Ray Winstone is dazzled by pan-fried Dover sole with buttery capers and shallots

Dish - Cold Glass Productions

In this episode of Dish from Waitrose, host Nick Grimshaw and chef Angela Hartnett welcome actor Ray Winstone to discuss his life, career, and

Key takeaways

• Ray Winstone's love for Sicilian food stems from a profound personal connection formed over three decades ago.

Main topics

• Ray Winstone's life in Sicily and culinary influences
• The art of cooking pan-fried Dover sole with capers and shallots

Notable quotes

"My head's as big as Bournemouth, you know."

Conclusion

Ray Winstone's appearance on Dish blends humor, heartfelt reflection, and

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:01) What does the word taiko mean to you? If it doesn't make your mouth water with thoughts of delicious sushi, maki, dragon rolls, onigiri, then perhaps it's time to explore the taiko range at Waitrose. Taiko. Premium quality sushi. Find us in the food to go fridge only at Waitrose. Selected stores subject to availability. Those who get sushi, get taiko. Speaker 1 (0:30) Some kefir is just good for you. Tim's kefir is something else entirely. Made the Greek family way with 12 live cultures that help support your gut and naturally lactose-free. But the real surprise, one spoonful and suddenly you understand the difference. Thick, creamy, silky. Discover delicious. Greek family kefir from Tim's. Explore the full range in Waitrose selected stores subject to availability. Speaker 4 (1:01) Coming up on Dish Speaker 5 (1:02) with Speaker 1 (1:02) Ray Winston. Speaker 5 (1:03) We'd all go out with the boys and we'd be immaculate. A nice overcoat and your hair's done lovely. You tell them you were bank robbers and Speaker 4 (1:10) they loved it. Speaker 5 (1:12) Listen, you can have all the fancy dishes in the world, but that kind of goes, that's home. Speaker 3 (1:17) Yeah. Speaker 5 (1:18) And it's not the greatest thing in the world for you. by any means but up here it is absolutely I've got the biggest head in the world my head's as big as Bournemouth you know Speaker 4 (1:26) you've Speaker 5 (1:28) got a big canister yeah it's serious Speaker 4 (1:30) yeah it's serious canister's crazy you have got Speaker 5 (1:34) some canister is crazy Dish Speaker 4 (1:38) from Waitrose is a cold glass production this podcast may contain some strong language and adult themes Speaker 4 (1:51) Hello, welcome to Dish from Waitrose. I'm Nick Grimshaw. And I'm Angela Hartnett. Oh my God, you are. Speaker 3 (1:57) Hi. Speaker 4 (1:58) Don't touch me. Why? Because Speaker 3 (2:00) you're about to ridicule me. I'm not. Yes, you are. We say we're going to talk about Ray Winston. Yes, our guest today, Ray Winston. We'll talk about capers. And Speaker 4 (2:07) you're Speaker 3 (2:07) going to Speaker 4 (2:08) write Speaker 3 (2:08) Elaine because I wrote your mother's name wrong. I know, Speaker 1 (2:10) I'm not Speaker 4 (2:10) an idiot. We've not talked about it. We don't Speaker 1 (2:13) need Speaker 4 (2:13) to publicly talk about Speaker 3 (2:14) it. Speaker 4 (2:14) It Speaker 3 (2:14) really Speaker 4 (2:14) tickled me. So much. So much. It sent me, when I read this, I was crying laughing. It really, really tickled me. Basically, I posted a picture of me, my mum, and Instagram. Speaker 3 (2:31) Yes. Speaker 4 (2:31) She Speaker 3 (2:32) looks amazing, by the way. I mean, Speaker 4 (2:33) yeah. And my mum and Angela commented, love Elaine's handbag. My mum's called Eileen. And it's just a silly thing. Silly thing. You're going all week, didn't you? Days. Days, days. Until Speaker 3 (2:48) I did something else stupid that you could laugh at. No. It's Speaker 4 (2:51) like Speaker 3 (2:51) Terry. He's called Terry, but I called him Dave for about six months. And now I call him Dave. He works with Neil, and I go, send my love to Dave. From the French house. And Neil goes, Terry! Oi, Dave. She sends a laugh. No, Dave. You know Terry. Yeah, I do know Terry, yeah. A.K.A. Dave. A.K.A. Dave. Oh, shout out to Speaker 4 (3:13) Terry or Dave and Eileen. Eileen. Elaine. Ray Winston's on Dish today. Get his Speaker 3 (3:18) name right. Yes. Have you met Ray before? Never. I Speaker 4 (3:22) feel like Ray could go down Murano. I think so. Do you think? Are you going to do a Ray impression in front of Ray? I don't think I will, no. Okay. Have you not done that? No. At Lenny Ray's Speaker 3 (3:32) daughter's wedding, you didn't do a few Ray impressions. No, no, no. Okay, all right. I'm not Speaker 4 (3:35) going Speaker 3 (3:35) to do a Ray impression to Ray. To Ray, okay. Speaker 4 (3:37) Just behind his back. Just behind his back, yeah. Like a normal person. So yeah, Ray's going to Speaker 3 (3:41) be Speaker 4 (3:41) here soon. A true legend, Ray Winston. Yes. So many great things. Quadrophenia, of course. Sexy Beast, Scum. Nil by mouth. Nil by mouth. Departed. But he's here to talk about the brand new series of The Gentleman, but also his life in Sicily. Speaker 1 (3:57) So Speaker 4 (3:58) he'll be here soon to talk all about that. But before we get Ray in, should we talk about this week's star ingredient? Star ingredient. Speaker 3 (4:05) Well, because we're cooking with it today. Yes. We're Speaker 4 (4:08) going Speaker 3 (4:08) to make him Dover sole. Speaker 4 (4:09) And Speaker 3 (4:10) we're doing it with this lovely Meunier, which is basically cooked in flour. And what finishes off is these wonderful capers. Capers, lemon and parsley. And capers, you and I love capers. Love capers. Because they go in so many things. So you can have the brined ones or you can have ones that are packed in salt. Speaker 4 (4:25) And Speaker 3 (4:26) these are the tiny non-pareil capers, which are these tiny little ones. And these are right at the start of the season. So they're... basically got picked the early season so they're really tender they have the purest flavor and they've got that saltiness to them that we all love but slightly sharp as well so they're great for things like that's why they're wonderful in tartar sauce that's why they're great with fish because they can lift stuff or you can put them in you know little salads they're great with chicken as well i think you know i love them in um obviously a puttanesca is wonderful so anything that sort of needs is it's not bland but it just needs a little kick This does it. Capers are the perfect thing. They're great on vitello tonnato. They're good with like cured beef, like a beef carpaccio or beef tartare. You can put a few capers through it. That's it. All those things. And then you've obviously got the big caper berries here, which you can use in salads or you can put them on dishes as well. And then these are the salted ones. But make sure you wash these about at least for 10 minutes just to get that salt preserved Speaker 4 (5:23) in salt. But you need to Speaker 3 (5:25) wash that salt off. Otherwise, yeah. Speaker 4 (5:28) That is salty. That Speaker 3 (5:30) is salty, yeah. Because these are brined, so this is slightly different. So that's fine. They're sort of brined to an ingredient, a recipe, so they're fine. But when they're in the salt, they're packed to preserve them. So you need to wash that salt off. Speaker 4 (5:41) Okay. Speaker 3 (5:42) You actually have caperberry leaves as well. Right, right, right. So Speaker 4 (5:44) you can Speaker 3 (5:44) use the leaves in stuff as well. Speaker 4 (5:46) I love caperberries. I just don't have them like that. They're a bit cheesy. Yeah, perfect. Right, should we get Ray in? Yep, let's get him in. Let's get Ray Winston in. Speaker 3 (5:55) Lovely Speaker 5 (5:55) to meet you. You too, hon. Speaker 4 (5:57) You all right? Speaker 3 (5:58) I just Speaker 5 (5:59) met you. Speaker 4 (5:59) I Speaker 3 (6:00) know, but we've got to do it again for the cameras. For the cameras. I know, I know. Speaker 4 (6:04) I thought her Speaker 5 (6:05) memory had gone. Speaker 4 (6:06) You all right, though? Are you good? You ready? Speaker 5 (6:07) Yeah, I've been working this morning. But it was all good, you know, as you get older. The things you used to hate as a kid, like photo shoots and all that, I hated them, you know, talking to the press and all that sort of stuff. But as you get older, you kind of realise it's part of the game, isn't it? And then as long as you know that, you start to enjoy it. And I've had some fun this morning. Yeah, Speaker 4 (6:30) it's all going to switch. It's all going to go downhill. Well, come on in and we'll get you sat and get you a drink. Would you want me Speaker 5 (6:36) to sit? Go for it, Ray, Speaker 4 (6:37) and we'll get you a seat. What's that olive Speaker 5 (6:40) bread you got there? Focaccia. Speaker 4 (6:43) Focaccia. I got caught years ago. Speaker 4 (6:50) A very exciting day today on Dish Angela because we welcome an actor with a food palette that travels all the way from the East End of London to the coast of Sicily. We're talking, you know, jelly deals to gelato. We've got it all going on today. He's Speaker 3 (7:04) a Speaker 4 (7:04) man of serious taste. Very serious. Speaker 5 (7:06) And Speaker 4 (7:06) we can't wait to learn all about it. A round of applause for Ray Winston, everybody. Speaker 5 (7:11) Thank you, everyone. Speaker 4 (7:12) Thank you, Ray, for coming. Pleasure. How are you? I'd do anything for a free meal, I suppose. Yes. Yeah, Speaker 5 (7:20) I'm really good at the moment, yeah. Oh, good. I feel good in myself. Yeah. I had shingles in November. No. Yeah, and it took me until February to get over that. No. Have you ever had that? No, but serious. That's serious, Speaker 4 (7:32) yeah. It Speaker 5 (7:33) really is horrible. Yeah. But, you know, I stopped training for a little while because I go for walks and all that. And now I'm just getting back into it, you know. Nice. But I'm kind of feeling... Probably the best I've felt for many years. Oh, Speaker 3 (7:45) good. Speaker 5 (7:45) You look great. You look really good. Let me have another drop of that. Fingers Speaker 4 (7:49) made change. You've got glasses as well, Ray. Yeah, they're really good. Always good glasses, I feel. Yeah, I like them. Yeah, they're a serious pair. Good colour. Speaker 3 (7:58) He's got a good face that suits glasses, you do. Well, I've Speaker 5 (8:02) got the biggest head in the world. My head's as big as Bournemouth, you know. Speaker 5 (8:08) You know when you used to wear little glasses and I looked absolutely ridiculous. So I've got to have a big pair of bins on, you know? Yeah, Speaker 4 (8:14) you Speaker 5 (8:16) always have a Speaker 4 (8:17) big Speaker 3 (8:17) canister. Speaker 4 (8:17) Yeah, you've Speaker 5 (8:18) got a big canister, haven't you? Yeah, seriously. Yeah, seriously. A canister's crazy. You have got some aid. A canister is crazy. Speaker 4 (8:26) My dad did as well. My dad had a massive head. My dad looked like, he looked about 48. Yeah. from a child. And he always looked really old. And then once he got to 50, everyone was like, he looks so young. Because he sort of looks like this at like 25. You Speaker 2 (8:42) know the Speaker 5 (8:43) trouble is your body shrinks, right? So your head sort of gets bigger. It's just the body's getting smaller. The body's getting smaller and the head's getting bigger. Speaker 4 (8:52) Jesus. Have you guys ever met before? No. I'm surprised Speaker 2 (8:55) at Speaker 5 (8:56) that. Speaker 4 (8:56) I thought you would have maybe seen each other in a restaurant or at a do-over. We don't knock about in Speaker 5 (9:01) the same server. Speaker 4 (9:02) Rival gangs. It's been like that, yeah, yeah. It's posh, no shit. We were very excited about you coming on because, as I said, we mentioned Sicily there. There's so much to talk about with the great food of Sicily and I know that you're a mad food fan and stuff. But I wanted to know, how come you wound up in Sicily first of all? How come it was Sicily? Speaker 5 (9:26) I went there about 30 years ago, first time I went there. And just... Fell in love with the place. I'll tell you what's different about that to the mainland of Italy, for me anyway, you know. It's so cultured, Italy, as you come through it. It looks beautiful. You know, you get the cypress trees and everything looks like it should be there. There's some sort of reality and sort of earthiness about the place. And I kind of felt at home. And going to the towns. You know, kids just running about. It was like London was, or the East End was, 14 years ago, in a way. So maybe as I've got older, you kind of yearn for that kind of community kind of feel again, you know. And so for me, that was it. Speaker 3 (10:10) I love Sicily. I like it also because I think... I think a lot of Italy is still like 20, 30 years behind the rest of it. And I love that about it. I love the fact the shop's shut on a Wednesday afternoon. Nothing's open on a Sunday except the bakery. This was a while ago. I was in Sicily in Notto and this car was coming around the bend. And to avoid him, I swerved and smashed into this wall. I was fine, but the car was a bit... And I rang the garage about one o'clock. And they just laughed at me. They said, we're eating. What's the matter with you? We're not going to come and get you. You just stay by your car until we finish lunch, then we'll come and get you. It's very civilised. I can live that life. No, but do you know when you Speaker 5 (10:48) first go there Speaker 3 (10:49) and Speaker 5 (10:50) you live there, you know, you'll be driving through a town and everyone's staring at you. You think, who the f*** are you staring at? You know? Speaker 3 (10:57) Well, you are Ray Winstead. No, but Speaker 5 (10:59) they do it to everyone. They stare at anything. Yeah, they do. And the other thing is you'll pull up behind a car and he's wearing the window down and they'll have a rabbit with one another for about ten minutes. Now, Speaker 4 (11:11) in London, you'd be like... There, Speaker 5 (11:14) you just sit there. Take your time. You light up a cigar, you sit there and you let them finish because it's... Speaker 4 (11:20) Yeah. Piano, piano. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tranquil, yeah. And do you know what? You feel Speaker 5 (11:25) much better Speaker 4 (11:26) for it. Yeah. You just chill out, you know? Yeah. Speaker 3 (11:29) It's very civilised. Speaker 4 (11:30) Oh, I think so, yeah. Could you ever imagine decamping to Italy, Ange? Speaker 3 (11:35) Oh, I definitely could. Would you get Speaker 4 (11:36) grief if you lived not where your family were from? Speaker 3 (11:39) No, I don't think so. No, I'd love to. I think Sicily's amazing. Where's Speaker 5 (11:43) your Speaker 3 (11:43) family from? They're from near Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. Oh, Speaker 5 (11:46) up the Speaker 3 (11:46) top, yeah. Yeah, Modena. Literally about an Speaker 2 (11:48) hour Speaker 3 (11:48) from Speaker 2 (11:48) Modena. Speaker 3 (11:48) I'll stay there when I drive down. Yeah, it's beautiful. I mean, the food's amazing, but I love the climate in Sicily. And I love the fact it does feel like it's 30, 40 years ago. That, for me, is so... It should be, you know, nothing's rushed. You know, and the market's on that day and you get that fish that day and you have this on that. I like all that. What about Speaker 5 (12:07) when you go, when can I have it? You know, you're getting something done a bit maintenance. When can I have it? I've learned now, you know. They go, Mr. A Tuesday. I go, what the f***? Tuesday. Speaker 4 (12:22) Which year? Speaker 5 (12:24) Because it never is going to be on when they say it. Speaker 4 (12:28) When you turned up and you decided you were going to go out there, because you were out there quite a lot, the majority of the time, or split it? I guess so, yeah. You Speaker 5 (12:38) know what? You get to a stage where you go, yeah, if you're lucky enough to be able to do that, and Speaker 4 (12:44) it's Speaker 5 (12:45) pissing down with rain, and you're sitting there. You ain't at work, you ain't doing nothing. And you think, what am I going to do today? You can just walk out and sit out in the garden and, you know, and I kind of like it. I feel healthier there. Speaker 4 (13:01) The first time I'd been to Sicily was for your Jamie's wedding. Yeah, that's right, yeah. And I'd never been to Sicily before. I had the best time. And me and our friend... Oh, Speaker 5 (13:08) it's Speaker 4 (13:08) called Pello. What's it like? Unreal. That place, because