Richard E. Grant told Irish chef Clodagh McKenna that he eats a Christmas pudding once a month and keeps a stockpile of 27 in his pantry during a visit to McKenna’s Broadspear farm for her new food column.
The pair baked focaccia together in McKenna’s pickling shed at Broadspear, on the grounds of Highclere Park in Hampshire, where McKenna and her husband, Harry Herbert, run an estate that includes dogs, hens, ducks, Aberdeen Angus cattle, woodland pigs and bees. The actor, who McKenna has known for more than a decade, described the experience of learning to make bread as transformative and said he plans to bake on Saturday mornings when he is not working.
McKenna said the two met at a lunch at Mark Hix’s restaurant more than 10 years ago and bonded over a shared love of food. Grant, who acknowledged he had used a bread-making machine in the past, said learning to make focaccia "is my dream," and McKenna wrote that he took to kneading and shaping the dough quickly, as though he had been taught by an Italian nonna.
Grant detailed his everyday relationship with food in the column, saying he cooks daily and primarily eats Italian cuisine. He said he would choose to be born into Italian culture because of the communal nature of meals, though he acknowledged a long-standing attachment to France; he and his late wife had a house in France for 33 years. Grant recounted a childhood memory of living on a relative’s cotton and cattle farm in southern Swaziland in 1964, where vegetables were grown and butter was made, and he singled out a thin, very sweet honey cake from that period as a lingering craving.
The actor shared a list of strong dislikes as well as favourites. He said he finds liver, cheese and chocolate repellent, describing chocolate’s smell and taste as "claggy," and said he has pretended to enjoy cheese or chocolate while filming. He named tomato and lemon as foods he could not live without and said he squeezes five oranges every morning for fresh juice. He praised a pizza he ate in Anacapri in which sliced San Marzano tomatoes were placed on a hot plate and the dough laid on top, calling it the best pizza he had eaten.
Grant also discussed condiments and habits: he carries Maldon salt with him and said he makes homemade mayonnaise at least three times a week, using egg yolks, Dijon mustard, Maldon salt and olive oil, finished with lemon. He defended English food as underrated and listed classic dishes he enjoys, including roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, bread and butter pudding and sticky toffee pudding. When asked what dish he would be, he said he would be "a fuss pot" or a Christmas pudding.
Not all of his food memories were positive. Grant recounted a moment in Rome when a cacio e pepe made with pecorino was so unpleasant to him that he tipped the entire bowl into a bin and, when the waiter returned, was asked whether he wanted more because he had eaten faster than any other customer.
McKenna and Grant prepared a Rosemary, Sun-Blushed Tomato & Olive Focaccia during the visit. The recipe, as presented in McKenna’s column, serves one loaf and uses fast-acting dried yeast, olive oil, strong white bread flour, olives, sun-blushed tomatoes, sea salt and chopped rosemary. The process involves dissolving yeast in warm water with olive oil, mixing into the flour, kneading, allowing the dough to rise twice, pressing dimples into the proved dough, popping olives and tomatoes into the dimples, drizzling with olive oil, sprinkling with salt and rosemary, and baking at 220C for 30 minutes.
The demonstration at Broadspear combined practical instruction with personal conversation. McKenna wrote that she encourages friends to learn breadmaking because it is a basic life skill that ‘‘transforms a house into a home,’’ and she described Grant’s pleasure at seeing the dough rise and making the characteristic dimples by hand.
The column places the cookery demonstration within the context of McKenna’s sustainable smallholding and social kitchen philosophy, tying seasonal and domestic food practices to broader themes of home, memory and conviviality. Grant’s descriptions of his tastes, dislikes and rituals offer a portrait of culinary preferences shaped by childhood memories, long-term residence in France and an affection for Italian dining culture.
ROSEMARY, SUN-BLUSHED TOMATO & OLIVE FOCACCIA
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients: 4 tsp fast-acting dried yeast; 1 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for drizzling); 500g strong white bread flour; 12 olives; 12 sun-blushed tomatoes; sea salt; 1 tbsp chopped rosemary leaves.
Method: Put the yeast, olive oil and 300ml warm water in a jug and stir together until the yeast is dissolved. Tip the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Slowly pour the yeast mixture into the well of the flour, stirring with a fork until a dough forms. If it is too moist add more flour, or too dry add olive oil. Tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead for five minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for about an hour in a warm spot, until doubled in size. Grease a baking dish (about 40cm x 30cm) with olive oil. Tip the risen dough into the dish, pushing it into the corners. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to prove for one hour, until doubled in size again. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Once the dough has risen again, use your fingers to make dimples all over. Pop the olives and sun-blushed tomatoes into the dimples. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh rosemary. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. When cooked, finish with a little more olive oil.
The column appeared as part of McKenna’s ongoing food pieces, which combine recipes, sustainable-plot details and interviews with culinary-minded friends and guests.