Dame Mary Berry tells us all about her happy childhood and how teaching people to cook really floats her (gravy) boat.
Lead a simple life
When I was young we’d have a roast on a Sunday and then my mother would spin it out and make several more meals for the week for the family. It was the same routine every week. I remember it as a very happy time; we played at home and had friends’ round and made dens. Dad made a boat and we’d go out on the River Avon and have picnics. Then the primus stove would come out so a kettle could be boiled for tea.
Keep learning new things
My husband Paul (90), who has been quite a sportsman throughout his life, and I have recently started having croquet lessons. We have a great teacher and it’s a terrific game and although Paul is better than me, I can’t tell you what pleasure it gives me to have these lessons once a week. The last time we played, we came equal for the first time!
A smile can say a thousand words
Judith Chalmers gave me a very useful piece of advice when I first started on the daytime TV show, Good Afternoon! in the Seventies. She said, “Don’t forget to smile. Just forget that there’s lots of people watching you and pretend you’re just talking to one person”. It was very good advice as it made me feel less nervous.
Judith also told me to make the show as enjoyable, fun and interesting as possible as, if it wasn’t, your viewers would simply turn off or turn over.
Share your passions
I love teaching people how to cook from my recipes and make things. It gives me the greatest joy when I’m in the supermarket, for instance, and someone taps me on the shoulder and says how delicious one of my recipes has turned out to be.
Keep cooking simple
It’s very important that our young are taught how to make nutritious meals at school. Simple, delicious food that doesn’t contain too many unusual ingredients. I try not to have too many of those kinds of ingredients in my cupboard. Apart from anything else, they tend to be expensive. For example, do I really need both light and dark soy sauce? Or juniper berries and pomegranate molasses when I’m only going to use them once? Probably not.
Look for the good in everything
As a judge on TV cookery programmes, I always try to find something positive to say to the competitors. If someone’s dish hasn’t come out as well as they’d hoped, they’re going to be brokenhearted enough without me ticking them off. So, I find something nice to say – and there always is something nice, be it the flavour, texture or whatever. I want to cheer people up, not make them feel bad.
Mary's advice for her 18-year-old self
If you’re lucky enough to know what you want to do in the future, then get as much experience as you can. I knew I wanted to work with food so, as a teenager, I worked in a butchers and a fishmongers so I was used to handling food. I learned a lot that way.
Check out some of Mary's best recipes
How to make Mary Berry’s double-crust apple pie from scratch
Mary is president of the National Garden Scheme and is hosting a special garden party project in July. The official Great British Garden Party dates are Saturday, July 16 - Sunday, July 24. Visit ngs.org.uk for more details and to sign up