Goodness, Gracious Me, there’s another Dame in the studio! Energy is high in the Dish studio as we welcome the wonderful Dame Meera Syal for a table full of all her favourite things. From acting and comedy to writing, Meera joins us to chat about her new book, Vigilauntie: A Memoir - Innit?, and life in the midst of rehearsals for her new play, The Children. A firm believer in the power of food to get people talking and sharing stories, it was only fitting we served up a feast to match. A lover of lassi, we start with a cooling mango and passion fruit frozen lassi, before Angela serves Eleanor Maidment’s summery fish, fennel and saffron stew. Light, layered and full of flavour, it comes with warm crusty bread and roasted garlic aioli, alongside a bottle of Altos de Torona Albariño. We hear all about Meera’s dream of opening a bakery with a spiritual twist, the secret to her mum’s legendary saag paneer, and why potatoes are strictly off the menu in the Syal household. Yes, really. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of carbs elsewhere, as we finish with not one but two desserts: tahini, cherry and cardamom meringues, followed by Meera’s own very yummy lemon polenta cake. Don’t fret, we didn’t say goodbye without getting the recipe! Find all Dish episodes here: https://pod.link/1626354833 All recipes from this podcast can be found at https://www.waitrose.com/dishrecipes A transcript for this episode can be found at https://www.waitrose.com/dish Follow Dish: https://www.instagram.com/dish_podcast/ https://www.tiktok.com/@dishpodcast Follow Waitrose: https://www.instagram.com/waitrose/ https://www.tiktok.com/@waitrose Follow Nick: https://www.instagram.com/nicholasgrimshaw/ https://www.tiktok.com/@nickgrimshaw Follow Angela: https://www.instagram.com/angelacooking/ Follow Cold Glass Productions: https://www.instagram.com/coldglassproductions/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/cold-glass-productions We can’t all have a Michelin star chef in the kitchen, but you can ask Angela for help. Send your dilemmas to dish@waitrose.co.uk and she’ll try to answer in a future episode. Dish is a Cold Glass Production for Waitrose ------------------------------------ 00:00 - Coming up on Dish... 00:42 - Welcome! 01:15 - Nick Grimshaw is Dish Guy! 04:16 - Today's guest 04:43 - Dame Meera Syal is here! 06:27 - A Lassi cheers! 07:01 - Life at the moment for Meera & superstitions 11:05 - Dame life! 13:53 - From baking to food growing up 16:39 - Meera’s food likes 20:55 - Meera’s food dislikes 22:26 - Stew is served! 26:01 - Wine pairing 26:25 - Still to come... 26:54 - Meera’s new memoir ‘Vigilauntie’ 30:30 - The Kumars at No. 42 32:12 - Queen Elizabeth II approved! 34:03 - Goodness Gracious Me 36:23 - Time for dessert! 37:02 - Meringues are Meera approved! 37:32 - From meringue mishaps to chewy tips! 29:02 - Time for Meera’s lemon polenta cake 40:27 - Fast food quiz 41:59 - End of the show question