WEBVTT - Adwoa Aboah 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.840 Welcome to Ruthie's Table four, a production of iHeartRadio and 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:08.480 Adamized Studios. 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:13.000 In September, the River Cafe will be thirty six years old, 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:15.560 and one of the great joys of having a restaurant 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.759 for so long is watching the second generation and now 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:22.440 even a third generation of her early customers grow up. 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:28.120 Adwa's parents, Charles Boa and Camilla Luther, have been part 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:31.360 of the River Cafe family since reopened, and ad was 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:35.000 gone from being a young child ordering pasta, butter and 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:38.360 cheese and then playing in the garden space outside with 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:42.600 her friends to a formidable woman focused on the political 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:46.960 and social issues relevant today. After her own struggles with 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:52.040 mental health and to support young women's wellbeing, she founded 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:56.040 the organization Girls Talk, providing a safe space for girls 0:00:56.040 --> 0:01:01.400 to access resources, share experiences, create community, and feel less alone, 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:04.720 a place to escape the chaos of the every day. 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.480 I think a beautiful phrase today. Ed was just come 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:11.880 from the kitchen grilling scallops and frying zucchini, and she's 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:14.039 going to tell us what she learned and read the 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:16.960 recipe so you can cook this at home. It's both 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:21.880 moving and exciting for me to have ed. We're here oh, oh, 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:26.800 so nice. So you've been in the kitchen then in 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:29.479 the River Cafee kitchen, which do you remember coming here. 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:35.520 All the time all the time Ronnie and Johnathan? Yeah, 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:37.399 they used to take us all the time. 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:41.000 And you've just been in the kitchen, and so you 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:44.680 watched your request for the recipe with scallops grilled scallops 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:47.880 with chili and zucchini. 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:50.800 My name's Adriana and I'm a chepher at the River 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:56.880 Cafe and today I'm cooking some scallops on the grilling. 0:01:57.240 --> 0:01:59.880 That now, Joan, I'm not cooking anything. 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:03.080 You can cook it with me if you want. 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:03.960 Okay, cool. 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:06.440 We put them in the center of the grill because 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:07.480 that's the hardest place. 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:11.360 How long do you have to leave them on forard Not. 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:14.160 Very long at all. So you just keep them, don't 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:16.440 move them around, keep them where they are, and then 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:17.440 they'll start kind. 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:18.040 Of coming off. 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:21.639 You can kind of look at the bottom and see 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:25.960 how they're cooking, because if you move them too quickly 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:26.959 then they'll stick. 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:29.880 Oh wow, and. 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:34.440 Then we're gonna get some pretty may I think, Harry, 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.880 you're doing pretty right? Can you drop some pretty for us? 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:40.480 So we have two recipes one. I think it's really 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:44.639 for the batter for the zucchini, and then quite simple the. 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:51.000 Scales scallops and zucchini pretty four ripe zucchini, one litera 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:55.919 sunflower oil for the batter. One cup all purpose flour, 0:02:56.600 --> 0:03:01.040 three tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Get always get really 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:03.440 confused that the tablespoon and teaspoon. 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:05.760 There is a difference, like. 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:08.000 The way it's written. 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:13.360 Yeah, because it's tablespoon tsp. 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:20.400 Is three tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, three tablespoons warm water, 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:26.480 three egg whites, scallops, sixteen shells sea scallops, two lemons, 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:31.600 extra virgin olival Cut the zucchini into ovals, then into 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:35.760 thick matchsticks for the batter. Sift the flour into a bowl, 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:37.880 making a well in the center. 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:40.240 Pour in the olive oil and stuff. 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:43.960 Loosen the paste by slowly adding enough warm water to 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:46.720 make a batter the consistency of heavy cream. 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:48.600 Leave for thirty minutes. 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:52.360 Heat the oil in a high sided pan to three 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:55.880 hundred and seventy five degrees. Beat the egg whites until 0:03:56.000 --> 0:04:00.640 stiff and fold into the batter. Dip zucchini, then fry 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:04.960 in batches in hot oil until golden and crisp. Serve 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:10.160 immediately scallops. Heat the grill. Season the scallops very generously 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:14.040 on both sides with salt and pepper. Actually she said 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:15.880 only salt and then pepper at the end. 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:18.680 Don't put the pepper on, Yeah, don't, Okay. 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:22.880 It burns quickly, so put the pepper on after place 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:26.159 on the grill until lightly brown and crisp. Then turn 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:28.960 over the grill. On the other side. The scallop should 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:31.359 be tender on the inside and crisp on the surface. 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.400 Serve with lemon and a drizzle of olive oil. And 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:36.880 I had some chili online, so. 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:38.280 If you have to place it all up. 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:43.240 Yeah, that's the really fun part about working here is 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:44.960 that you get to plate all of your. 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.280 Food because well, who would usually do. 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:49.719 That in like another so you bring it up to 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.240 the past, and maybe someone on the past would plate it, 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:55.640 but here you get to do it and it gives 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:58.680 you I mean, for me, it's really satisfying. 0:04:59.720 --> 0:04:59.920 Water. 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:10.560 Wow, I'm coming here for dinner. 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.839 Tell me about going to Vogue with Edward, because we did. 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:18.040 When Edward Nfl became the editor, we did the party. 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:21.440 Remember that we had a party for him. I was 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:24.760 a great party. You were the cover for his first year. 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:27.920 That was mad, that Vogue party. I remember that like 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:33.560 it was yesterday. I remember us driving here and I, 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.120 you know, Edward, and I still laugh about it now. 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:38.160 It's like it wasn't naivety. 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:40.599 I think it was just this we were just doing 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:43.919 something that felt very special to both of us. It 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:47.520 was like this, we were embarking on this new journey, 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:51.680 and it wasn't necessarily that we were. We were completely 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:54.280 naive to how the world was going to embrace it, 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:57.920 you know, not only just people in fashion but worldwide. 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:01.279 You know, it really went you know what I mean, I think. 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:04.719 And so as we kind of pulled up. I pulled up, 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:06.280 I can't remember who I was in the car with me. 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:08.400 It was like my mom and dad and system. We 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:11.520 pulled up the Shepherd's Bush roundabout and it was projected 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:13.480 on Shepherd's Bush round about. 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.200 What the hell is going on? 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:18.080 And I looked on my phone and it was just 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:21.520 like going mad and I actually like broke out into hives. 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:23.800 I was like, oh my god, this is so much. 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:26.280 I don't even know how to deal with this situation. 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.800 I pulled up the River Cafe and Edwin and I 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:29.560 just giggled. 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:31.799 We could not stop laughing. 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:36.720 I think we were both so overwhelmed by what had 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:40.600 happened that we kind of just like could not stop laughing. 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:43.799 It was mad. It still feels really mad. 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:47.200 We all had Ravioli. We had this long discussion before 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:51.880 whether all the Vogue people, the models and the actresses 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:56.880 and the young beauties of today would actually have gluten carbs, 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:01.040 cheese butter, and whether we would serve it. And we did, 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:03.800 and bo was actually really cool because we said, do 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.640 you want to find out what people won't do they get? 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:08.359 Now we're done with that. We're done with you know, 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:10.400 if you have a food preference, we're just going to 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.120 do the menu and what they eat. They and everybody 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:16.160 had reveally, and everybody, a lot of people had seconds 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:20.000 of REVIALI and yet the whole issue with the being 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:22.679 a model about your body, talk about being a woman 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:25.920 in a profession that requires you to be a certain shape. 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:32.320 Beside, I think I don't remember being worried. I think 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:35.400 there were moments when I was at school where I 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:38.680 was kind of worried about what I looked like. Sometimes 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:40.960 I didn't I wasn't at a girls' school. But you know, 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:45.520 I lived in a house full of women, so sometimes 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:48.040 when someone would get a bit like weird with food 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:52.800 or they'd have you know, issues, it kind of sometimes 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.760 bleeds into everyone else within the community, do you know 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:56.080 what I mean? 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:57.559 We see that all the time. 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:02.360 And I think when I started modeling, I don't again 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:06.080 remember feeling that pressured about it. I think I just 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:11.040 felt like incredibly painful in my own body in general, 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:15.840 So it wasn't necessarily like kind of weight related. I 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:18.000 think there's always been like parts of my body that 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:19.720 I haven't like loved, you know what I mean, And 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:22.080 I've had to grow to love the. 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:23.920 Are you the kind of person that can eat but 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:27.240 not gain weight, Yeah, because I've always done lots and 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:30.240 lots of sports. But were other models that you were with? 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:32.760 What did you feel that to be a model you 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:33.760 had to be a Yeah. 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.040 I got weird with food for a period of time 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:39.720 actually when I got sober, and they call it that transference, 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:41.360 you know, I think I was just trying to control 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:42.120 something else. 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:42.440 In my life. 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:44.080 So I got a bit weird with food when I 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:49.000 was about twenty two. I think it was just control, 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:54.720 to be quite honest, and I think, wait for me, 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:58.880 you know, if I'm myself ale with anxiety, you know, 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:03.120 and so when I'm anxious, it just falls off. Yeah, 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:05.680 I'm not the type of person sometimes I am eating, 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:08.960 but it literally just falls off all the time. So 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:14.840 sometimes I haven't even been like aware of like dropping way. 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:15.600 I think. 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:20.240 I've always done a lot of exercise and a kind 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:23.920 of now do pilates, So I used to build a 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:27.480 lot of muscle. So my body has changed, like you know, 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:30.360 over the course of like many years, I think, And 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:38.400 so I think, I think when I got started modeling properly, 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:42.560 I decided there was a part of me that had 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:46.680 that to do it, to really kind of walk into 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:51.959 it again, I had to take on. It was almost 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:54.800 like a It wasn't necessarily that I felt like that, 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:57.240 but I had to be like, this is who I am, 0:09:57.320 --> 0:09:57.800 do you know what I mean? 0:09:57.880 --> 0:09:59.800 Like take it or leave it, you know what I mean. 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:03.120 I'm not going to be sucked into this idea that 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:07.800 I should be thinner or look a different sort of 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:11.040 way for you to kind of appreciate me or want me. 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:12.920 So I had to and that's. 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:14.880 Not exactly how I felt all the time, but I 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:17.600 had to sort of fake it to make it so 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:22.600 it wasn't necessarily I think I've always I don't know. 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:25.160 I was speaking on my own podcast about this the 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:30.040 other day. I think I wonder if my relationship with 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:31.760 myself will ever be. 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:34.840 What I wanted to be. 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:39.280 Whilst I model, I don't know if my I have 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:43.160 a to a certain extent a healthy relationship with myself, 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.480 but I wonder if my relationship with my body will 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:50.880 ever be what I wanted to be as long as 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.240 I'm kind of within the industry. And yes, it has 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:57.240 changed like drastically, do you know what I mean? The 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:02.080 likes of amazing people spearheading different sorts of movements. But 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:05.559 you know, we only have to kind of look at 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:09.520 certain photos or fashion shows and we see the kind 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:10.800 of the pressure that's. 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:13.200 Playing, and I almost find it painful. I haven't been 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:16.760 to that many catwalk shows. I think it probably when 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:22.319 you see, you know how and kind of serious and 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:24.600 all that. You know, I know, it's there to just 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:28.280 showcase the clothes, and so it's opening at a hanger, 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:30.800 but there is something as a woman to see women 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:32.400 doing that job is a little bit. 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:34.920 Yeah, And also when you know that someone's like kind 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:39.480 of unwell, yeah, whatever that looks like for different people. 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:43.640 When you know someone's kind of suffering with and you know, 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:48.120 disordered eating, but they are praised and celebrated within the 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:53.400 industry and they work even more. It's that in itself 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:57.760 is an uncomfortable thing to get your head around. I 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:00.920 think that's where sometimes the pressure for me lies. It 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:04.040 isn't that I want to be onwell, it's just the 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:07.160 fact that I see people doing well because of it, 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.520 do you know what I mean? And that's a that's 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:11.800 that's a mad thing to get your head around, you 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:13.720 know what I mean. And it's and I don't think 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:18.680 that kind of breeds healthy ways of looking yourself. You know, 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:23.920 if you're being told that you are better for being thin, and. 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.959 I suppose the other you know, we haven't talked about 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:30.280 We've talked about body image and modeling. We haven't talked 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:33.719 about race. And I think that there is also the 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:36.320 issue of what it was like to be or what 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:38.760 it is like to be a woman of color in 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.680 very What was it thanks to Edward? It's it's not 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:46.360 so much and people like Edward, but how that affected you. 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:49.360 I think that's something that I'm really delving into at 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:53.600 the moment is how a lack of understanding about my 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:57.640 own identity has really kind of hindered certain aspects of 0:12:57.640 --> 0:12:59.839 my growth, do you know what I mean? And having 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:03.559 been brought up in a predominantly white space, that how 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:07.679 that has affected me, How the things that I've tolerated, 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:09.720 the things that I've kind of brushed off. And I 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:13.920 think because of the resurgence of Black Lives Matter, the 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:18.200 conversations that they were having it kind of it really 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:20.679 kind of shook people's core. It wasn't that we were 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:24.440 just talking about slavery something that happened, you know, years 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:26.960 and years ago when people were I know, but for 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:30.400 certain people, like they weren't around where they happened when 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:32.560 that happened, so they were like, oh, I wasn't part 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:32.760 of that. 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:34.800 I mean I would, I didn't do anything like that. 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:39.679 And I think Black Lives Matter kind of brought it, 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:42.720 made it current and suddenly you were kind of they 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.800 were speaking about things that you had to check yourself 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:49.600 on and I had to suddenly was I think validated 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:53.559 in a lot of experiences and feelings that I had 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:56.440 surrounding my own race and how I'd had to kind 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:58.760 of navigate certain situations. 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:02.040 And also I think I was also my privilege. 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:04.800 You know, we talk about colorism within the community as 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:07.560 being someone who's like mixed race and lighter skin. 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:09.839 The way that I was treated compared to. 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.440 My cousins who are you know, who were a lot 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:16.440 darker skinned than me. You know, I think that's a 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:21.760 conversation that we don't have enough either. But for me, 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:26.280 I think it was great. You know, when Edward started 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:29.480 doing what he was doing, what he does and continues 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:32.440 to do and sets the bar so high continuously. 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:33.920 I think for me. 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:38.800 It had always been unspoken how uncomfortable I'd felt in 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:42.920 certain situations. It was almost that I didn't want to 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:45.320 give it a name. It's like I felt that there 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:49.920 were certain reasons why my career hadn't taken off, you know, 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:53.280 when I'd started with certain people, you know, who look 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:57.160 very different to me, I think I still was searching 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:02.240 for something that was completely unattainable. Different different body shape, 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:05.920 you know, sometimes even like you know, different colored skin, 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:09.320 you know, And so I think I didn't want to 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:12.160 blame it on something like that. I was like, why, 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:14.440 you know, I started at the same time as car 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:16.680 I started at the same time as so many girls, 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:19.880 and they kind of reached such great heights and I. 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:21.200 Was like, why is that? Do you know what I mean? 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:23.560 I think it was quite nice when Edward. 0:15:23.640 --> 0:15:25.720 There was many things that were beautiful about it, but 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:28.720 like having him come in and be like, we got 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:29.240 to change that. 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.120 This is what is going on, you know what I mean? 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:34.120 Were you born here? Yeah? 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:37.160 Yeah, born in London and your father's yeah gone in 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:38.880 he was born in Akras. 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:41.920 So going back was part of your childhood. 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:45.000 Yeah, very much. So it was always something that we did. 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:48.120 Sometimes my mum came and sometimes it was just the 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:49.960 three of us, and. 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:52.720 I think it felt quite alien at that time. 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:56.640 And as I grew older and kind of my career changed, 0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:59.960 and obviously I became like a grown up, my relationship 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:03.800 Ghana very much changed. I felt like kind of instead 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:06.600 of just the kind of traveler someone who'd like been 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:09.200 born in London and who'd come back to Ghana, I 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:11.600 felt like they really claimed me, which was really like 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:15.080 a kind of beautiful experience, you know. I think especially 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:17.480 after the British Vogue cover. You know, it was like 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:20.760 they call you a Brunei, which means like a kind 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:24.000 of traveler because I'm obviously a little like paler skin 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.560 than most garn Ears, And I think after that, I 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:31.200 felt very much like kind of claimed by the people there, 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:34.960 which was really really amazing. But I have the most 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:36.520 amazing memories of Ghana. 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.520 We always used to stay at my grandma and granddads. 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:45.240 It's just a modest house next to a nursery, so 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:48.640 there were always like kids playing outside. My grandma has 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:50.880 always had a little kind of like corner shop, so 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:53.920 we go in there get all like cold bottles of like. 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.120 Coke and like biscuits. Then we'd sit. 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:01.120 There and watch her and my aunt Mary, all three 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:03.280 of them live together, so we'd watch them. 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:05.320 Did you cook? Did she cook for you? 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:05.720 Yeah? 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.520 She cooked, and then she had a woman who also 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:09.840 helped her comfort. 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:11.080 What is gonna and food? 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:13.720 Like, it's amazing. 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:16.160 I mean, you've got the joll Off rice, You've got 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:21.679 lots of different kind of fish, You've got food food, 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:25.200 so it's like a kind of dough that you dip 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:29.160 into a soup. The spice there is kind of like 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:31.360 it's like an oily one. 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:32.600 It's amazing. 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.000 And chili, yeah, a lot of chili. 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:37.720 Yeah, yeah, yeah, really, Spike yeah, yeah. 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:39.320 Yeah, did you go to the market. 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:45.479 To the markets are mad, mad, like insane, just like 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:52.120 bustling food, clothes, people wandering around. It's like mental but amazing. 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:55.040 And how long would you stay? We'd stay for like 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:58.680 two weeks. I have some cousins who usually stay there 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:01.920 a bit longer. Dad and my sister were there this year. 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:04.800 My dad goes back all the day, all the time. 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:08.080 My granddad's not alive anymore. My aunt Mary, she's not 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:12.640 alive anymore, but my grandma very much still there and 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:14.200 my aunt Tina lives with her. 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:17.080 So yeah, that's what was it like growing up in 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.800 your house. You have memories of meals, you know, for cooked. 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:26.000 My house has always been a place that is kind of. 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.199 People are in and out at all times. 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:34.480 You know, I very much grew up with Maybe it 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:36.240 was someone who had to move in for a bit, 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:39.679 you know, my godfather would move in, or someone in 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:45.040 you know, distress would be upstairs living in the upstairs room. 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:49.879 There were always parties and dinner parties and lots of 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:52.200 different people kind of in and out of the house. 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:55.200 You know. My mom has always been like an entertainer, 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:56.560 my dad as well. 0:18:57.000 --> 0:18:58.680 The home has always. 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:02.600 Been one that kind of it feels like sacred, but 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:05.280 they're not precious about it. You know, a place that 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:08.120 people want to geah, the carpets are rolled up when 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:11.320 a party happens. But you know, they've never been kind 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:14.400 of like prim and Popper, prim and roper about their 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:15.200 their places. 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:18.159 But were kids part of it? You kind of you 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:20.720 weren't sitting on the steps watching the party. We were 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:22.560 down there. 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.160 We do like things like. 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:28.760 Co check yeah yeah, and we like charge everyone money 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:31.800 and then they find all their coats just piled off 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:35.680 on one bed, pretending like we'd organized them. Or we'd 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:39.080 be like sat on the staircase watching everyone get up 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:42.440 to whatever mischief they were getting up to. And then 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:44.080 later on we were just joining in. 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:46.320 Would you go out a lot? Would you go out? Yeah? 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:49.119 We do such amazing things, you know. 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:52.879 That's the thing about growing up in London is like, 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:56.000 I mean, I wouldn't want to bring my children out 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:56.640 anywhere else. 0:19:56.680 --> 0:19:57.240 I loved it. 0:19:57.560 --> 0:20:01.960 Galleries and restaurants and they took us everywhere. It was 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:06.720 never about separation. It was like you want to sit 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:09.000 with the grown ups. You learn how to sit with 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:14.240 the grown ups. You you know, learn how to converse 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:17.960 and listen and talk to whoever might be next to 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:20.120 you or in front of you. But it was never 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:22.760 like my parents were never into the idea of like 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:25.120 putting you on the kids say, yeah, you know, if 0:20:25.119 --> 0:20:27.800 we were younger, it was like, come out, enjoy yourself. 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:30.520 When you get tired, just sleep under the table, do 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:31.720 you know what I mean? And then we'll go out. 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:34.080 And then you went to way to boarding school. Yeah, yeah, 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:34.760 what was that? Like? 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:36.760 The food yeah, horrible. 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.680 Horrible and Milfield was Millfield, Yeah, to be rather proud 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:39.879 of it. 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:44.040 It was you know what, maybe this is my snobby side. 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:46.840 I'm not great with a buffet. I think school kind 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:49.800 of like traumatized me from that. I mean some days 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:52.480 it would be good, like the salad station was like banging, 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:56.879 like that was good. But to be quite honest, I 0:20:56.920 --> 0:20:58.960 lived off dominoes for like five years. 0:20:58.960 --> 0:21:01.119 Oh no, you weren't. 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:04.040 We weren't allowed, but we'd like sneak it in and 0:21:04.080 --> 0:21:06.840 then in prep we'd like run out and get the 0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:09.520 pizza and like bring it back in and all share it. 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:12.560 On Fridays we were allowed like to order in Indian 0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:14.800 or a Chinese Yeah. 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:17.919 Interesting, So that must have been quite shocking to go 0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:21.520