TV
How did The Hairy Bakers come about?
"We did a one-hour Winter special called The Hairy Bikers Come Home, which did really well, so it seemed obvious that we should do a series [based] in Britain. Then rather than do a linear tour, we thought we'd do a subject. It was our idea to do baking. I suppose it was the title, really. It went easily from bikers to bakers!"
Do you think people are starting to bake more again?
"People are getting more passionate about their food and more concerned about what they're eating. Home baking tastes great! We know that sales of baking equipment are going up and it's something that tickled us, too. When we were on the road, baking's something we couldn't have done until we got home because we didn't have an oven. A lot of people do it. There are a lot of closet bread bakers out there!"
How will you encourage them to come out of the closet?
"Just to take pride in it. We know that Ronnie Corbett's father was a baker, so whenever Ronnie goes anywhere he takes people a loaf of bread as a present. It's nicer to hand out a loaf of home-baked bread than a cheap bottle of wine."
It's not just bread. You cover pies and pasties in this series too.
"We did Cornish pasties in Cornwall, all the way up to Scotch pies in Aberdeenshire. Every region's got a pie they're mad for. Melton Mowbray, meat and potato in the North..."
What's your favourite?
"I'm from the North-West, so I've got to say meat and potato! In the show we visited Dickinson & Morris, the original Melton Mowbray pie shop. The chap there was so fanatical about his pork pies! He showed us how you make the crust with boiling lard, then you mould it around, like putty around a wooden dolly. You need the right amount of jelly. Some pork pies are luminous monstrosities with plastic jelly, but his pies were absolutely fantastic."
I love pork pies, but always remove the jelly.
"There's actually not that much jelly in the proper ones. When the meat shrinks back from the crust, they pour in hot meat stock jelly through the top. It fills up what they call the 'shoulder' of the pork pie. Some of that with apple chutney is a pretty good meal, if you're not a vegetarian."
Does all this baking mean the end of the bikes?
"Not at all, it's how we get around! We rode 5,000 miles this time, more than the [shows] abroad. We've been to some of the most beautiful places in the world but the UK is absolutely stunning. That comes across in this series as well. It's very beautifully shot."
Having been all over the world, which country do you think has the best cuisine?
"The best cuisine was Southern India, which is vegetarian. I thought my body ran well on it. I couldn't get enough of the little potato curries for breakfast! Vietnamese cuisine is amazing too. It's very light, there's no wheat, no dairy - and they make the best baguettes outside of France."
What else is coming up for you guys?
"We've got a Christmas special, also as the Hairy Bakers, which we've yet to shoot. We have various things in early stages of development, including more food festivals, and I'm doing Celebrity Mastermind for my sins."
Which subject?
"The pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. I'll be alright. As we've always said with the programme, we'll just give it a go. But it means I need to start revising now!"
The Hairy Bakers airs Mondays at 8.30pm on BBC Two.
