])

• Prawn lasagna is discussed as her signature dish, lauded especially by James.

  • “Best thing I've ever had to eat on Sunday Brunch. I know it doesn't sound like a compliment, but honestly…” — James ([13:53])

2. Dealing With Food Criticism

• Ixta discusses pushback for slow-cooked prawns in lasagna, defending breaking classic cooking rules.
  • “I'm here to tell you, you can make it into a ragu, anyone's job.” — Ixta ([15:26])
  • She jokes about being “peak prawn” and wanting a break from prawns ([15:51]).

3. Crisp Opinions and Laughter Analysis

• The conversation detours into UK snack territory and the authenticity of prawn cocktail crisps.
  • “They're just sort of like a bit tangy, which is not really what a prawn is.” — Ixta ([16:39])
• A recurring joke: Ed’s “fake-sounding” laugh, with playful analysis by Ixta.
  • “I can't wait to see your actual facial expressions… your laugh sounds really fake.” — Ixta ([09:18])
• Tangents include laughs, truffle crisps disdain, and drinking habits.

4. Water Request and Glassware Preferences

• [19:03] Ixta chooses “sparkling water from a babbling brook, very cold, short glass, three ice cubes, bit of lime.”

  • “Medium lime, Medium ice cubes, medium glass.” — Ixta ([20:23])

• She passionately dislikes tall glasses and specifies all details, adding humor about “medium” everything.

5. The “Liver Lovers” Club

• For her bread starter, she selects Tuscan-style chicken liver crostini from the Italian supermarket Coop in Rufina.
  • She reveals membership in a supposed “Liver Lovers” WhatsApp group ([26:02]).
  • “Whenever, like, we bonded over, like, Turkish, like, lamb's liver… we are the liver lovers.” — Ixta ([26:24])
• Amused discussion about liver’s bad reputation (“You have to have a certain je ne sais quoi to love liver” – Ixta, [28:22])
• Banter about how cat food looks like chicken liver pate, segues into feeding pets soup ([29:02]).

6. Ixta’s Dream Menu (Dream Restaurant Ordering)

Drink

• “Cold sparkling water from a babbling brook, short glass, three standard ice cubes, medium lime.” ([19:19])
• For the courses:
  • Starter drink: Perfect mezcal margarita (“mezcalita,” short glass, on the rocks, touch of honey), detailed passion about margaritas ([44:45]-[45:18])
  • Main drink: Chilled natural red wine—Mataburro “Idoine” ([72:02])

Starter

• A Mexican feast: Inspired by MasterChef Australia
  • Jamie Fleming’s raw bonito tostada with pineapple, scotch bonnet, pickled onion, hibiscus, grilled okra ([39:39]-[42:12])
  • Al Pastor tacos “from a car park in Mexico City” (El Vilsito)([43:02])
  • Pork tamales from El Inca Plebeo (London’s Essex Road) ([44:10])
  • Guacamole with plantain, sweet potato, cassava crisps; ceviche with local seasonal fish ([44:35], [45:52])
  • The meal is set “on a beach, bare feet, perfect heat, no sand getting everywhere, and ass not sticking to plastic chairs” ([47:08]-[48:19])
  • Side joke: “Liver ceviche? Nope. Even for a liver lover like me.” — Ixta ([45:53])

Pasta Course

• Penne allaconese from a tiny Tuscan village—the “birthplace” of the dish, an addictive creamy, tomatoey, peppery, porky, porcini-laden pasta ([49:52]-[51:56])
  • “It’s life changing...Always perfect.” — Ixta

Main Course

• Rabbit porchetta with lardo, sage, chicken liver, anchovy, aioli, peppercorn sauce (made with egg yolks and ghee), salsa verde ([53:16]-[56:56])
  • “Crispy and crackly around the edge, super moist.” ([54:39])
  • Tangent: “Trigger warning: Skip this bit if you don't want to hear about raw rabbit carpets.” — Ixta ([54:34])
• Sides:
  • Tuscan roast potatoes (“small cubes, skin on, olive oily, garlicky, rosemary, no faff” – [62:36]-[62:49])
  • Tomato salad (“Best you’ve ever had—combine average if needed”), artichoke salad with pecorino and lemon, sautéed bitter greens (“cima di rapa/broccoli rabe”) ([64:01])
• Honorable “muncheons” (honorable mentions):
  • Dim sum feast: prawn cheung fun and stir-fried turnip cakes (with stories of James’s restaurant mishaps) ([64:34])
  • Cantonese roast duck, best lasagna ever (“combine best prawn, pork, and beef lasagnas” – [67:32])
  • “Who doesn’t love lasagna? That’s the four of us only, psycho.” — Ixta ([69:04])

Dessert

• Her own creation: choco taco inspired ice cream—corn tortilla shell brushed with butter and maple syrup, chocolate, coffee-miso-maple-cinnamon ice cream, caramel swirls, nuts ([76:08]-[80:46])
  • “It’s a pain in the ass...but so good. And I want the genie to make it, not me.” — Ixta
• Cheese course: variety of sheep cheeses (including Camembert-style and Spenwood), mature crunchy cheddar, Comté, guava paste (membrillo), nutty/fruit crackers ([83:24]-[84:30])

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On prawn lasagna:

  • “I got flack from people saying, like, who do you think you are cooking of prawn for that long?” — Ixta ([14:46])

• Starter selection (water):

  • “Inject [sparkling water] into my veins...maybe not into the veins, but yes.” — Ixta ([19:17])

• Laugh critique:

  • “I can’t wait to see your actual facial expressions...your laugh sounds really fake.” — Ixta ([09:18])

• On Italian vs. English roast potatoes:

  • “English style roast potatoes? I just don’t get what all the fuss is about...so much faff...fluff puff inside. Tuscan style, you get surface area...much more roasty, toasty, crispy.” — Ixta ([59:59]-[60:59])

• On her legendary pasta:

  • “It’s always the same, which means it’s always perfect.” — Ixta ([51:58])

• On constructing the dessert taco:

  • “You cannot start with the ice cream. It took me so many times...it’s a nightmare to make.” — Ixta ([77:11], [80:05])

• On her wishes:

  • “Please grant me the power to never get full, but then at the end to feel like perfectly satisfied. Yeah, because you know what I mean?” — Ixta ([37:04])

---

Funniest & Memorable Tangents

• Tangled riff on the joys (and dangers) of eating on the beach: “I wish my ass didn’t stick to plastic chairs.” ([48:20])
• The legendary “Liver Lovers” WhatsApp group: more about scheduling than liver eating. ([27:11])
• Ed’s fascination with “eating the duck from the window”—the thrill of “window duck.” ([67:05])
• James recounting his role in a restaurant controversy (wasabi sauce, shouting out restaurants, getting caught) ([65:09]-[66:46])
• Banter about Garfield, lasagna, and WhatsApp group inactivity:
  • “You and Garfield should have been in lasagna lovers WhatsApp group.” — Ixta ([68:32])

---

Important Timestamps

• Ixta’s pop-up & prawn lasagna: [13:05] – [14:58]
• Crisps/flavour authenticity & Ed’s laugh: [16:36] – [18:06]
• Drinks / Babbling brook water: [19:03] – [20:35]
• Bread starter / Liver Lovers: [25:17] – [28:14]
• Full Mexican starter feast: [39:02] – [47:08]
• Pasta course – penne allaconese: [49:52] – [51:56]
• Main course – rabbit porchetta, sides: [53:16] – [64:29]
• Dim sum, lasagna digression, Garfield: [64:33] – [69:04]
• Dessert choco taco process: [76:08] – [80:46]
• Cheese course: [83:24] – [84:30]

---

Episode Highlights: Flow & Tone

• The episode is lively, riff-heavy, and full of vivid food memories.
• Ixta is warm, earnest, and endearingly specific about her choices—her love for food is infectious.
• Ed and James provide classic Off Menu banter, frequently digressing, poking fun at each other and the guest, and keeping the pace electric.
• The tone remains irreverent but affectionate, always circling back to the sensory, sensual aspects of food.
• The episode ends with gratitude, laughter, and a comprehensive review of Ixta’s fantastical, ambitious menu.

---

For New Listeners:

This episode distills the essence of Off Menu—epicurean joy, absurdity, granular debate, and genuine passion. Culinary geek-outs, chef myths debunked, and the dream restaurant concept are elevated by the chemistry of the hosts and their guest. Perfect for fans of imaginative menus and unapologetic food nerdery.

---

Books Recommended:

• Mezcla by Ixta Belfrage
• Flavor by Yotam Ottolenghi & Ixta Belfrage

---

“It’s been the honor of my life!” — Ixta Belfrage ([87:57])

Transcript

[Ed Gamble]

Hello, it's Ed Gamble here from the podcast that you're currently listening to. Huge news guys. My brand new stand up tour Fresh Hell is on sale now. Tickets are available at edgamble.co.uk. look at the full dates. I'm going all over the UK and a bit of Ireland. Come and see me in my brand new Show Fresh hell. Edgamble.co.uk.

[Lowe's Home Care Plus Advertiser]

Introducing Home Care Plus, a new subscription service from Lowe's that helps make life easier by giving members a hand with home maintenance. Let Lowe's tackle the tasks you keep meaning to do, like electric dryer, vent cleaning, replacing hard to reach light bulbs, and more. Subscribe to Home Care plus for just $99 a year and consider your to do list done. Members get more at Lowe's. Available in select zip codes only. Cancel anytime. Non refundable fee. Product purchase required terms and service restrictions apply. Details@lowe's.com Terms subject to change Reddit is

[Reddit Advertiser]

where people go for real human advice. When you advertise on Reddit, your brand shows up alongside the most trusted recommendations on the intern. It's authentic, brand safe and highly effective across your entire funnel. Ready to show up where people trust what they read. New advertisers spend $500 and get $500 in ad credit. Terms apply. Start your test [e-mail] Podcasts valid for new Reddit ad accounts only. Only valid once per business. Additional terms apply. See business.Reddit.com for more information.

[Easter Belfridge]

Hi.

[Sarah Gibson Tuttle]

Who here loves when their nails are perfectly done?

[Easter Belfridge]

Me.

[Sarah Gibson Tuttle]

I'm Sarah Gibson Tuttle and I started Olive in June because let's be real, we all deserve to have gorgeous nails. But who wants to spend a fortune or half their day at the salon? And that's why I created the Mani system so you can have that salon perfect manicure right at home. And guess what? The best part? Each mani only costs two dollars. Yup, you heard me. Two dollars. No more 30, 40, $50 salon trips that eat up your day. Now you can paint your whenever you want, wherever you want and trust me, you're gonna be obsessed with your nails and everyone is gonna ask you where did you get your nails done? And here's a little something extra. Head over to oliveandjune.com and get 20% off your first mani system with code [e-mail] perfectmanny20 that's code perfectmanny20 for 20% off at oliveandjeune.com perfectmanny20 you're all set for a nail glow up. Let's get those nails looking fabulous, shall we?

[Reddit Advertiser]

Paramas informacion en espanol

[Ed Gamble]

Preva.

[Easter Belfridge]

Hey.

[Paige Desorbo]

This is Paige Desorbo from Giggly Squad and this episode is presented by Depop. Okay, be honest. How many things in your closet are just sitting there waiting for their next main character moment? Instead of staring at them, list them. You can list an item in just a few taps on Depop. Snap a photo and their AI powered listing fills in the details and you're done. It's not getting stressful and it's giving efficient and make money easily. With no selling fees on Depop, no seller fees means what you earn is yours. Your personal taste has value. Someone is literally looking for what you're not wearing. Download the Depop app and list your first item today.

[Ed Gamble]

Welcome to the Offman podcast. Taking the thin melba toast of conversation, spreading on the chicken liver pate of humour. And what else you put on that? Like a sort of sweet chutney, maybe? Do you like a bit of chutney with that, James?

[James Acaster]

That is a gamble. My name is Jam. My name is James Acaster. Together we own a dream restaurant. And every single week we invite in a guest and we ask them their favorite ever start a main course dessert cider shan drink. Not in that order. And this week our guest is Easter Belfridge.

[Ed Gamble]

Easter Belfridge is a wonderful chef. James creates incredible cookbooks and of course created one of your favorite dishes.

[James Acaster]

My God.

[Ed Gamble]

And mine, actually.

[James Acaster]

Corn lasagna. So amazing.

[Ed Gamble]

The habanero prawn lasagna.

[James Acaster]

I had it on live television on Sunday brunch and I wolfed it down, ate it all.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

And I think, I believe I even finished ksis.

[Ed Gamble]

I. What a celebrity life you lead, James.

[James Acaster]

That's what happens when you go on Sunday brunch, man.

[Ed Gamble]

So many Showbiz anecdotes. Finishing KSI's lasagna.

[James Acaster]

What you want to be doing on Sunday brunch is ending up on the bill with people who, you know, have a very strict eating exercise ratio, training

[Ed Gamble]

for his, like, boxing or something.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. So you want someone when they're like, okay, I can try everything, but I can't go nuts. I've got to eat at certain times. And you're like, great, Because I love this.

[Ed Gamble]

I'm having yours.

[James Acaster]

I want to have your prawn lasagne. And you have no idea.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

How much. Like, I'm the one who slanted on their feet.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Like, good luck winning that boxing match.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

But I'M the champ.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, you're the champ.

[James Acaster]

Very excited to talk to Easter, especially because that's one of my favorite bites of all time.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes. Easter also co wrote Flavor, which was an Ottolenghi Test kitchen book. We, of course, have had Jotam Ottolenghi on the pod.

[James Acaster]

Yes. And he was so patient with us.

[Ed Gamble]

He was so patient with us. Will Easter be as patient with us? I think she listens to the pod, so I doubt it.

[James Acaster]

We'll certainly be us trying.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes. We're difficult people.

[James Acaster]

Yes. So we will do our best in that regard and we'll see if we do a head in or not.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah. Isa's latest book is called Mezcla. Go and get it. But go and get any of her books or any books that she's been involved in. Truly wonderful stuff. But if she says the secret ingredient, which we have pre decided upon, she will be removed from the restaurants, regardless of how good she is at cooking and that.

[James Acaster]

Yes. And this week, the secret ingredient is Easter eggs.

[Ed Gamble]

Sorry, Easter eggs. So sorry.

[James Acaster]

Easter eggs. Listen, this is like the 800th episode or something. We said so many secret ingredients and Easter. Your first name spelled different.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

But sounds like Easter is in Easter eggs. So we've. We've just gone for that and we don't think you're going to pick it.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

So that's good.

[Ed Gamble]

I do like an Easter egg.

[James Acaster]

I love an Easter egg.

[Ed Gamble]

It just tastes different.

[James Acaster]

I love an Easter egg. And they come up before in the podcast and we say about how when we were kids, we thought they would just be giant versions of cream eggs and be full of all the stuff. But you know what? As an adult, I'm glad they're not. I like that. It's just that the perfect thickness of milk chocolate. I prefer dairy milk in Easter egg form. And there's something about it. There's something about it that tastes pure nostalgia. It tastes different.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

It tastes like. That's an Easter eggman. I can be blindfolded. You could give me a square of dairy milk and then some Easter egg chocolate.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Loads of different forms of dairy milk in different ways. I would be able to pinpoint that's the Easter egg.

[Ed Gamble]

Because they're different shapes.

[James Acaster]

No, not because of the shape, but

[Ed Gamble]

that's how you would taste it.

[James Acaster]

Different. It would taste different.

[Ed Gamble]

I quite like those fancy ones as well. Like the hotel chocolate ones that you need a hammer and chisel to get apart. Because they're so thick.

[James Acaster]

Yes. Yeah. And they got, like, designs on them, but they're not just a smooth egg. It's like Cadbury's not a smooth egg. Yeah. But I mean, like the designs on the posh ones are like, that's why they're so thick.

[Ed Gamble]

Is it like a painting? Like a self.

[James Acaster]

A whole medallion on there?

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

And like a coat of arms.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

And then you're like, that's when you know that's real. That's real Royalty. Royal egg.

[Ed Gamble]

This is the off menu menu of Easter belfry.

[James Acaster]

Easter Belfridge.

[Ed Gamble]

Welcome Easter to the dream restaurant.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh my gosh.

[James Acaster]

Welcome Easter Belfage to the dream restaurant. Best buddy you've a sun time.

[Easter Belfridge]

I've been waiting for that all my life.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Did it match up?

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah. I mean, it's more beautiful that I couldn't have imagined.

[James Acaster]

Thank you very much.

[Ed Gamble]

I'd imagine the bit of your life before this podcast was a thing was a very confusing time for you waiting for that specifically.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, it really was. It was. I was. I felt like I was blind and now I see.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

Everything clicked the moment this podcast came on the scene.

[Easter Belfridge]

Exactly.

[James Acaster]

So I bet a lot of people felt like that when our podcast came on the scene.

[Easter Belfridge]

I think you've changed many, many lives.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

You've certainly made me laugh a hell of a lot.

[James Acaster]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. This guy makes me laugh all the time.

[Ed Gamble]

So does this guy.

[Easter Belfridge]

I'm actually really intrigued. Well, I can't wait to like see your laugh because I don't know if anyone's ever told you that your laugh sounds really fake.

[Ed Gamble]

Does it?

[Easter Belfridge]

Don't you think so? Whenever he laugh, it sounds really fake. So I'm like, I can't wait to see your actual facial expressions.

[Ed Gamble]

Imagine if at no point I laugh in this episode.

[Easter Belfridge]

Well, that is going to be.

[James Acaster]

He could be in his own head now.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah. Yeah.

[James Acaster]

He could be thinking about it too much.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Have you never thought that that is fake? It sounds fake. You obviously see his facial expressions when he laughs.

[Ed Gamble]

But like my face goes everywhere when I laugh as well.

[Easter Belfridge]

I can't wait.

[Ed Gamble]

All over the place.

[James Acaster]

He's part of a trio. Him and Tom Neenan and Anish Kumar, who all went to Univers together, all have big loud laughs and they really just like their whole entire body and everything, there's so much joy. They're not just laughing and enjoying what has made them laugh. They're also just. You can tell the feeling of laughing makes them happy. And you can see all three of them on their faces are like, this is so lovely. I love it.

[Ed Gamble]

Does the Feeling of laughter not make you happy?

[James Acaster]

Yeah, but you guys are like. It's like a drug. Like, you really see the three of you, you just completely immersed in it. You let yourself go.

[Ed Gamble]

I've had different laughs throughout my life as well.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, really? Do you work on them?

[Ed Gamble]

No, I think the only time I consciously changed my laugh was I got really into laughing. Like Lou from Neighbours. Do you remember Lou from Neighbours?

[Easter Belfridge]

Do an impression.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, the older guy.

[Lowe's Home Care Plus Advertiser]

Yes.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Harold Bishop's frenemy.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, really?

[James Acaster]

I didn't know that. Oh, my God.

[Easter Belfridge]

Harold Bishop. What? Blast from the past.

[James Acaster]

What happened to Harold in the end? I didn't really.

[Easter Belfridge]

I mean, it's still going.

[Ed Gamble]

No, I think it's finished now. Cause it went to Amazon.

[Easter Belfridge]

What?

[Ed Gamble]

And starred Mischa Barton from the OC for a bit.

[Easter Belfridge]

You're kidding me.

[Ed Gamble]

No, I'm not at all. She cropped up in Neighbours. So Harold Bishop obviously got washed off a rock.

[Easter Belfridge]

Obviously.

[Ed Gamble]

Back in the day. He got washed off a rock?

[James Acaster]

What does it mean?

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, what do you mean? Speaking of being washed off a rock, did you hear about the surfer guy who went surfing off the coast of Sydney and then disappeared, and a day later they found him stranded on an abandoned island, like, miles and miles away? Anyway, sorry.

[Ed Gamble]

No, that's. I mean, that's. That's impressive because that's real life, but for neighbors, that wouldn't cut it.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, no. What was really funny is that I'd never heard of this island. And I looked up on Google Maps and people had already, like, within hours of the news piece coming out, people had already started leaving reviews saying, like, great place for a break if you get washed up at sea. Wow.

[James Acaster]

Who's doing that?

[Easter Belfridge]

I know, I don't know. I know.

[James Acaster]

That's a very specific type of person

[Easter Belfridge]

and I don't know why.

[Ed Gamble]

Anyway, he got washed off a rock. Then Madge just found his glasses in a little rock pool. It was very sad. I remember that when I was a kid. Years later, he turns up again. He's completely lost his memory.

[Easter Belfridge]

Was it on that island, Governor's Island?

[Ed Gamble]

It might have been on the. Straight to the island. I think he just went a bit round the coast and then he thought his name was Ted and he was in the Salvation Army.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, wow. Okay.

[James Acaster]

I should watch Neighbors.

[Easter Belfridge]

You need to catch up on 15 years of neighbours. I'm doing, like, every day for.

[James Acaster]

Anyway, but it has finished now, so we know there's a finite amount of episodes. We could start binging.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, I think that's a bad idea, actually.

[James Acaster]

No, no, no, I think that's a great idea. It'll be really good.

[Ed Gamble]

That's a new pod of all the shows to watch.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, we could do a pod, the three of us. You're out. Great. Bonita. We can do a pod, the three of us. And we just watch all of Neighbors from the start.

[Ed Gamble]

But we have to watch the same episode twice a day because that's how they used to show it.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah, okay.

[Easter Belfridge]

That sounds really fun. Like a really great use of my time.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[James Acaster]

How have you been using your time though, lately?

[Easter Belfridge]

How have I been using my time? Well, mainly always just eating or thinking about food, which is as I imagine you guys do as well. I just did a pop up last night and so I'm like slightly hungover from having only two margaritas after service.

[James Acaster]

But how was that? So pop up? So, like, is this. Was this the first night of the pop up?

[Easter Belfridge]

It was one. It was a one night only thing at the standard. Have you been to Decimo at the top of the standard?

[Ed Gamble]

No, no, I've been to the bottom of the standard.

[Easter Belfridge]

You absolutely must go to the top.

[Ed Gamble]

Okay. You've got to go to the top.

[Easter Belfridge]

You've got to go to the top. So there's a restaurant at the top of the standard. Beautiful views, like such nice deco. Kind of like feels like 70s Californian, Mexican. Like cactuses. And anyway, really, really nice. The food there is incredible. It's like Mexican, Spanish. And the head chef there, Paola, is just. She makes incredible tacos. Anyway, I did a pop up there last night, so I've been cooking there for the last two days. I feel a bit mental, actually.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

And like elbow deep in prawns for the last two days.

[James Acaster]

A lot of prawns.

[Easter Belfridge]

A lot of prawns.

[Ed Gamble]

We should talk about prawn. We should talk about the prawn lasagna up top.

[James Acaster]

Loved it so much. Best thing I've ever had to eat on Sunday. Bunch. I know it doesn't sound like a

[Easter Belfridge]

compliment, but honestly, I almost can't. Maybe I did. I shed a little tear when I heard that. But honestly, it is because I know how much you love lasagne. I have heard, yeah. To hear that you loved it that much was actually like life changing.

[James Acaster]

I think about it a lot. I wolfed it down every time there's any kind of lasagnas on menus. I look to see if there's prawns in it now, and there never is, and I get really disappointed.

[Ed Gamble]

But that's good. No one's trying it. No one's trying to copy it.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, not yet, anyway. I've seen some, like. I mean, there's obviously you can get, like, seafood lasagnas, and I've seen some people do some crab lasagnas recently, which sound really good, but no, I've also never seen a prawn. Lasagna. Yeah, but, yeah, it is. I. I got a lot of flack. Is flack a word?

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, from the lasagna. From the lasagna. Flack.

[James Acaster]

You got flack?

[Easter Belfridge]

I got flack from people who.

[Ed Gamble]

A lot of slack would be them going like, yeah, go for it.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, do what you want.

[Ed Gamble]

Flak, flack.

[Easter Belfridge]

From people saying, like, who do you think you are cooking of prawn for that long? Like, prawns need to be just, like, pan fried. And I'm like, I'm telling you to make it into a ragu. And I cook it slowly. And people are like, are you mental? But it does work.

[Ed Gamble]

Who's giving you flack?

[Easter Belfridge]

There are the people.

[Ed Gamble]

Lasagna people.

[James Acaster]

The people, they say, who do you think you are?

[Easter Belfridge]

They say, who do you think you are? Who the fuck do you think you

[James Acaster]

could applaud for that long?

[Easter Belfridge]

The prawn police.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, I suppose that's the thing that they're getting angry about. I thought they're going to get angry that you're even putting prawns in a lasagna, but it's. How long. Upset about how long you're cooking it for? Yeah, furious.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, that's. I mean, people get upset about a lot of things, but they really have strong feelings about how long you cook a brawn.

[Ed Gamble]

Wow.

[Easter Belfridge]

And I'm here to tell you, you can make it into a ragu, anyone's job.

[James Acaster]

You look at it and you just think, oh, I bet. I bet they don't get that much, you know, grief from people. Yeah, I bet. Or I bet I can imagine what the complaints are every time you speak to someone about their job. The things that people get angry about are absolutely beyond what you could have imagined or ever predicted.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, it is.

[James Acaster]

How dare you cook a prawn for that long? Who do you think you are?

[Ed Gamble]

Who do you think you are? Is such a funny thing to say.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, really funny.

[Easter Belfridge]

I actually feel like I've, like, reached peak prawn now. I think I'm actually over them. There's actually no prawns on my menu, which is bonkers, because everyone who knows me knows me as, like, the prawn.

[Ed Gamble]

Lady, I hope that's not true.

[Easter Belfridge]

No one's actually ever called me that. But, I mean, everyone knows that I'm obsessed with prawns. And there's not. I only just realized there's not one prawn on this menu.

[Ed Gamble]

Well, I think if last night you. You were elbow deep in prawns.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, specifically, the last thing you want

[Ed Gamble]

to talk about is prawns. You don't want prawns on your dream

[Easter Belfridge]

menu at this point. Absolutely not.

[James Acaster]

What do you think about. You're the best person to ask this. There's a few people on the podcast, I think. I've maybe asked this question too, but never before. I've been so excited about the answer. What do you think about prawn cocktail crisps? Oh, the flavour, specifically. How authentic is it?

[Ed Gamble]

As opposed to.

[Easter Belfridge]

Huh.

[Ed Gamble]

Of course the flavour.

[Easter Belfridge]

Of course the flavor. Well, the flavor. Okay. Prawn cocktail crisps. I haven't had them in a really, really, really, really long time. I think the only ones I've had are just like the pink walkers ones. Used to think they were delicious. I don't think they taste anything like prawn. They're just sort of like a bit tangy, which is not really what a prawn is. Well, actually, no, haven't. Yeah, Prawn cocktail. Yes, yes. It's supposed to be ketchup, mayo, prawns.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, I guess so. But it's. It's that. That it tastes of. It tastes of ketchup, I guess.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, it tastes of. Does it taste of prawn or does it just taste of ketchup?

[Ed Gamble]

I'm not getting any prawn.

[Easter Belfridge]

I think it's just like, ketchup with, like an erdo, like seafood seasoning. But it's not like I'm not getting prawn, but I do like them. I'm not a massive crisp person.

[Ed Gamble]

So you're a prawn lady.

[Easter Belfridge]

I'm a. I'm prawn lady, but I'm not crisp person.

[James Acaster]

You can't be both.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, I can't. You're not allowed to be both.

[Ed Gamble]

Actually, I'm not a crisp. A crisp guy.

[Easter Belfridge]

No.

[Ed Gamble]

Really? You know, people.

[James Acaster]

You're truffle crisps. You love them.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, I do not like truffle crisps.

[James Acaster]

Oh, really?

[Ed Gamble]

See, I like the Torres truffle crisps. So great.

[Easter Belfridge]

I know. I can't bear that smell.

[James Acaster]

Really?

[Easter Belfridge]

You in the same camp?

[James Acaster]

No, but my partner is in that camp. So like now I'm, you know, anytime. I do smell truffles or anything like that. And we're together, I'm like, we got. I gotta get her out of here. Because as soon as she smells that,

[Easter Belfridge]

she's gonna find there's hardly any emotion on your face.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, well, no, I just enjoyed it.

[James Acaster]

Busted little spider.

[Ed Gamble]

Just trying to enjoy myself.

[Easter Belfridge]

Isa, that did not look real.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. You didn't think my truffle anecdote was funny?

[Ed Gamble]

Are you telling me I have had that? I have been accused of that before for having. For having dead eyes when I laugh, but I can't really do anything about it.

[Easter Belfridge]

No. But I think hopefully it'll get more animated.

[Ed Gamble]

No, no, no. That was it. That's as far as we go.

[James Acaster]

Do a podcast about being told you got dead eyes when you laugh.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, that's good. Good idea.

[James Acaster]

We could call it Laugher Boy.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Lava Boy.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

What?

[James Acaster]

Laugh.

[Ed Gamble]

Just ignore it.

[Easter Belfridge]

Laugher Boy. Oh, yeah. Okay, that's a good one.

[James Acaster]

We will start with still love sparkling water. Do you have a preference, Easter?

[Easter Belfridge]

I absolutely do have a preference. And actually, I'm gonna have to steal someone's ideas. One of your previous guests. One of my favorite episodes.

[Ed Gamble]

Great. It's only happened on one occasion. Maybe when someone's stolen one idea, I'm

[Easter Belfridge]

stealing the idea and enhancing it to my taste. Is that right?

[Ed Gamble]

Rather than the dish itself. It's the idea.

[Easter Belfridge]

It's the idea. It's the execution. So, May Martin, living legend.

[James Acaster]

Congratulations, May.

[Easter Belfridge]

They wanted, I think, water from a babbling brook. And when I heard that, I was like, what better way to receive water? But I'm an absolutely a sparkling water girl obsessed with sparkling water. Inject it into my veins. So I would like sparkling water.

[Ed Gamble]

That's a terrible idea, by the way.

[Easter Belfridge]

That would actually be horrendous. Imagine sparkling water.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah. Famously bubbles going into the veins.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, yeah. Instant heart attack. Instant stroke. Okay, so maybe not into the veins, but yes, the babbling brook. So straight from the babbling brook. Very cold sparkling water. Short glass. Like this kind of thing.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Hate tall glasses. Despise tall. I don't actually know why I knew someone was going to ask me that when I said I hate glasses. One of you. But I don't have a reason.

[James Acaster]

Who do you think you are?

[Easter Belfridge]

Who do I think I am? I don't know. I wonder why it is. I think. I think I feel like there's less room for things like if you get a tall glass and it's like, if it's full of ice, there's just not really barely any liquid in There. Yeah, but is that the only reason? Also?

[James Acaster]

I feel like people are going to come back with for that. They're going to go, what if I have a short glass? It's full of ice.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

I mean, well, I actually have a note here on my notes, say three ice cubes.

[Ed Gamble]

Oh, okay.

[James Acaster]

Standard size.

[Easter Belfridge]

Medium. Medium size. Like that. Is that medium size?

[Ed Gamble]

That looks standard size, doesn't it?

[James Acaster]

Standard, yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, all right. Well, standard. Three standard ice cubes, cubes, Cold sparkling water from a babbling brook and a bit of lime. But not like super limey, just like medium lime. Medium lime, Medium ice cubes, medium glass.

[James Acaster]

You love lime. You love the lime bites.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, I love lime.

[James Acaster]

Before we started recording, all these was talking about was lime bites. And she was shocked we hadn't been on line bike yet.

[Easter Belfridge]

All three of you.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. Benito.

[Easter Belfridge]

Benito included.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Who is not wearing a sombrero.

[James Acaster]

Which you.

[Ed Gamble]

Something else we put a pin in to come back to is you imagine when you're listening, you imagine the great Benito to be wearing a sombrero.

[Easter Belfridge]

I imagined him to be a Mexican man wearing a sombrero.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes.

[Easter Belfridge]

But no, I mean, the listeners will never know.

[James Acaster]

Well, they will now.

[Ed Gamble]

They will know.

[Easter Belfridge]

They know that he's not a Mexican man with a sombrero, but they don't know much more than that.

[James Acaster]

They've got one thing to cross off the list. Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

This is the longest game of guess whoever.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. Okay, so the Mexican man in a sombrero.

[Ed Gamble]

Flip down the picture of the Mexican guy. That's not him.

[James Acaster]

Now we've got a lot more to go.

[Ed Gamble]

I kind of agree with the tall, thin glasses.

[Easter Belfridge]

No.

[Ed Gamble]

But I find sometimes the short glasses, if there's some ice in there, if it's like a cocktail or something, I drink it too quickly because. Because of the big mouth hole.

[Easter Belfridge]

But do you think that you drink a tall drink slower?

[Ed Gamble]

I think it feels like I do because it looks like there's more level in it. Do you know what I mean?

[James Acaster]

This guy, no matter how big the drink, two gulps and he's done.

[Easter Belfridge]

Me too.

[Ed Gamble]

I'm a gulper.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, I'm a gulper.

[James Acaster]

Big sips. It doesn't even like make any noise. It's just like facial expressions, completely dead eyes. Literally. Like people say about people drinking like a fish. It's literally like a fish, though. Like just like mouth opens and it's all just gone.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

No noise, no nothing.

[Ed Gamble]

What's the point in taking time over it? I want another. I want another one. I want to try Something else.

[Easter Belfridge]

I think a medium amount of time is also good in this respect.

[Ed Gamble]

You're obsessed with medium.

[Easter Belfridge]

I do. I am. I think medium is where it's at. Not too little, not too much.

[Ed Gamble]

I'll tell you what the glass is these really trendy glasses. You've been to loads of these places, I'd imagine. They're almost like, completely shallow. They're like little cat bowls.

[Easter Belfridge]

No,

[Ed Gamble]

they are like little cat bowls.

[James Acaster]

I know. I know what you mean. It's like they've taken a glass, like a standard tumbler.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

And they've cut that in half.

[Ed Gamble]

It's a demi tumbler.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, I don't like those either. This, I think, is slightly too big for my liking. I would like it to be sort of that big.

[Ed Gamble]

Okay.

[James Acaster]

But anyway, keep on saying semantics, doing visual references.

[Easter Belfridge]

This is a. Oh, he's filming it.

[James Acaster]

Well, he loves it now. He's filming it. Puts on YouTube. It's a nice.

[Easter Belfridge]

I don't know where the cameras are, but this is the glass. We're referring to one right there.

[Ed Gamble]

Oh, yeah, yeah, we got it. We got it.

[James Acaster]

He's obsessed. He's obsessed with it. All he talks about is filming it now. And you're playing into his hands by doing, like, it's this much and stuff like that. He's loving it. He's sitting there going, this is why I started the YouTube channel. Awful pop lobster Belfage, Pop rubs or bread.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, my God, I've been waiting for that.

[James Acaster]

No, you haven't. I bet you did.

[Ed Gamble]

You were gobsmacked.

[Easter Belfridge]

I was literally staring right out at you. And you got me. Fucking hell. Excuse me, Am I. You're allowed to swear? What is allowed? Yeah, because.

[James Acaster]

Come on, you're a fan of the pod. You know, we let it fly.

[Easter Belfridge]

God, I'm slightly hungover. And, yeah, I really almost threw up my heart just then.

[Ed Gamble]

That's the ultimate episode when you surprise someone so much they throw up.

[James Acaster]

Then I'd be like, bonito. You were right. We should film it.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

She threw her heart up.

[Ed Gamble]

And that's a clip.

[James Acaster]

That's a clip. Bam. Beating heart on the table.

[Ed Gamble]

Eight million views.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. We did it.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, my God. Well done.

[James Acaster]

Thank you.

[Easter Belfridge]

Well done, sir.

[James Acaster]

Thank you very much. Number one podcast.

[Easter Belfridge]

I'm also sad that you're not dressed up as a genie, but I should probably go to one of the live shows for that, right? You do dress up, right? No, no, never.

[Ed Gamble]

We've got a lamp. We've got a big lamp on the stage for the Live show, I jump

[James Acaster]

out of the lamp. Sure. But I'm not dressing up.

[Easter Belfridge]

Fair enough.

[Ed Gamble]

For the live shows we wear our own merch.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

[James Acaster]

Clever. That is small because first tour we had our own merch. On second tour we got the merch, which is pictures of us on the last tour. So we're wearing the merch from the last one.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, the inception thing.

[James Acaster]

We keep doing that forever.

[Ed Gamble]

The next show is next, next year. It's going to be. It's going to blow people's minds. They're not going to know where they

[Easter Belfridge]

have on the back.

[James Acaster]

Tour dates.

[Ed Gamble]

I think, or I've never checked really.

[James Acaster]

I think it's been toured out.

[Easter Belfridge]

Never check.

[Ed Gamble]

I just put it on.

[Easter Belfridge]

My heart is still beating. My God.

[James Acaster]

Really good.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, you should be.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You look very proud.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, I'm really proud of myself. It's been a while since I've got people, really. Series one, I was getting them every single episode.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

And now it's like.

[Easter Belfridge]

I mean, I knew to expect it, I just didn't know when. Anyway, poppadom's all bread.

[James Acaster]

Yes.

[Easter Belfridge]

I'm gonna go. Well, I'm not really a massive poppadom person either. Not a bread gal or a pop. No, I do like bread. I'm gonna go with like grilled, really grilled, olive oily, garlicky bread with chicken liver pate. But not like. Not like a whipped chicken liver pate, like a Tuscan. I know you love it, but I think you love the.

[Ed Gamble]

I just love it.

[Easter Belfridge]

I just love crunchy, creamy, whippy one.

[Ed Gamble]

Hello. I love.

[Easter Belfridge]

I just love it, but I don't want that one. I want like a Tuscan style. Kind of like it's more sort of bitty and textured. Bitty and texture doesn't sound good. To be fair. That was a fair reaction, but do you know what I mean? Like sagey anchovy. Anchovy heavy. I still love that crostini. But like the bread has to be super grilled. Cat food is a bit like. It does smell like cat food.

[James Acaster]

Not smell it, but it just looks like.

[Ed Gamble]

No, but it does. When you are.

[Easter Belfridge]

Can you not talk about my, my, my bread and poppadom starter like this?

[James Acaster]

Please get ready. I speak my mind.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, okay, fair enough. But I am obsessed with chicken liver.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

In a very, very. I'm actually liver full stop. I'm actually in a club called the Liver Lovers.

[James Acaster]

Go on.

[Easter Belfridge]

Self confessed.

[James Acaster]

How many people in the Liver Lovers?

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

For Shout Out Flick Melek, Holly and Myself.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. How did it start?

[Easter Belfridge]

Just a mutual love of liver, really.

[Ed Gamble]

But did you know each other previously? Or did you. Did your eyes. Did your eyes meet across a butcher's

[Easter Belfridge]

counter across a big piece of liver? No, we've not. We knew each other previously. We've known each other for a long time. Well, Melek less so. Maybe like three years. And Flick and Holly longer. Anyway, whatever. We all love liver. Whenever, like, we bonded over, like, Turkish, like, lamb's liver with sort of like crispy fat, you know?

[James Acaster]

Yeah, that sounds good.

[Easter Belfridge]

And then we did have grand plans to like, visit every Turkish restaurant in London to try their lamb's liver. We've only been to one, but that's a very. We are still. I know it's. It's not good. It's not good. But we are the liver lovers and I do love liver, so I'm gonna start with chicken liver crostini.

[Ed Gamble]

How often is the. Really Admiral attempts to try and move it off the liver lover group there, by the way, but that's not gonna happen for a long time. Just to let you know. How often is it like a WhatsApp group?

[Easter Belfridge]

It is a WhatsApp group that's really the most action that's happening.

[James Acaster]

Just, like, read us some stuff from the liver lovers, the WhatsApp group.

[Easter Belfridge]

I don't have my phone here. I didn't bring my phone into the.

[Ed Gamble]

What? I wanna know how often the WhatsApp group's been updated. How. How often is someone dropping in liver relevant content?

[Easter Belfridge]

You're making me feel really bad now because we actually don't talk about living that much. We basically just plan, like, let's all meet up and go for dinner and eat liver. Who's free on this day? And then it just never happens.

[James Acaster]

Never happens.

[Easter Belfridge]

God, it's a terrible club, isn't it?

[Ed Gamble]

It's a bad club.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, it's a pretty bad club, I think. I mean, after this podcast, you know, go on there and go, guess what? I talked about the liver lovers.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

On a podcast. And the world's gonna know about us, guys. I mean, surely you're gonna tell them.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, God. I would love any listeners to maybe like, comment with their favorite liver so I know where to go.

[James Acaster]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, well, they'll definitely let you know where the best liver is.

[Easter Belfridge]

I don't want to talk about the liver lovers anymore. I feel deeply embarrassed that we haven't actually eaten that much liver together. But we do all love liver.

[Ed Gamble]

Do you ever talk about the sort of bad reputation that liver has. Amongst the general population.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, yeah, we know. We're, like, cooler than most.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't say that.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, but I did. You know, you have to have, like, a certain je ne sais quoi to love liver, I think.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Not. Not. Not every regular guy. Most people don't love it.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

So, yeah. But the liver pate, when it is creamy and smooth, I think is delicious.

[Easter Belfridge]

It's so good.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, my God.

[Ed Gamble]

It does smell of cat food, though. But that is not an insult because sometimes when I'm feeding my cat.

[Easter Belfridge]

This is not going well. This is not going well. Picture the scene. We're in Tuscany.

[James Acaster]

I just made a confession.

[Easter Belfridge]

What did you say?

[James Acaster]

You went right over it because you're so. We've got in your head about the liver. But, like, he just said he wants to eat his cat's cat food.

[Easter Belfridge]

Wait, what?

[Ed Gamble]

Sometimes I'm feeding my cat and I'm like, it does smell like cat food, but it looks human. Looks like human food. We've started giving our cat soup.

[James Acaster]

Really?

[Ed Gamble]

Cat soup?

[Easter Belfridge]

Cat soup made of.

[Ed Gamble]

I mean, to me, it just looks like chicken and this. I think the one this morning was like, chicken and pea. You can actually see chicken and pea and there's like a lot of like.

[Easter Belfridge]

Do they eat the peas? Yeah. My dog used to, like, eat around the peas when we gave him leftovers.

[Ed Gamble]

Right? No, no pigs eating the peas.

[James Acaster]

Do you give him some bread to mop it up with afterwards, Like a gentleman.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah. Give him his little spoon.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

Tuck his napkin in, sweetie.

[James Acaster]

Some cat food. You see it or some pet food. You see it advertised? Yes, yes. Sometimes you see it advertised and it says, tested by humans. And you're like, who has got that?

[Ed Gamble]

What grim humans doing that?

[Easter Belfridge]

It is literally just a bit of meat.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, sure.

[Easter Belfridge]

So it's not that big a deal.

[Ed Gamble]

But what is the smell, though? Because if it is just a bit of meat, why does it smell?

[Easter Belfridge]

I think it's the gelatin.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

That has the smell.

[Ed Gamble]

You're adding vitamins and stuff, right?

[Easter Belfridge]

Vitamins. Yeah, Always smelly.

[Ed Gamble]

They are.

[Easter Belfridge]

It's true. Smelly, smelly vitamins. Smelly gelatin makes a smelly bowl of cat food.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, yeah. If you ever open. Open a little jar of multivitamins, it stinks like a farm.

[Easter Belfridge]

Like a farm?

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, like a farm. Or hair.

[Easter Belfridge]

I like the smell of vitamin C. Oh, yeah. That's like limey.

[James Acaster]

That's lovely. But the multi ones, when they all get together, they stink.

[Easter Belfridge]

That is vitamin is.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

You Gotta keep them apart. They absolutely stink when they get together.

[Ed Gamble]

James is a vitamin segregationist.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. I'll say it.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, dear.

[James Acaster]

I think that sounds like a delicious bread course.

[Easter Belfridge]

You're just saying that.

[James Acaster]

No.

[Easter Belfridge]

You don't really believe it.

[James Acaster]

I, I would obviously.

[Ed Gamble]

That does sound good.

[James Acaster]

Change up the, the chicken. I, I, I'd have a smooth one for my, my tastes, but I didn't

[Easter Belfridge]

get to tell you where I want it. So it has to be from the co op in Rufina, which is the town where I grew up in it, near where I grew up in Italy. And you, there's a co op there? No, but it's not like the English co op. It's not like the English co op. They have co ops in Italy. Well, in Tuscany, they call it hop because they don't pronounce the cur. It's like a her. But it's the best supermarket in the world and they make the best chicken liver. Like Figatini is what it's called and it's unbelievable. So. But in Tuscany, when you get. It was like, it's a classic starter, the chicken liver crostini. But they always do it with unsalted bread because, like, hundreds of years ago, salt used to be expensive. But I'm like, get with the times. Like, salt is no longer expensive. You can put salt in your bread now. But so strictly I would need it to be salted bread.

[James Acaster]

Yes.

[Easter Belfridge]

Very grilled. Very much like a lot of olive oil.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

I feel like we should move on from the chicken liver.

[James Acaster]

You always want to move on from stuff.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah. That doesn't work.

[Easter Belfridge]

We've literally been talking about food and liver for about 40.

[James Acaster]

Don't worry, don't worry. You're good hands. We know when to move on. He'll edit it later. Yeah, you're okay.

[Easter Belfridge]

Fair enough.

[James Acaster]

All right.

[Ed Gamble]

We'll move on now.

[James Acaster]

Will we? Yeah, yeah, definitely. We talked about that for ages. We still can't be back on what we're talking about.

[Lowe's Home Care Plus Advertiser]

Introducing Home Care Plus, a new subscription service from Lowe's that helps make life easier by giving members a hand with home maintenance. Let Lowe's tackle the tasks you keep meaning to do, like electric dryer, vent cleaning, replacing hard to reach light bulbs, and more. Subscribe to Home Care plus for just $99 a year, and consider your to do list done. Members get more at Lowe's. Available in select zip codes only. Cancel anytime. Non refundable fee. Product purchase required terms and service restrictions apply. Details@lowe's.com terms subject to change.

[Sarah Gibson Tuttle]

Hi, it's Sarah. I'm the founder of Olive and June and can I tell you the one thing that always makes my day better? A fresh manicure. But who has the time or the money to go to the salon every week? That's why we created the Olive and June Gel Mani system. It gives you that same mani that you get at a salon for so much less. It comes with everything you need. A pro level lamp, salon grade tools, our damage free gel polish that lasts up to 21 days. All you do is prep, paint, cure and you're good to go. And the best part? It's super easy and so affordable. Each mani breaks down to $2 so let's skip that $80 salon appointment and get the salon quality look at home for so much less. And on your schedule, head to oliveandjune.com DIYGEL20 and use code DIYGEL20 for 20% off your first Gel Mani system. That's all ofanjune.com DIYGEL 20 code DIY GEL20 for 20% off your 1st Gel

[MIDI Health Advertiser]

Mani system this podcast is supported by MIDI Health. Are you in midlife and feeling dismissed, unheard or just plain tired of the old health care system? You're not alone. For too long, women's serious midlife health issues have been trivialized, ignored, ignored and met with a just deal with it attitude. Many of us have been made to feel ashamed or forgotten. In fact, even today, 75% of women seeking care for menopause and perimenopause issues are left entirely untreated. It's time for a change. It's time for midi. MIDI is not just a healthcare provider. It's a women's telehealth clinic founded and supported by world class leaders in women's health. What sets MIDI apart? We are the only women's telehealth brand covered by major insurance companies, making high quality, expert care accessible and affordable for all women. Our clinicians provide one on one face to face consultations where they truly listen to your unique needs. We offer a full range of holistic, data driven solutions from hormonal therapies and weight loss protocols to lifestyle coaching and preventative health guidance. This isn't one size fits all care. This is care uniquely tailored for you. At Mide, you will join our patients who feel seen, heard and prioritized. You will find that our mission is clear to help all women thrive in midlife, giving them access to the health care they deserve. Because we believe midlife isn't the middle at all it's the beginning of your second act. Ready to feel your best and write your second act script? Visit joinmitty.com today to book your personalized insurance covered virtual visit. That's joinmitty.com the Care Women deserve Reddit

[Reddit Advertiser]

is where people go for real human advice. When you advertise on Reddit, your brand shows up alongside the most trusted recommendations on the Internet. It's authentic, brand safe and highly effective across your entire funnel. Ready to show up where people trust what they read. New advertisers spend $500 and get $500 in ad credit terms apply. Start your test [e-mail] Podcasts valid for new Reddit ad accounts only. Only valid once per business. Additional terms apply. CP business.Reddit.com for more information.

[Paige Desorbo]

Hey, this is Paige Desorbo from Giggly Squad and this episode is presented by Depop. Okay, be honest. How many things in your closet are just sitting there waiting for their next main character moment instead of staring at them, list them. You can list an item in just a few taps on Depop, Snap a photo and their AI powered listing fills in the details and you're done. It's not giving stressful and it's giving efficient and make money easily. With no selling fees on Depop, no seller fees means what you earn is yours. Your personal taste has value. Someone is literally looking for what you're not wearing. Download the Depop app and list your first item today.

[James Acaster]

Your dream starter.

[Easter Belfridge]

Well, I forgot to ask you for a very special wish at the beginning.

[James Acaster]

Okay.

[Easter Belfridge]

If you may grant me one.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Is I get full really quickly. But I love food and it's all I ever think about. It's all I ever want to do is eat. So I get really excited about having huge meals and I get, I have grand plans of doing bang bangs. You know, like when you eat one meal after another.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

But then I just get full really quickly. So please grant me the. The power to just never get full.

[James Acaster]

Yes, absolutely.

[Easter Belfridge]

But no, actually grant me the power to never get full, but then at the end to feel like perfectly satisfied. Yeah, because you know what I mean?

[Ed Gamble]

That's good because you nearly. It's like someone wishing for, you know, immortality.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, I don't want that.

[Ed Gamble]

That's a curse. Never getting full is a curse.

[Easter Belfridge]

I do not want to be alive forever and I don't want to be not full forever. So yeah, you're right.

[James Acaster]

You've never been so serious about it. On the podcast. He looked at me. That's A curse.

[Easter Belfridge]

That is a curse.

[Ed Gamble]

That is a curse.

[James Acaster]

Talk about. If you were immortal, it would be. It would be very funny.

[Ed Gamble]

Because immortality, That's. People often get tripped up on that when they wish for it, because they're not. They think they're wishing for eternal youth.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, yeah. But they're not.

[Ed Gamble]

They're wishing for immortality. So one day they're going to be 200 with all their fingers falling off.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

It is a curse.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, exactly. That's a curse.

[James Acaster]

Good point, Ed.

[Easter Belfridge]

Really good point.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. I'm like, your food thing about, like, you want a massive meal, and then you get full really quick. That's like me with a bath.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yes, me too.

[Ed Gamble]

You drink the whole bath?

[James Acaster]

Yeah. I wanted a little sip. I can't wait to have a lovely bath when I get home. Fill the bath really full, really hot. I get in five seconds. This is all bored.

[Easter Belfridge]

I am 100 exactly the same. I love the idea of it. And I get in, I'm like, just hot and bothered. I'm like, yeah, a bit of a waste of water. But anyway. Yes. So great appetite throughout.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Perfect satisfaction at the end. So that's my one wish. I may ask.

[James Acaster]

You want to live forever?

[Easter Belfridge]

No. That is a curse.

[James Acaster]

That's good. Okay. Sorry. Get my wires crossed.

[Easter Belfridge]

My dream starter is many things, if that's okay. We're gonna go for a Mexican feast as a dream starter, but, like, starter things.

[Ed Gamble]

So a platter.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yes, Maybe a platter.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

But it's gonna be more than a platter. It's gonna be many platters.

[Ed Gamble]

Okay.

[James Acaster]

Okay.

[Easter Belfridge]

So I actually was rated this earlier this year. I was a guest judge on MasterChef Australia, and it is actually pretty good.

[Ed Gamble]

It's mad MasterChef.

[Easter Belfridge]

High steaks.

[James Acaster]

Love it.

[Ed Gamble]

I've just been to Australia and ended up talking about their MasterChef on stage. You guys are mental.

[Easter Belfridge]

They are mental. It is insane. There's so much going on.

[Ed Gamble]

They start with, like, 8, 000 contestants. It goes on for about a year. There's people. There's contestants dying of old age halfway through the series.

[Easter Belfridge]

It's true. It's true.

[Ed Gamble]

It's a curse. You've wished for unlimited MasterChef.

[Easter Belfridge]

Actually, the one. The. The one that I was guest judge on was a series called Back to Win, which was basically people that had already been on who hadn't won, who were back. So, like, trying.

[Ed Gamble]

Nice.

[Easter Belfridge]

So anyway, it was the mystery box challenge, so I don't know if you know what that is, but, like, I got to pick like, 10 of my favorite ingredients. And then they. 17 of them had to cook dishes based on my favorite ingredients. It was a bit of like.

[Ed Gamble]

It's a bit like ready, steady cook.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah. But I feel like I had so much power. I was like, here's everything I love. All of you. Go make something for me. And it was. It was very exciting. But anyway, long story short, there was a guy called Jamie. I forgot his surname, but he made one of the best tostadas I've ever had. So the actual tortilla itself he made with, like, toasted masa, like the nixtamalized corn flour. So it was like really roasty, toasty, corny. And then he fried it, and then when it came out with the fryer, he then, like, tossed it in more of that, like, roasty, toasty corn. So. So first of all, like, the actual tostada was, like, sensational. And then it was like raw bonito. Like, tune. What?

[James Acaster]

Raw bonito, not bonito. I thought you were telling him to roar like a lion.

[Ed Gamble]

Raw bonito.

[James Acaster]

I'd love to see him more

[Ed Gamble]

instead of the MGM lion.

[James Acaster]

He wouldn't be able to do it. It'd be like when Simba's a little cub and he's trying to do it.

[Ed Gamble]

He's never gonna roll.

[James Acaster]

He won't ever roll.

[Easter Belfridge]

Like the fish.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes, yes.

[Easter Belfridge]

It's like a tuna. Yeah, I think it's a tuna. Is it a tuna? Something like that.

[Ed Gamble]

Anyway, they're smaller than.

[Easter Belfridge]

Smaller.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

But equally delicious.

[Ed Gamble]

I've caught one before.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, have you now?

[James Acaster]

Caught a bonito?

[Easter Belfridge]

You caught a great bonito.

[James Acaster]

We never talked about this on the podcast.

[Ed Gamble]

Caught a bonito, no problem.

[James Acaster]

You're crazy.

[Easter Belfridge]

Go on, tell us more.

[Ed Gamble]

Cooked it up later. It was disgusting. Ah, no, they're very bony. They've got very, like, very thin, thin bones.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, yeah. So you didn't.

[Ed Gamble]

No, no, no.

[James Acaster]

So it was him. He's got fin bones. You caught him.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, fin bones and no sombrero.

[James Acaster]

To be kind of disgusted. And he said to it, trying to produce a podcast because I don't want to finish you, I don't want to

[Ed Gamble]

eat you old thin bones. Sorry, you've already said. This is a many platters of Mexican food.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

We haven't eaten and we're on the starter. And now I can see why you're trying to move us on from the cat food.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

This is a long menu.

[James Acaster]

You knew what you had coming out the bed. We didn't.

[Easter Belfridge]

Raw bonito.

[James Acaster]

Yes, raw bonito.

[Easter Belfridge]

But really quickly, like not poached. What's it called? Oh, my God. What is wrong with me? You know when you just like put some lime on it.

[James Acaster]

Are you even a chef?

[Easter Belfridge]

I don't think.

[Ed Gamble]

Cured.

[Easter Belfridge]

Not cured? What, like ceviche cured? Yeah, yeah, but like really quickly. So it was still like quite raw. And then there was like a pineapple and scotch bonnet and pickled onion hibiscus situation going on. And then like grilled pieces of okra.

[James Acaster]

Oh, my God.

[Easter Belfridge]

It was insane. Honestly, I've had my fair share of tacos and tostadas. I've been to Mexico. I have family in Mexico. Like, this was honestly life changing.

[James Acaster]

Wow.

[Ed Gamble]

Amazing.

[Easter Belfridge]

So that's gonna be on the table. Jamie Fleming. How did you do that?

[James Acaster]

He's very good at googling stuff with little weak boned hands tapping away at the keys.

[Ed Gamble]

He snaps a finger every time he Google something.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, it's a curse.

[Easter Belfridge]

Jamie fling. Anyway, shout out Jamie.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Best tostada I've ever had. So that's going to be on the table. We're also going to have like a platter of al pastor tacos. So pile of beautiful soft tortillas, a whole spit of pork, grilled pineapple, all the salsas. Definitely a habanero salsa, a salsa matcha, some just like chopped onions and lime. That's going to be on there as well.

[Ed Gamble]

Is that from anywhere specific?

[Easter Belfridge]

Well, I don't remember the name, but there's a place in the outskirts of Mexico City. It kind of just looks like a car park and you kind of. You can just drive up and people just eat on like the hoods of their cars. Can't remember what it's called though. I wonder if the great bonito can find it.

[James Acaster]

Bet you can find it.

[Ed Gamble]

See, that sounds taco.

[Easter Belfridge]

Mexico City sounds so good. El Pastor, Mexico City Car park.

[Ed Gamble]

When you hear about somewhere like that in Mexico, like in a car park, everyone's eating off the hood of their cars and you're thinking, that sounds so great. Sort of a romance to it. Imagine if that was in England.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah. Oh, that would be horrendous.

[Ed Gamble]

I wouldn't go near that place.

[Easter Belfridge]

Absolutely not.

[Ed Gamble]

Must be joking.

[Easter Belfridge]

Garage pork.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. Yeah. We wouldn't pull it off.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, Eating a sausage on a Ford Focus.

[Easter Belfridge]

Awful, that bit.

[James Acaster]

He's found it.

[Easter Belfridge]

Absolute genius, that is it.

[Ed Gamble]

Another finger shatter.

[Easter Belfridge]

So good.

[James Acaster]

Straight to A E after this.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, my God. So, yeah, tacos help us door from there. What else are we gonna have? Oh, the pork tamales from actually an Ecuadorian restaurant in London. If you haven't been. You must go. It's called El In Caple Bello. It's on Essex Road.

[James Acaster]

Okay.

[Easter Belfridge]

Really good. And they do pork tamales, like, wrapped in corn husks and with just like, the most soft, succulent pork stuffed inside. And it's just unbelievable. And it comes with, like, a green coriander salsa with lime, and it's just sensational. So that's going to be there, too. And then also, like, a really good guacamole, like, the best one you've ever had, with, like, warm plantain, sweet potato and cassava crisps.

[Ed Gamble]

Oh, my gosh.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

And that's it. No, no, no. And. And the perfect margarita Mezcalita. Actually, I'm quite specific about my.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Margaritas. Short glass again.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

On the rocks. Hate margaritas in the. What are they called?

[Ed Gamble]

Big cup.

[Easter Belfridge]

Big cups.

[James Acaster]

I know what you mean.

[Easter Belfridge]

You know, like when they bring it to you and it's not. Not. But it's not on the rocks and it's in a. Yeah, like a margarita glass.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

You know.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

So short glass on the rocks. Mezcal. It's, like, a bit smoky. I really don't like it too sweet, so I actually prefer it with a bit of honey rather than agave. But, like, hardly any. And absolutely no Cointreau or triple sec. I hate cointreau and triple sec. God, I'm saying a lot of hate. Anyway. Add a bit of spice.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

So that's my starter. I know it's a lot, but I've got the power.

[Ed Gamble]

No, I respect it.

[Easter Belfridge]

I've got the power to.

[James Acaster]

Well, it's good. It's very specific. It all sounds delicious. Are you having one of each of them and then you're sharing all this with a bunch of other people?

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, I think you have to share this kind of thing. I don't want to be sitting by myself in a car park.

[Ed Gamble]

Are the liver lovers there?

[Easter Belfridge]

The livers? Yeah. I do love the liver lovers.

[Ed Gamble]

They're there, but no liver yet in the starter. We had it for the bread of the bread. Nothing knocking around in the.

[Easter Belfridge]

No liver here. No, I don't need liver here. Oh, I forgot. I also want a really good ceviche on the table.

[Ed Gamble]

Liver ceviche.

[Easter Belfridge]

Nope. Definitely not. Definitely not a liver ceviche. That would be horrible.

[James Acaster]

Yes.

[Easter Belfridge]

Even for a liver lover like me.

[Ed Gamble]

What ceviche do you want?

[Easter Belfridge]

I do, like, just like a bream ceviche. That kind of thing. Or any sort of like, whatever is, like the local fresh Seasonal fish of the moment from the sea right there. So wherever I am, a freshly caught fish, I like it, like, when it's just, like, tossed. What am I talking about? It's not. What is it called when you put it in the lime juice? It's not cure. What is wrong with me.

[James Acaster]

I actually know what it's called.

[Easter Belfridge]

Everything.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, it's just cured.

[Easter Belfridge]

But I thought cured it with the salt. Really? I marinated. There we go. We could just say marinated in lime juice, but really quickly. Like, not too long. Onions, tomatoes, coriander, lime, like chilies. I want it pretty simple. Like a simple, really fresh, limey, salty ceviche with all of those crisps. The cassava, sweet potato and plantain and the guacamole. And it's like, it's hot, but it's not too hot. Probably on a beach, the water's lapping in. Bare feet. Water's lapping in, but the sand is not bothering you. Like, the sand is there, but it's not getting in your crack or, like, pissing you off.

[Ed Gamble]

That would be an issue. Even when you. To be honest, even when you said bare feet and the water's lapping, I thought, that's gonna get on my nerves. Do you think.

[Easter Belfridge]

Would that get on your nerves, personally?

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, let me focus on.

[Easter Belfridge]

I've never done that. Like, table on the beach. Not so close that it's like waves, but like, just like a little every now and then.

[Ed Gamble]

It's a. Yeah, but even just being on the beach, on a table and be like, no, no.

[Easter Belfridge]

Do you not, like.

[Ed Gamble]

And it gotta be under.

[James Acaster]

No, but the legs, like, stinking to sink into the sand.

[Easter Belfridge]

Not. I mean, it has to be, like, a bit bit further away from. Have you never eaten on the beach?

[James Acaster]

No.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, I have eaten on the beach,

[James Acaster]

but table on the beach?

[Easter Belfridge]

I mean, you could. You definitely could, but probably eating an

[James Acaster]

ice cream on the beach.

[Easter Belfridge]

I think once in your lifetime, James, you should eat at a table on the beach.

[James Acaster]

It sounds great, but you're talking about it like it's a common experience.

[Easter Belfridge]

Well, it's not. No, it's definitely not a common experience. But can I ask one more wish?

[James Acaster]

Yes.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yes. So we're on the beach. It's really hot, but it's not too hot. It's like the perfect level of heat. The water's lapping, but it's not annoying. The sand is there, but it. You can't. It's not. It's not annoying.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

And also your ass isn't sticking to the plastic chairs. Okay, so it's just all.

[James Acaster]

Is that the wish that you'd ask?

[Easter Belfridge]

Because the reality is when you do eat on the beach, all those things like sand is getting in your toes and your cracks, your ass is sticking to the plastic. It's too hot, and the water's probably pissing you off.

[Ed Gamble]

Do you think that's the first time anyone's ever asked the genie for the wish of I wish my ass didn't stick to plastic chairs?

[James Acaster]

Yeah, surely, probably, surely most genies aren't getting that one.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, my God. I only get one more wish. I just realized maybe. Yeah, that's how it works, right? Three wishes.

[James Acaster]

Well, maybe your other wish should be that no one gets washed off a rock during this meal. Cause you're really.

[Easter Belfridge]

Or if they do get washed off a rock, they will find themselves on a deserted island and be rescued. Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Because I think you're skating a bit close to the.

[Ed Gamble]

You could also, because it's your dream meal, not be sat on a plastic chair.

[Easter Belfridge]

That is so smart. I didn't think about that loophole. That is really smart. You're clever.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, no, I'm a clever guy.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah. Now, what is the most comfortable chair to sit on that's not sticky?

[Ed Gamble]

See, this is the problem with sitting on the. Sitting on the beach, isn't it? If it's warm, most chairs, there's going to be some stickage.

[Easter Belfridge]

But you're right that I don't. I could just ask for a normal plastic chair. Maybe just a nice wooden chair.

[Ed Gamble]

Wooden chair.

[Easter Belfridge]

No slats.

[Ed Gamble]

Wouldn't chair. No slats.

[James Acaster]

Little cushion on it.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, not on the beach. It'll get wet and sandy. No, it won't. Because of my wish.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

So, yeah, maybe a wooden chair with a cushion.

[James Acaster]

Okay.

[Easter Belfridge]

Okay, Perfect. My dream main course. Can I have a pasta course, please?

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Thank you. It's my dream meal.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

So my favorite pasta in the world is a pasta called penne allaconese. So it's made in the village above where I used to live as a kid. And they've been making this pasta recipe for like 50 years. I think it's a secret recipe. And people from all around the area always come for lunch and dinner there. It's like a site of pilgrimage. It's honestly the most delicious pasta sauce in the world. And it's kind of like creamy, tomatoey, peppery, porky porcini.

[James Acaster]

Eat.

[Easter Belfridge]

And like, it's all of those things, but it's also like so much more. I don't know. I can't it's like. It's a secret recipe that people are obsessed with. Like, people who live around there will literally go there for dinner, like, twice a week for, like, 50 years.

[Ed Gamble]

Really? So they're just like, have it all the time.

[Easter Belfridge]

It's so good. You. Everyone always starts their meal with. Well, they'll get, like, crostini or, like, anthe pasty first, then they'll get pinella corneze. Because you always have a pasta course and then you go on to. And then you'll, like, either have a second course or a pizza. Like, Italians are mental. I don't know how they eat that much and, like, still look so good.

[Ed Gamble]

It's olivio. It's in the adverts. They eat loads of Olivia and that's why they.

[Easter Belfridge]

What, olive oil?

[Ed Gamble]

No, no, no, the spread. The butter replacement spread.

[Easter Belfridge]

That's not good.

[James Acaster]

Have they got olive oil in it?

[Easter Belfridge]

Italians don't eat butter. Replacement do.

[Ed Gamble]

That's why. Have you seen the advert? Hello.

[Easter Belfridge]

That is not the secret to their longevity. I'm telling you. That margarine.

[Ed Gamble]

They're not allowed to lie on adverts.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, is that.

[Ed Gamble]

They eat loads of Olivia and that's why they look so good.

[James Acaster]

Replacement spread. They look so good.

[Easter Belfridge]

Well, there you go. That's the secret.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Maybe we should all start plastering that on our skin if we want to live forever. Although that is a curse.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, that is a curse.

[James Acaster]

That's a curse.

[Ed Gamble]

You turn into a puppet.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah. Anyway, so I want that pasta.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, that sounds great.

[Ed Gamble]

And that sounds so good.

[James Acaster]

Is there, like, lumps of meat in it?

[Easter Belfridge]

It's, like, tiny. It's not like a ragu with, like, mincey pieces. It's like the tiniest, like, speckles of pork. And, like, the sauce is, like, luscious and velvety and it just, like, coats the penne in the most. It's insane. Like, it's the best pasta I've ever had. I've had it. I've been having it all my life, like, since I was 2. And it's always the same, which means it's always perfect. And it's just. It's life changing.

[James Acaster]

How often do you get to have it?

[Easter Belfridge]

Now these. I had it a couple of months ago on my birthday, which is very nice.

[James Acaster]

Happy birthday.

[Easter Belfridge]

Thank you. It was April, but I appreciate that. And then before that. Oh, no, actually, I've had it three years in a row for the last three years. But then before that I hadn't been back for a few years, so like, once every few years, I have it.

[James Acaster]

So it's even better now because you get into. It's spaced out. You're not having it all the time.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah. You know, it's so good. It's a tiny little village, and it's so good that as you enter the village, there's a big sign that says, Paese natale de le Pine Allaconese, which means, like, birth place of pine.

[Ed Gamble]

Wow.

[Easter Belfridge]

Like, it has a.

[Ed Gamble]

Anyway, so at least you know they're never going to change the menu.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, no, they never will because they can't change the. Never tell anyone the secret.

[Ed Gamble]

Have you ever tried to recreate it at home?

[Easter Belfridge]

I have, but, like, versions of it. I've never, like, tried to, like, get it exactly right, because that's pointless. It's perfect, and I'm never going to be able to. But, like, it has inspired various recipes I've done.

[James Acaster]

So your actual main course, then.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, this was honestly one of the hard. This whole exercise has been one of the hardest. Think, like, it's like, Sophie's Choice.

[James Acaster]

Well, you're nailing it so far.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

All sounds delicious.

[Ed Gamble]

And also what you've done is not really. You've just sort of said everything.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, but I actually. Yes. But also I have gone in one direction for my mains, but then I would like to talk about other options.

[Ed Gamble]

Sure.

[Easter Belfridge]

Right. So we're gonna stick in Tuscany for the mains.

[Ed Gamble]

Lovely.

[Easter Belfridge]

And I'm just gonna. I think I'm gonna have, like, a rabbit porchetta. Have you ever had one of those?

[Ed Gamble]

Never. Didn't even know that was. I mean, obviously I knew it was possible because you can put two things together, but that just sounds absolutely incredible.

[Easter Belfridge]

It is. I mean, it's not a rabbit and a porchetta put together. So, like, porchetta is obviously like rolled pork, but you can also. Even though that word is used to describe pork, you can also use it

[Ed Gamble]

to describe the process. It's a rabbit roll.

[Easter Belfridge]

So it's basically like a whole deboned rabbit. And they usually, like, stuff it with, like, sage, sometimes with chicken liver, loads of garlic, anchovies, pepper, lemon or olive oil, that kind of thing. Then roll it up, kind of like a porchetta, and then, like, slow roast it and just like. Oh, my God. And it's, like, crispy and crackly around the edge and just, like, super moist. And, I mean, I love a porchetta. It's one of my favorite things in the world. But I feel like a rabbit porchetta is just, like, just slightly.

[Ed Gamble]

How well does a Rabbit roll. I was struggling to imagine because like with a big bit of pork, like you can have a big square bit. Right. But if you're deboning a whole rabbit, does it look like a sort of rabbit rug?

[Easter Belfridge]

Okay, I'm gonna be honest and say I've never actually done it myself. I have seen it get. So imagine. People aren't going to want to imagine this. People don't want to imagine that.

[Ed Gamble]

They're going to have to live with it.

[James Acaster]

People can skip this bit if they don't want to hear it.

[Easter Belfridge]

Trigger warning. Skip this bit if you don't want to hear about raw rabbit carpets.

[James Acaster]

You've said it now. I thought that was too descriptive for trigger warning.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, I don't think it can get much worse than that. Really.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. If you are triggered by that stuff. Too late.

[Easter Belfridge]

It's too late. Probably should be listening to this podcast because you never know what you're going to hear.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, exactly.

[Ed Gamble]

I mean, I'm just triggered.

[James Acaster]

Just more gruesome stuff on here.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

I'm just imagining now bonito and a rabbit in a roar off.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, that would be cute. Rabbits don't roar.

[Ed Gamble]

Well, neither does bonito.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. Apparently they can still be bonito in Aurora.

[Easter Belfridge]

So imagine a deboned rabbit.

[James Acaster]

Okay.

[Easter Belfridge]

Let's say he's lying that way with his sort of head and his feet that way. Then you kind of wanna. You would roll him not like this, but like that. Does that make sense? No head. So kind of. It would. It wouldn't be really long, it would be shorter. It would only end up being. So like if you deboned rabbit, it'd probably be like that long if it was like a decent sized rabbit. But then you would kind of roll it the other way from the bum to the head. Yeah, yeah. So then it would only end up being about that long.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes. Got you. Okay.

[Easter Belfridge]

It wouldn't be like you could do it that way.

[Ed Gamble]

But you want the layers in there

[Easter Belfridge]

rather than want the rabbit roll as you said. Yes, there's actually. Did you guys watch the. What's it, the Stanley Tucci Italy show that just in one of the episodes he goes to like the home of where like Colonato, where they make lado. Did you watch that episode?

[James Acaster]

No, no, no.

[Easter Belfridge]

Anyway, this. He visits this lady who teaches him how to make this famous dish from that Colonnato region. And it's rabbit, a deboned rabbit layered with loads of lardo, which they just like get out of this, like beautiful, like stone marble. Not stone salt. Salt marble. You know, where they cure it. So deboned rabbit, layers of lardo and then just rolled up. And apparently the lardo just like melts into the rabbit and just like makes it the most moist, crackly, delicious thing. So maybe I'll put some lardo in there.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, stick a bit of lardo in there, for God's sake. Why not?

[James Acaster]

Curtsy of the two.

[Easter Belfridge]

So a rabbit porchetta, a really good salsa verde, a really good aioli, which is not something you would usually have with a rabbit porchetta in Tuscany. But I make the rules here.

[James Acaster]

Yes.

[Easter Belfridge]

So I'm gonna have. I'm also gonna have a pepcorn sauce with it. Because again, I make the rules. I like sauces, love peppercorn sauce more than life itself. I don't like them too creamy. I actually make them with like egg yolks and ghee, which sounds a bit gross, but without cream. And it's like fucking good. It's like a kind of like a. I actually. It's kind of like a high protein version. Not that I'm trying to do high protein recipes.

[Ed Gamble]

Finally someone's made a high protein peppercorn sauce.

[Easter Belfridge]

Not that I'm trying to achieve that.

[Ed Gamble]

Finally a sauce that will let me keep my gains.

[James Acaster]

Pour that all over a steak.

[Easter Belfridge]

Peppercorn sauce for bros. But it's actually a really good recipe and it's super easy. Like you just put like some melted ghee, a couple of egg yolks, lots of different peppercorns. Because I like, you know, mixed peppercorns, a bit of mustard salt. I like to put like a bit of black garlic in there as well, a bit of curry powder. And then just use an immersion blender. And like within seconds you have this beautiful, like emulsified delicious sauce that doesn't have double cream in it. Dream sites, Dream site. So Tuscan roast potatoes. I really don't like English style roast potatoes.

[James Acaster]

Okay. Okay, here we go. You better turn off your mentions for about a week.

[Easter Belfridge]

I know.

[Ed Gamble]

This will be the clip we put out. Cause it'll get a lot of engagement.

[Easter Belfridge]

This is where people will be asking me, who the hell do you think you are? Yeah, more so than the prawns.

[James Acaster]

I'm getting that a lot.

[Ed Gamble]

There's one clip we have that still gets loads of engagement. And it's Ellie Taylor saying that she doesn't go to Italian restaurants because she can do it better at home. And it is constant comments.

[Easter Belfridge]

That's sacrilegious.

[James Acaster]

Know that.

[Easter Belfridge]

Does she really think that?

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, I think so. But there's so many Italian people in the comments now. They are.

[Easter Belfridge]

I mean, fair enough.

[Ed Gamble]

They're going just cuz something says it's an Italian restaurant, it doesn't mean it's properly Italian.

[James Acaster]

Great.

[Easter Belfridge]

True.

[Ed Gamble]

One person said the amount of people who haven't had proper Italian food is genuinely scary.

[Easter Belfridge]

Genuinely scary.

[James Acaster]

See, sometimes it's worth reading the comments. They're funny.

[Easter Belfridge]

Do you ever. You don't have Instagram, do you? Do you ever read the comments?

[James Acaster]

Well now, now we're on YouTube. I can see the comments. Really funny. Well, someone straight away was just saying like, just complaining to Benito about the quality of the picture.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

And can you please fix this, please? Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Really?

[James Acaster]

And they're very disappointed and.

[Easter Belfridge]

Disappointed.

[James Acaster]

I thought it was very funny. Yeah, I don't know. They were very. They were like, I feel like I have to raise this.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

I mean, I know people say this all the time, but honestly, people have so much time on their hands that they can just like spend time commenting telling you that they're disappointed in the quality of the.

[James Acaster]

Should be doing a better job though. He should be doing a better job if he's gonna put it on YouTube.

[Ed Gamble]

No man, it's good quality. All I can, I can assume we have blurry faces because it is crisp quality. So you don't like. So talk us through why you don't like English. Our beautiful English roast potatoes that we

[James Acaster]

eat in our car park across the world garage potatoes.

[Ed Gamble]

Please tell me why you hated her majesty the Queen.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yes, she was only. Okay, fair enough. English style roast potato. I just don't get what all the fuss is about. There's so much like, yeah, it's crispy on the outside sometimes. Usually they're just a bit flaccid, like not that crispy. So much faff. You have to like almost like scold yourself, like, but like get a vat of like burning fat and make sure it's like. And then like, yeah, it's kind of crispy. It's not that flavorsome. And then there's just like so much fluff puff inside. Now if you think about a Tuscan style roast potato, do you know what I mean when I say like a. Like they're like smaller skin on like squares. I wouldn't say waxy, but like really garlicky, really rosemary, super salty and just like golden brown olive oily. Like there's so much smaller, so there's so much more surface area to get, you know, roasty, toasty, crispy, caramelized. And there's so much garlic and rosemary in there and like a bit of lemon on top.

[James Acaster]

It does sound good.

[Easter Belfridge]

English style roast potatoes are just like, whatever.

[Ed Gamble]

I will never. I will never slag off the English roast potato. I think it's a wonderful thing. I will say sometimes people take it too far. Did go somewhere the other day for lunch. It was a very lovely lunch. They brought the roast potatoes. And if you chucked one of those roast potatoes at the window, you would have been done for criminal damage.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

Because it was like you couldn't get into it.

[Easter Belfridge]

That's the thing. Most of the time they're either like kind of sort of flaccid and the crispy bit has gone a bit like, not soggy, but just like, meh. Or they're like so hard that you can't even cut into them.

[James Acaster]

We're all chasing that memory of the best one we had, really.

[Easter Belfridge]

I'm chasing the memory of the best Italian style roast potato.

[Ed Gamble]

Sure.

[James Acaster]

But we just make them at home.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah. No, but that's the thing. But that's the thing. You can just make them at home. They're so easy. You don't need to parboil. Peel them, parboil them, fluff them, like burn your arms with scalding fat.

[Ed Gamble]

Listen, this is why we won the war. You know, we just keep our heads down.

[Easter Belfridge]

We don't need to bring that.

[James Acaster]

Not an episode goes by doesn't bring up the war.

[Easter Belfridge]

Not the bloody war again.

[James Acaster]

Sorry.

[Ed Gamble]

No, I know. It is. It is a lot. It's a lot of faff. But I like the. Pouring them into the hot fat and they're sizzling everywhere.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, fair enough.

[Ed Gamble]

Is it a case of high steaks? If you're in a kitchen quite a lot working, you don't necessarily want. When you're at home making roast potatoes

[Easter Belfridge]

to 100, I am very like, I cook so much that when there's a shortcut or when there's a quicker way of doing something, I'm 100 gonna take it. I love a food processor. I don't want to peel things. I don't want to pre boil. I hardly ever parboil. And parboiling is so boring. Like, come on wet. Like shortcuts. If it still tastes great. 100 for them.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

And you just literally just chop them up. I mean, wash them a little bit. That's it. That's all you need to do. Skin on, chop them up, loads of olive oil. Really hot oven. Bob's your uncle or Roberto is your uncle.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. Respect.

[Easter Belfridge]

Respect to Roberto.

[James Acaster]

So those Potatoes. I know that's not the last of your sides because I know you've got a few.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, I want a really good tomato salad. Just quite simple. Just really like the best tomato you've ever had or I've ever had.

[James Acaster]

You don't want the best one we've ever.

[Ed Gamble]

You don't trust us.

[James Acaster]

The best one we've ever had would be rubbish.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, no, no, no. I bet you guys know a good tamaya.

[Ed Gamble]

I know a good tomato. I would say. I very rarely had a good tomato, so you're probably right to go with the best one.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, the best one we've ever had.

[Ed Gamble]

So, like, they combined. Combine the average.

[Easter Belfridge]

Let's combine the average.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

It will be the best one you've ever had, I think. Yeah. Even if you combine those.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

A combined average best tomato salad.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Like a roasted and raw artichoke salad. Really, like lemony with some, like, pecorino and herbs.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

And then some sauteed garlicky. What do you call it in English? That. Cima di rapa. You know, that green. It's like slightly bitter. You get in Italian. Can you look up what's that called? What's that called?

[Ed Gamble]

What's that called?

[Easter Belfridge]

Can you look up what's that called in English?

[Ed Gamble]

It's like green greens.

[Easter Belfridge]

I don't think it's just greens.

[Ed Gamble]

There's some things that are just greens. Right.

[Easter Belfridge]

You would. You definitely would have had it at an Italian restaurant. Yeah. Well, some sort of like sauteed, garlicky, olive, oily, lemony green.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes.

[Easter Belfridge]

Slightly bitter, not too bitter, but yeah, it is charred.

[Ed Gamble]

Is it like chard?

[Easter Belfridge]

It's kind of giving chard, but a bit more bitter and not. Not as like, watery.

[Ed Gamble]

Okay. It's giving charred. Write that one down.

[Easter Belfridge]

Kind of. It's more giving, like not chicory, but like the chicory leaves. Do you know what I mean?

[Ed Gamble]

Right.

[Easter Belfridge]

No. You guys don't look like you don't.

[Ed Gamble]

I know.

[Easter Belfridge]

Chicory, broccoli rub.

[James Acaster]

That's probably great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of Andy Bernard's friends from the office.

[Easter Belfridge]

That's it for my dream main, but I have some honorable muncheons, if I may.

[Ed Gamble]

Sure, let's do them.

[Easter Belfridge]

Like a whole dim sum feast.

[Ed Gamble]

Nice.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, just all of it, but specifically prawn Chung fun and stir fried turnip cakes.

[James Acaster]

Oh, yeah. Love turnip cakes.

[Easter Belfridge]

Love turnip. Have you had the ones from Tao Taou, where they're like, in little bits and, like, stir fried with bits of. Is it either choi? Summer morning glory. I Can't remember.

[Ed Gamble]

I can't go in there anymore because James dropped me in it.

[James Acaster]

I did it.

[Easter Belfridge]

Dropped you in the heart.

[James Acaster]

Absolutely did it. In the early days of this podcast, I shouted out, tao Tao zhu for the wasabi king prawns. Right up your street.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

And then I gave him such a big shout out, and then I went in again and I had him. And I was like, they've changed the sauce. They've changed the wasabi sauce. It's not as good. And I had it a couple of times. I was like, that's a permanent change. This is bad. I've told everyone to come in. So then. And I never would do this now, now. But it was the early days of the pod. So I was like. It came up again. And I was like, it just. They changed it. It's. It's not as good anymore.

[Easter Belfridge]

You said that on the pod.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

You wait for this.

[James Acaster]

Then I went.

[Easter Belfridge]

And then.

[James Acaster]

Then I went in there again, and the waiter came home and I. I ordered them. I was like, yeah, still not great. Okay.

[Easter Belfridge]

What, you said that to him?

[James Acaster]

No, I was thinking that to myself.

[Easter Belfridge]

Okay.

[James Acaster]

Then the waiter came over and went, another prawns?

[Easter Belfridge]

He gave you another one.

[James Acaster]

He said, how do you. How do you like them? Oh, are they nice? And I was like, oh. So I was for. I just need to think.

[Easter Belfridge]

They spat in it.

[James Acaster]

No, no, I don't think it's spitting food.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, no, no.

[James Acaster]

But I think it heard the pod. So I was like, I. I went to answer. I think I probably even did say to him, that's not as wasabi as it used to be. But he said. And he showed me his phone, and it was the episode. And he went. Put it on screen. He went. Gamble said that there's not enough wasabi in it anymore. Gamble said that we've changed the recipe. Unbelievable.

[Ed Gamble]

Unbelievable.

[James Acaster]

Yes, he did. I'm sorry that Gamble said that.

[Ed Gamble]

I've not been in there since.

[Easter Belfridge]

That's hilarious. Well done, James.

[Ed Gamble]

I was like, and now I want these turnip cakes. But I can't go in because Gamble said I changed the recipe.

[Easter Belfridge]

But now that I think about it, there is somewhere else that you can go for really good stir fried turnip cakes.

[Ed Gamble]

Thank you.

[Easter Belfridge]

Have you been to Phoenix palace in Baker Street?

[Ed Gamble]

I can't go in there anymore.

[Easter Belfridge]

What. What happened there?

[Ed Gamble]

No, I've not been.

[Easter Belfridge]

You must. You absolutely must. And their stir fried turnip cakes are sensation. So that's one of my honorable muncheons, but also my, like, a really good Cantonese Roast duck with morning glory.

[Ed Gamble]

Window duck. Yeah, window duck.

[Easter Belfridge]

But I don't really like the idea of it being in the window.

[Ed Gamble]

I love the idea of it being in the window.

[Easter Belfridge]

Really?

[Ed Gamble]

Are you telling me I'm eating the duck from the window? I feel starstruck.

[Easter Belfridge]

Truck.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. That's like getting the clothes for the mannequin.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, There we go. Look at all that expression.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, I know. That's the first time I found anything funny.

[James Acaster]

Fair enough.

[Easter Belfridge]

And then my final honorable Munchen. Oh, I got two more lasagna. The best lasagna ever. Our combined average of a best lasagna ever.

[James Acaster]

Well, my best lasagna ever is the one you made.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, that's really. Oh, my God.

[James Acaster]

So what am I.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, but I don't actually. I actually don't want it to be a prawn lasagna, so.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, because what if my. If yours is a prawn lasagna and mine's got pork and beef in it, that means if we combine it all,

[Easter Belfridge]

that's going to be pork, beef and prawn?

[Ed Gamble]

Might. Pork, beef, and prawn.

[Easter Belfridge]

Why would that not be delicious?

[Ed Gamble]

We're not thinking about it now.

[Easter Belfridge]

Okay, so pork, beef, and prawn lasagna. Loads of layers.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Not too sloppy, but not too dry. Crispy on the edges. That's it.

[Ed Gamble]

I love lasagna.

[Easter Belfridge]

I love lasagna. Lasagne, actually, maybe would just be my every course. But I haven't picked it for any of my courses. But it is right up there at the. On the third Honorable bunch.

[James Acaster]

What do you think about Garfield?

[Easter Belfridge]

I don't really. I know he loves a lasagna. I know he hates Mondays.

[Ed Gamble]

That's pretty much the whole character.

[Easter Belfridge]

That's pretty. I know he's lazy.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, he's lazy. Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

That's all I know. What do you think about Garfield?

[James Acaster]

I love him.

[Easter Belfridge]

I think you identify me.

[James Acaster]

You and Garfield should have been in lasagna lovers WhatsApp group.

[Easter Belfridge]

You probably would actually eat loads of lasagna with him.

[James Acaster]

Unlike me, he probably wouldn't post very often on the WhatsApp group because he's lazy.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, true. Especially not on Monday.

[James Acaster]

Not on Monday. It's absolutely silent.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah. Garfield. Everything all right, buddy?

[James Acaster]

Thumbs down and everything.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah. Not even red.

[James Acaster]

Buddy, you gotta stop it.

[Easter Belfridge]

Thumbs down.

[James Acaster]

It's a lasagna lovers group.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh.

[James Acaster]

Trying to keep things positive.

[Easter Belfridge]

I want to be part of that group.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. Well, there you go. Three of us on there. I'd love lasagna. I want to be on there.

[Easter Belfridge]

Who doesn't love lasagna. That's the four of us only cycle.

[Ed Gamble]

I think globally if you. Well, maybe not. I was gonna Europe wide if you said what's the best food? I reckon lasagna would win.

[Easter Belfridge]

Do you think?

[James Acaster]

Could do. Have you guys ever done a shaking his head but he doesn't know.

[Easter Belfridge]

Benito, you must have the numbers because you've asked so many people how many what your favorite food is.

[Ed Gamble]

But no one would pick it as like officially as their dream thing on this podcast. I don't think not many people have. But as a go to what's your favorite food? What do you want to eat tonight? I reckon the majority of people would say lasagna.

[James Acaster]

I reckon the food that the least amount of people turn down would be lasagna. Number one. No one says no to it.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

No. Apart from

[Ed Gamble]

yes. AI is transforming customer service. It's real and it works.

[James Acaster]

And with fin, we've built the number

[Ed Gamble]

one AI agent for customer service. We're seeing lots of cases where it's solving up to 90% of real queries for real businesses. This includes the real world complex stuff like issuing a refund or canceling an order. And we also see it when FIN goes up against competitors.

[James Acaster]

It's tough. Top of all the performance benchmarks, top

[Ed Gamble]

of the G2 leaderboard. And if you're not happy, we'll refund you up to a million dollars, which I think says it all. Check it out for yourself at fin.

[Sarah Gibson Tuttle]

AI hi, it's Sarah. I'm the founder of Olive and June. And can I tell you the one thing that always makes my day better? A fresh manicure. But who has the time or the money to go to the salon every week? That's why we created the Olive and June gel mani system. It gives you that same mani that you get at a salon for so much less. It comes with everything you need. A pro level lamp, salon grade tools. Our damage free gel polish that lasts up to 21 days. All you do is prep, paint, cure and you're good to go. And the best part, it's super easy and so affordable. Each mani breaks down to $2. So let's skip that $80 salon appointment and get the salon quality look at home for so much less. And on your schedule. Head to OliveAndJeune.com DIYgel20 and use code DIYgel20 for 20% off your first gel man system. That's OliveAnJune.com DIY Gel20 code DIY Gel20 for 20% off your first Gel Mani system.

[Ed Gamble]

Dream Drink.

[Easter Belfridge]

So I did have my mezcalita.

[Ed Gamble]

Yes.

[Easter Belfridge]

So that is.

[James Acaster]

That's locked in.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, that's locked in for the starter. And then for this main situation, I'm gonna go for a chilled red, which I feel like is just a bit of an obvious thing these days.

[Ed Gamble]

It's very Real Housewives of Clapton.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah. But it's good.

[Easter Belfridge]

So good, so good. So, like, a light chilled red is what I would like.

[James Acaster]

A specific red.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yes. Actually, seeing as you're asking, I like

[Ed Gamble]

it when James sounds like an actual waiter. It just always tickles me. A specific red.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

There's a producer called Mataburo, which is on the French border with Spain. I think it's in France, but it's like, basically in Spain. Should probably get this right. And they have a wine called Idoine I D O I N E. And it is absolutely sensational. Like, the first time I drunk it, the first time I tried it, I was with a bunch of friends and we were all just, just, like, gobsmacked at how delicious it was. So I want that that.

[Ed Gamble]

Is it, Is it natural?

[Easter Belfridge]

It is natural, but not like I, I sensed the, the way you asked that.

[Ed Gamble]

No, I, I, like, I, I, you know, I went through that phase.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, no. I'm also not really a massive fan of, like, super funky.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Natural wines. Like.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Do you. Yeah, yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

It can go too far.

[James Acaster]

I'm not a wine connoisseur in general, so for me, whenever I'm having wine, it's just, like, rare that I'm having a glass of wine. So whatever it is, I'm like, like, it's a novelty. So if I'm having a natural wine, it's as exciting as if I'm having

[Ed Gamble]

a. Yeah, no, there's really nice natural wines, but you're right, there's some that are just, like, super, super funky.

[Easter Belfridge]

And I don't. Yeah, bits.

[Ed Gamble]

It. There's bits in it.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, I don't want. If it's super funky and super sour and, like, vinegary, like, I'm just not that adventurous. Bit boring. But this one is, like, highly coifable. I didn't want to say that.

[James Acaster]

But it is how you didn't want to say it. Yeah, I just said it.

[Easter Belfridge]

I was, like, trying to think of another word. What's another word?

[James Acaster]

One.

[Easter Belfridge]

The only one. So good. So, yeah, that's. And that's going to go really well with the rabbit porchetta with the aioli and the salsa verde and the pepper sauce and the tomatoes. And the potato. Oh my God.

[James Acaster]

Do you find that because you're a chef, when you're putting this like a. Even though it's a hypothetical menu together, that you are thinking like, okay, if I'm serving this, what goes with that? What goes with that? I need. I need a bit of this. I need something like that. Are you thinking a bit differently to how other guests might think about it?

[Easter Belfridge]

I guess so. I do want everything to be perfectly balanced. And when I say perfectly balanced, for me, I need it to be like super salty and super sour. So like, I want loads of lemon and loads of salt on the table and I want loads of sauces. I want like something herby and I want maybe something a bit garlicky, something creamy, like. So, yeah, I, I guess I do think about that. Put things making sense together.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Well, I mean, when you're describing your main course, I was like, this seems to be a proper meal that you could get.

[Easter Belfridge]

Isn't that the. Isn't that the point?

[Ed Gamble]

Some people don't take that as.

[James Acaster]

That is not what everyone does.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, yeah.

[James Acaster]

No, but it was when you were describing. I was like, yeah, I could.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, but I would very gladly have that whole situation as my main. But with also a Cantonese roast duck and a prawn chung fun and stir fried turnip cake, I'm like, I mean, ideally, can I have that? Can that all be pot? Does it have to be an honorable.

[Ed Gamble]

No, I think you've already called them out as honorable munchies and you've already got the Mexican platter upon platter for your starter.

[James Acaster]

I think it's a.

[Easter Belfridge]

But why that We've just complimented you,

[Ed Gamble]

saying it was very well balanced and you're trying to chuck a roast duck on top of it.

[Easter Belfridge]

Why would you not want to?

[James Acaster]

Oh, God. I do think that there is an argument that in the future we should do like some one off little episodes that are like banquet specials where we just let someone have a proper medieval feast of whatever they want on the whole table and we'll just see how long that episode runs for. Dream dessert. I don't like this. Oh, what? You just eat like butt tons of food and then we get to the dessert. If you're gonna. If you're gonna.

[Ed Gamble]

And you're not full, remember as well.

[Easter Belfridge]

I'm not.

[James Acaster]

You're the savory.

[Easter Belfridge]

Don't you worry. Of course I'm having a dessert yanking your cheek.

[Ed Gamble]

Shame.

[James Acaster]

Jesus Christ. I felt you got me back for shouting problems. That's it. I got a bigger fright Than you did.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, I'm gonna have both, actually. So.

[James Acaster]

Okay.

[Easter Belfridge]

For dessert, is it okay to pick one of my own recipes?

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Okay.

[James Acaster]

Just so you know, I think you're the first person to do it. How's that make you feel?

[Ed Gamble]

No, loads of people have created their own thing.

[James Acaster]

Oh. But not, I think, first chef to do it, I think. But yeah, I think you should absolutely choose one of your own recipes. You should be back in your own stuff, being like, this is the most delicious thing.

[Easter Belfridge]

Well, I did. Did make. Okay, so actually, it started with an ice cream that I used to love as a kid. Have you. Did you ever have a winner taco?

[Ed Gamble]

A winner taco?

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, my God. Okay, so in Italy, they're like, it's an ice cream in a shell, in,

[Ed Gamble]

like, a hard shell.

[Easter Belfridge]

And then it's, like, filled with ice cream, then dipped in. It has, like, caramelly swirls, and then dipped in chocolate and nuts.

[Ed Gamble]

I know the one you're talking about.

[Easter Belfridge]

It's like, you know, like a hard. Hard shell taco, but like a wafer. And I used to love those as a child. And then they just disappeared. They, like, discontinued. I was like, what the. So then a few years ago, I was like, well, I could just make my own. And also it's called a choco taco, so why not? What? It should be made out of an actual taco, like a corn tortilla. So I took, like, a soft corn tortilla and then like, brushed it in, like, melted butter and maple syrup and then, like, like, baked it, and it kind of ended up turned tasting like a giant crunchy nut cornflake. It was.

[James Acaster]

So to begin with, with that. When you're creating this, are you just doing the shells on the right? Are you like, first things first. I've got to sort the shell.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yes.

[James Acaster]

And then you're doing that, and you're how many? Until you got it right.

[Ed Gamble]

You can't start with the ice cream in that section.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, no, you can't start. It was. This was a process. Let me tell you. You cannot start with the ice cream. It took me so many times to, like. So what I ended up doing is like, so the tortilla, at first, when you put it in, it's, like, bathed in butter and maple syrup. So it's quite, like, floppy and wet. So I hung it over, like the racks of an oven.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Can you picture it?

[James Acaster]

Yes.

[Easter Belfridge]

And then it, like, baked and caramelized like that in that shape. So it was like a great, like a hard shell. Taco, but made out of corn. Whereas, you know, originally they're just like not wafer but like just wheat biscuit. Anyway, so it's like giant crunchy nut corn flakes, like, and then like brush with loads of chocolate inside.

[James Acaster]

Because love chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate.

[Easter Belfridge]

Somewhere in between.

[James Acaster]

Great.

[Easter Belfridge]

Like maybe like 55, 60, something like that.

[James Acaster]

Brexit. Well, nearly Brexit.

[Ed Gamble]

Brexit chocolate.

[James Acaster]

No, that was 48.52, but it was

[Easter Belfridge]

technically not Brexit chocolate.

[James Acaster]

Just it felt so close. It might have been.

[Easter Belfridge]

So then there's the chocolate. There's the Brexit, not Brexit chocolate.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

And then the ice cream I did inside was like a kind of a coffee miso maple cinnamon ice cream with like miso maple caramel swirls. So that goes inside.

[James Acaster]

Great.

[Easter Belfridge]

And then you dip it like you dip the edge in chocolate again.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, same chocolate.

[Easter Belfridge]

Same chocolate. Brexit chocolate. It. No, I don't want to be quoted that. But not just 55 to 60%.

[Ed Gamble]

Is that nerve wracking when you dip it?

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah. Oh, it's quite fun to kind of do it.

[James Acaster]

Like.

[Easter Belfridge]

So you've got the bowl of melted chocolate and you kind of have to go like that.

[Ed Gamble]

Like a pie that should be like frozen.

[Easter Belfridge]

Exactly. That's a perfect description, James. Wow, that's really good.

[Ed Gamble]

Thank you. You're good with words and stuff.

[Easter Belfridge]

You really are.

[Ed Gamble]

Do you refreeze it so the ice cream doesn't drop out?

[Easter Belfridge]

Yes, I forgot that step. Yeah. So fill it. So I put the ice cream in a, like made the ice cream. Then you don't want to set it until it's like super hard, but like put it into a piping bag and like when it's at the perfect level of frozen that you can kind of pipe it. Then you pipe it into the shell, the chocolate, and it's like a thick layer of chocolate inside, not just like a thin brush. Then you pipe the ice cream in and then you're right. Then you have to like freeze it again. So the ice cream sets and then you dip it in the chocolate and then in loads of caramelized nuts.

[James Acaster]

So annoyed we can't eat this. Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

That sounds absolutely amazing.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, yeah.

[James Acaster]

Found a photo of it. It looks absolutely incredible actually.

[Easter Belfridge]

If you go to the right, you can see the dip. There's like a dip at the pirate ship. Dip.

[James Acaster]

Oh, there's gonna be a little video of the dip.

[Ed Gamble]

Oh, yeah, look at this.

[James Acaster]

It's great. We're just scrolling through.

[Ed Gamble]

Oh, yeah.

[James Acaster]

Piping in the ice cream piping.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, yeah. And it had nuts in the ice cream as well. And caramel.

[Ed Gamble]

You know when. You know when you know instinctively that you look at something and you go, if I tried that, it would be a fucking disaster. It'll be such a mess.

[Easter Belfridge]

But you really can only do a few at a time because it is a. It is a nightmare to make. And I did put it on a menu somewhere that I did a residency for and was. It didn't turn out well. Like, it's something that you need to do on a small scale.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Like it just. It's anyway. But it's so good.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

And I want that not made by me, though. I want someone else to make it.

[Ed Gamble]

Who do you want to make it? I mean, obviously the genie can make it, but you can have any. You could have.

[Easter Belfridge]

I think I'd like the Genie to

[James Acaster]

make it other countries. That's the kind of thing that. First try, I'd nail it and then I'd never do it. Well again. I'll be so focused on the first guy.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

That I'd somehow. It'd be luck involved. Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

As well. Yeah.

[James Acaster]

And then I'd never be able to do it again.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

I mean, I haven't really done it since. It's a pain in the ass. So that's why I would want you, the genie, to make it.

[James Acaster]

Pleasure.

[Easter Belfridge]

Thank you.

[James Acaster]

I will be eating them as I go, so it's going to take a while for you to get.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

To get one.

[Easter Belfridge]

They're just so crunchy and you know when you have a Cornetto and like the best bit at the end is like. Like.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

The big chunk of chocolate that has a bit of ice cream on top. Like, you've got that all the way through because, like, the chocolate's. Like the layer of chocolate inside is thick.

[James Acaster]

They've started selling those on their own, haven't they? The. The bottoms of the cornet. I saw. I saw it somewhere in a back. I was like, it's typical. But I was like, I don't. Weirdly, I didn't want it.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, no, no. Because you want, like, it's. It's the reward for having.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

This is. This is this new generation.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

They don't want to do anyone. They just.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

They just want to get straight to the tip.

[James Acaster]

On holiday last week.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yes.

[James Acaster]

My partner got a Calippo. Put it in. Flavor orange. Put it. Well, fair enough.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, keep going.

[James Acaster]

Put it in what she thought was the freezer in the Airbnb. It wasn't it was the fridge. Then she came back to. It was like, oh, it's all melted now. I was like, that's the best bit is at the end of the Calippo when it's all juiced juice. She's like, I don't want to. Just this. Do you want it? I was like, actually, I don't. I've really learned something about myself.

[Ed Gamble]

Wow, that is one of the worst stories you've ever told.

[James Acaster]

What?

[Ed Gamble]

I. That story. If you tell that story, it's got to end with you drinking it.

[James Acaster]

That's a good story.

[Easter Belfridge]

So neither. So what, you just put it back in the fridge and left it?

[James Acaster]

Oh, we actually located the freezer and put it in there. But then. Oh, here's the story. Here's the end of the story. Okay. When we left the Airbnb, we realized we still didn't add it. It was in the freezer.

[Easter Belfridge]

So no one has a caliper or

[James Acaster]

whoever was in the Airbnb next time.

[Easter Belfridge]

Now, that's the good story. Imagining who ate your caliper. And it could have been anyone.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, they would have found.

[James Acaster]

They would have found it in there, I'd imagine.

[Ed Gamble]

The owner of the Airbnb probably did a quick scan and.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, yeah, just a quick, quick little

[James Acaster]

Johnny, if you're listening. I hope you enjoyed it, brother.

[Ed Gamble]

Johnny.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, Johnny. His name. Johnny. I hope you enjoy that clipo. And just like, I didn't have the heart to write this on the feedback, but you text way too frequently, and we could have done with hearing less obvious you.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, God, I really hope he was listening.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Learn a thing or two about boundaries.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. Hell, he doesn't care. That guy Constant then asks you at the end to give him good reviews.

[Easter Belfridge]

Did he text you asking for a good review?

[James Acaster]

What's happened? Me?

[Easter Belfridge]

No.

[Ed Gamble]

What was he texting you throughout the trip?

[James Acaster]

Kept on being like, how. How are you today?

[Easter Belfridge]

Good. I've had that before.

[James Acaster]

Is anything I can do today? Everything's all right? Everything's fine, Johnny. We're all good. All good here. Okay. Are you gonna leave a good review? Well, time will tell. You said maybe something savory as well, though.

[Easter Belfridge]

I mean, I would like cheese as well.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, sure.

[Easter Belfridge]

I'm almost full at this point. Thank you, Genie.

[Ed Gamble]

Almost satisfied.

[Easter Belfridge]

Almost satisfied. Yeah, that's right. Not full. Yeah, almost satisfied. But I will have cheese. And I do like sheep cheeses. They're my favorite sort of variety, like a Spenwood. And I did have, like, a kind of. It was basically like a Camembert, but made out of sheep soup. And I don't know what it's called, but it was delicious. So I'd like that. And a really good cheddar. Like a very mature, grainy, crunchy cheddar. Maybe a Conte. Is it Conte or Conte?

[Ed Gamble]

Conte.

[Easter Belfridge]

With an M. With an M, Yeah, one of those. And then I am a fan of, like, fruit sweetened cheese. Fruit and cheese. So I would like.

[James Acaster]

Crazy.

[Easter Belfridge]

Crazy. I know. Absolutely bonkers. First person to put it together. But in Brazil we have cheese with guava, like a guava paste, which is quite similar to like membrillo. What's that? Quince. So I want that. So, like guava cheese. Maybe some like, fruity crack. Fruity nutty crackers. But not like a water cracker.

[Ed Gamble]

No, that is a bit. Yeah, I'm not into that.

[Easter Belfridge]

Or like those. No, Any of those. Like Jacob's crackers or a water cracker. Horrendous.

[Ed Gamble]

No, I like the digestive one. One we've talked about.

[Easter Belfridge]

Digestives.

[Ed Gamble]

Well, they basically are, but in like a big box of crackers. Like a selection box.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

There's always one that's in the shape of a loaf and it has Hovis written on it and it's basically a digestive.

[Easter Belfridge]

Oh, I've never tried that.

[Ed Gamble]

And you put like, rubbish, really mature cheddar onto a digestive. Really good.

[Easter Belfridge]

I'll have a little hunk of cheddar now. I'm starving.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry. I was meant to make it so that you never get full and then get full at the end and now you're starving.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

It's true.

[Ed Gamble]

It's a curse.

[James Acaster]

You fail, it's a curse. I'll eat your menu. Back to you now, see how you feel about it.

[Easter Belfridge]

Please.

[James Acaster]

Some of this I won't be able to say. You would like cold sparkling water from a babbling brook. Shout out Mae Martin with a short glass and three standard sized ice cubes in it and a medium amount of lime juice.

[Easter Belfridge]

It's perfect.

[James Acaster]

You would like chicken liver crostini from the Co Op in Rufina.

[Easter Belfridge]

Rufina.

[James Acaster]

Yep. A starter.

[Ed Gamble]

You'll never go again.

[James Acaster]

Mexican feast. For your starter, Jamie Fleming's tostada. Raw bonito al Pastor. Tacos from El Vilcito. Pork tamales from El Inca Plebeo, which is Ecuadorian. Yep.

[Ed Gamble]

James, you did the thing that basically every British man does where you can't pronounce something, so you just give a bit of hand. You just threw a Bit of hand in and sort that out.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, a bit of hand and a

[James Acaster]

bit of a little gesture at the end. Ceviche. Some guaca, mescalita and a mescalita pasta.

[Easter Belfridge]

This is going terribly.

[James Acaster]

Rabbit porchetta with salsa verde aioli, peppercorn sauce. Protein rich side. A Tuscan roast potatoes, tomato salad, sauteed greens. Drink chilled red.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah, baby.

[James Acaster]

Dessert. Those tacos, which are the best tacos ever, Your own recipe. I'll make them. And a bunch of cheese. Cheese and crackers and stuff. Doesn't really matter what they are.

[Ed Gamble]

And guava.

[James Acaster]

And guava and stuff.

[Easter Belfridge]

A bunch of cheese.

[Ed Gamble]

You'd eat the guava?

[James Acaster]

Guava. Huh?

[Ed Gamble]

You'd eat the guava?

[James Acaster]

I'd have the guava cheese at all. No, I do. I do. I would. I would have.

[Easter Belfridge]

You'd have the cheese?

[James Acaster]

Course I would have some cheese, for sure. Especially. I keep thinking about, like. And I know you don't like truffles. You'd hate it. This truffle breed I had, and I just kept.

[Easter Belfridge]

Wait. No, actually, you know, I don't. I don't mind a truffle brie. I just don't like truffle scented things like synthetic truffle.

[Ed Gamble]

Fair enough.

[James Acaster]

How do you feel about that menu?

[Easter Belfridge]

I feel really good about it, but I do feel like it's missing roast duck lasagna and prawn.

[Ed Gamble]

Chung fun it is.

[Easter Belfridge]

And stir fry turnip cake. So we'll just add those in.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, well, you can have that for yourself. Yeah, yeah. You know, this is for myself.

[Ed Gamble]

We'll give you a takeaway bag on the way out.

[Easter Belfridge]

Okay.

[Ed Gamble]

We're kicking out the restaurant now, but you can have a takeaway bag with all those things in and you can eat them. Eat them on the way home.

[Easter Belfridge]

No, I don't want a takeaway bag.

[James Acaster]

No, you'd like them.

[Ed Gamble]

But it's a takeaway bag or nothing, I'm afraid.

[Easter Belfridge]

Well, I'll take the takeaway bag, then.

[Ed Gamble]

Well, thank you very much. Thanks for the car park. Thanks for coming to the dream restaurant, Easter.

[Easter Belfridge]

Thank you so much for having me. It's been the honor of my life.

[James Acaster]

Oh, finally, someone says it.

[Ed Gamble]

There we go, James.

[James Acaster]

Oh, Bonito's tummy's growling.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah, that's funny, isn't it? It was a nice menu. So I can't understand why your tummy might be growling. But he held it. He held it like he was having a contraction.

[James Acaster]

Yes. Yes. He was very worried about it. He couldn't believe it.

[Ed Gamble]

Benito's waters have just broken.

[James Acaster]

Yeah, he wasn't all relaxed like, I don't know, Saltzman, Andy Zaltzman.

[Ed Gamble]

Andy Saltzman. I mean, Zaltzman must just be rumbling 24 7.

[James Acaster]

Didn't face him at all. Yeah, Bonito just looked at us there, all worried and scared that he was going to die.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Oh, no, Bonito, take him to the hospital. His tummy's rumbling.

[Ed Gamble]

Thank you so much to Easter for coming on the show and thank you for not saying Easter egg. And so sorry about that again.

[James Acaster]

Yes, yes. Thank you, Easter. Everyone should go and buy Easter's book

[Ed Gamble]

Mezcla and also Flavor, which he co wrote with Yotam Otolenghi.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. Shout out Ottolenghi. Yeah. Oh, we don't give enough shout outs on this podcast.

[Ed Gamble]

Peter Piper.

[James Acaster]

Shout out Peter Piper. Always.

[Ed Gamble]

Always shout out Peter Piper.

[James Acaster]

Always shout out Peter Piper. Ottalengi. And I guess Easter. So Jesus Christ, since we're talking so much about Easter eggs earlier, shout out to Jesus Christ.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Yeah. Not because of Easter's name.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

But because we were saying Easter eggs.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[Easter Belfridge]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

So shout out. JC Yep.

[Ed Gamble]

Thanks very much for listening.

[James Acaster]

Was that we're ending the podcast?

[Ed Gamble]

I think so. You see you who's just shouted out Jesus Christ.

[James Acaster]

Yeah.

[Ed Gamble]

So what am I supposed to do now? So I'm supposed to clear up your mess and end the podcast?

[James Acaster]

Well, I was hoping so, though.

[Ed Gamble]

Yeah.

[James Acaster]

Thought you could clear up my mess.

[Ed Gamble]

Shout out all deities.

[James Acaster]

Yes, especially Jesus Christ.

[Ed Gamble]

No, no, no, no, no, no. Thanks for listening.

[James Acaster]

Goodbye. See you in heaven when you get there. If you ever get there. Foreign.

[Lowe's Home Care Plus Advertiser]

Subscription service from Lowe's that helps make life easier by giving members a hand with home maintenance. Let Lowe's tackle the tasks you keep meaning to do, like electric dryer, vent cleaning, replacing hard to reach light bulbs, and more. Subscribe to Home Care plus for just $99 a year and consider your to do list done. Members get more More at Lowe's. Available in select zip codes only. Cancel anytime. Non refundable fee. Product purchase required terms and service restrictions apply. Details@lowe's.com Terms subject to change.

[Ed Gamble]

Hey, this is Adam Grant, host of ted's podcast Rethinking with Adam Grant. Let me share with you why smart finance leaders turn to Bill. They know that clarity isn't just helpful, it's strategic. As the intelligent finance platform, Bill uses AI to automate the busy work for nearly half a million businesses so they can focus on intentional growth.

[Easter Belfridge]

Growth.

[Ed Gamble]

Eliminate the friction and start scaling with the proven choice. Visit bill.compenven to talk with an expert about automating your business finances and get a $250 gift card as a thank you. That's bill.com proven terms and conditions apply. See Offer page for detail. Familiar de Cancer the Colon paramas informacion en cologuardpun.com/preva.

[Easter Belfridge]

Hey, I'm Alison Spittle.

[James Acaster]

And I'm Fern Brady and you might remember us both from our episodes of Off Menu. I think in my episode I got very angry when I ordered toast in a restaurant and was presented with hot bread and then told that that was the nature of sourdough, that it simply

[Easter Belfridge]

doesn't toast as a bread. And I said that I take it in the hand and the mouth like communion. Did you? I did.

[James Acaster]

That kind of brings us on to the topic of our new podcast, Ignore

[Easter Belfridge]

that Feeling, a show by two ex Catholic girls who have never learned to acknowledge a single emotion ever. And the podcast is out every Tuesday starting Tuesday 10th February.

[James Acaster]

So please listen and subscribe.