WEBVTT - From the Archive: Adwoa Aboah 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.720 You are listening to Ruthie's Table four in partnership with Montclair. 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.680 In September, the River Cafe will be thirty six years old, 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:14.280 and one of the great joys of having a restaurant 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:17.440 for so long is watching the second generation and now 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:21.160 even a third generation of her early customers grow up. 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:26.840 Adwa's parents, Charles Boa and Camilla Luther, have been part 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:30.080 of the River Cafe family since reopened, and ad was 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:33.680 gone from being a young child ordering pasta, butter and 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:37.080 cheese and then playing in the garden space outside with 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:41.320 her friends to a formidable woman focused on the political 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:45.680 and social issues relevant today. After her own struggles with 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:50.239 mental health and to support young women's well being, she 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:54.320 founded the organization Girls Talk, providing a safe space for 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:59.320 girls to access resources, share experiences, create community, and feel 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:02.800 less alone, a place to escape the chaos of the 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:06.840 every day. I think a beautiful phrase today. Ad was 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:09.959 just come from the kitchen grilling scallops and frying zucchini, 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:12.360 and she's going to tell us what she learned and 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:14.640 read the recipe so you can cook this at home. 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:18.440 It's both moving and exciting for me to have d 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:21.759 we're here, Oh. 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:22.080 Oh so nice. 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:25.880 So you've been in the kitchen then in the River 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:30.360 Cafe kitchen, which do you remember coming here all. 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:34.520 The time all the time Ronnie and Johnathan? Yeah, they 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:36.119 used to take us all the time. 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:39.720 And you've just been in the kitchen, and so you 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:43.400 watched your request for the recipe with scallops grilled scallops 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:44.960 with chili and zucchini. 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:49.520 My name's Adriana and I'm a chepher at the River 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:55.560 Cafe and today I'm cooking some scallops on the grilling. 0:01:55.960 --> 0:02:01.040 That now, Joan, I'm not cooking anything. You can cook 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:02.680 it with me if you want to. Okay, cool. 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:05.160 We put them in the center of the grill because 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:06.200 that's the hardest place. 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:09.400 How long do you have to leave them on? 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:12.400 Not very long at all. So you just keep them, 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:14.920 don't move them around, keep them where they are, and 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:15.919 then he'll start. 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:16.720 Kind of coming off. 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.320 You can kind of look at the bottom and see 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:24.640 how they're cooking, because if you move them too quickly 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:25.680 then they'll stick. 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.600 Oh wow, and. 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:33.160 Then we're gonna get some pretty may I think, Harry, 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:36.600 you're doing pretty right? Can you drop some pretty for us? 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:39.200 So we have two recipes. One I think it's really 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:43.280 for the batter for the zucchini, and then quite simple the. 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:49.359 Scales, scallops and zucchini pretty four firm ripe zucchini, one 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:54.639 litera sunflower oil for the batter. One cup all purpose flour, 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:59.400 three tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. I get always get 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.200 really confus use that the tablespoon and teaspoon. 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:04.520 There is a different. 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:06.680 Like the way it's written. 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:12.160 Yeah, because it's tablespoon tsp. 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:19.120 Isp three tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, three tablespoons warm water, 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:25.160 three egg whites, scallops, sixteen shelled sea scallops, two lemons 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:30.239 extra virgin olival Cut the zucchini into ovals, then into 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:34.480 thick matchsticks for the batter. Sift the flour into a bowl, 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:38.040 making a well in the center. Pour in the olive 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:41.760 oil and stuff. Loosen the paste by slowly adding enough 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:45.440 warm water to make a batter the consistency of heavy cream. 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:50.000 Leave for thirty minutes. Heat the oil in a high 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:53.480 sided pan to three hundred and seventy five degrees. Beat 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:56.920 the egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter. 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:01.800 Dip zucchini, then fry in batch in hot oil until 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:07.400 golden and crisp. Serve immediately scallops. Heat the grill. Season 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:11.280 the scallops very generously on both sides with salt and pepper. 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:14.600 Actually she said only salt and then pepper at the end. 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.400 Don't put the pepper on, Yeah, don't, Okay. 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:21.600 It burns quickly, so put the pepper on after place 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:24.880 on the grill until lightly brown and crisp. Then turn 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:27.679 over the grill. On the other side. The scallop should 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.080 be tender on the inside and crisp on the surface. 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:33.120 Serve with lemon and a drizzle of olive oil. And 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:36.200 I had some chili online. So do you have to 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:39.480 place it all up? Yeah? 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.080 That's the really fun part about working here is that 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:43.680 you get to plate all of your. 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.120 Food because where who would usually do that? 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:48.919 Like Anton, so you bring it up to the past 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:51.040 and maybe someone on the pass would play it, but 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:54.640 here you get to do it and it gives you. 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.400 I mean, for me, it's really satisfying. 0:04:58.120 --> 0:04:59.000 God wos. 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.239 Wow, I'm coming here for dinner. 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.560 Tell me about going to Vogue with Edward, because we did. 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:16.760 When Edward Nfl became the editor, we did the party. 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.160 Remember that we had a party for him That was 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:23.480 a great party. You were the cover for his first year. 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:26.640 That was mad, that Vogue party. I remember that like 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:32.280 it was yesterday. I remember us driving here and I, 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:34.800 you know, Edward, and I still laugh about it now. 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:37.720 It's like it wasn't naivety. I think it was just 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:41.719 this we were just doing something that felt very special 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:43.920 to both of us. It was like this, we were 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:47.760 embarking on this new journey, and it wasn't necessarily that 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:51.800 we were. We were completely naive to how the world 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.680 was going to embrace it, you know, not only just 0:05:54.720 --> 0:05:58.960 people in fashion, but worldwide. You know, it really went viral, 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:01.080 do you I mean? I think? And so as we 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:04.039 kind of pulled up. I pulled up, I can't remember 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:05.320 who I was in the car with me. It was 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.560 like my mom and dad and system. We pulled up 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:11.279 the Shepherd's Bush roundabout and it was projected on Shepherd's 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:15.279 Bush round about. What the hell is going on? And 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:17.000 I looked on my phone and it was just like 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:20.240 going mad and I actually like broke out into hives. 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:22.520 I was like, oh my god, this is so much. 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:25.000 I don't even know how to deal with this situation. 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:27.479 I pulled up the River Cafe and Edwin and I 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:31.040 just giggled. We could not stop laughing. I think we 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:36.240 were both so overwhelmed by what had happened that we 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:40.400 kind of just like could not stop laughing. It was mad. 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:42.520 It still feels really mad. 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:45.919 We all had ravioli. We had this long discussion before 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:50.560 whether all the Vogue people, the models and the actresses 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:55.560 and the young beauties of today would actually have gluten carbs, 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:59.760 cheese butter, and whether we would serve it. We did, 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.440 and bo was actually really cool because we said, do 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:05.400 you want to find out what people whyn't you? They get? 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:07.080 Now we're done with that. We're done with you know, 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.159 if you have a food preference, we're just going to 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:11.040 do the menu and what they eat. They did, and 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:14.400 everybody had Reveali and everybody. A lot of people had 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:17.960 seconds of viali. And yet the whole issue with the 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:21.080 being a model about your body, talk about being a 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:23.880 woman in a profession that requires you to be a 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:25.400 certain shape besize. 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:31.240 I think I don't remember being worried. I think there 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:34.200 were moments when I was at school where I was 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:37.640 kind of worried about what I looked like. Sometimes I 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:39.680 didn't I wasn't at a girls' school. But you know, 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:44.240 I lived in a house full of women, so sometimes 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:46.760 when someone would get a bit like weird with food 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:51.520 or they'd have you know, issues, it kind of sometimes 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:54.520 bleeds into everyone else within the community, you know what 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:56.880 I mean. We see that all the time. And I 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:02.200 think when I started modeling, I don't again remember feeling 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:05.240 that pressured about it. I think I just felt like 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:10.040 incredibly painful in my own body in general, So it 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:14.960 wasn't necessarily like kind of weight related. I think there's 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:17.119 always been like parts of my body that I haven't 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:18.800 like loved, you know what I mean, And I've had 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:19.640 to grow to love. 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:22.600 Are you the kind of person that can eat but 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:23.720 not gain weight. 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:26.840 Yeah, because I've always done lots and lots of sports. 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.960 But were other models that you were with? What did 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:31.760 you feel that to be a model you had to 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:32.480 be a Yeah. 0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:34.760 I got weird with food for a period of time 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:38.439 actually when I got sober, and they call it that transference, 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:40.080 you know, I think I was just trying to control 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:41.760 something else in my life. So I got a bit 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:45.920 weird with food when I was about twenty two. I 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:50.640 think it was just control, to be quite honest, And 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:55.840 I think wait for me, you know, if I'm i 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:59.320 selfer with anxiety, you know, and so when I'm anxious, 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:02.800 it just falls off. Yeah, I'm not the type of 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:06.760 person sometimes I am eating, but it literally just falls 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:09.199 off all the time. So sometimes I haven't even been 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:16.559 like aware of like dropping way. I think. I've always 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:19.920 done a lot of exercise and a kind of now 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:23.280 do pilates, So I used to build a lot of muscles. 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:27.000 So my body has changed, like you know, over the 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:31.240 course of like many years, I think, And so I 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:37.080 think because I think when I got started modeling properly, 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:41.520 I decided there was a part of me that had 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:45.400 that to do it, to really kind of walk into 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:50.679 it again, I had to take on. It was almost 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:53.520 like a It wasn't necessarily that I felt like that, 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:55.960 but I had to be like, this is who I am, 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:57.599 do you know what I mean? Like take it or 0:09:57.679 --> 0:09:59.400 leave it, you know what I mean. I'm not gonna 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:03.679 be sucked into this idea that I should be thinner 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:07.280 or look a different sort of way for you to 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:10.640 kind of appreciate me or want me. So I had 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:13.320 to and that's not exactly how I felt all the time, 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:15.840 but I had to sort of fake it to make 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:20.800 it so it wasn't necessarily I think I've always I 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.600 don't know. I was speaking on my own podcast about 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:27.320 this the other day. I think I wonder if my 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:33.560 relationship with myself will ever be what I wanted to be. 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:38.160 Whilst I model, I don't know if I have a 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:42.600 to a certain extent a healthy relationship with myself, but 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:45.440 I wonder if my relationship with my body will ever 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:49.800 be what I wanted to be as long as I'm 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:52.440 kind of within the industry. And yes, it has changed 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:56.320 like drastically, do you know what I mean? The likes 0:10:56.360 --> 0:11:01.760 of amazing people spearheading different sorts of movements. But you know, 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:06.000 we only have to kind of look at certain photos 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:08.800 or fashion shows and we see the kind of the 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:09.520 pressure that's. 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:11.920 Playing, and I almost find it painful. I haven't been 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:15.480 to that many catwalk shows. I think it probably when 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:20.880 you see, you know how and kind of serious and 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:23.320 all that. You know, I know, it's there to just 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:27.000 showcase the clothes, and so it's opening at a hanger, 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.520 but there is something as a woman to see women 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:31.040 doing their job is a little. 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:33.360 Bit yeah, And also when you know that someone's like 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:38.160 kind of unwell, yeah, whatever that looks like for different people. 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:42.360 When you know someone's kind of suffering with and you know, 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:46.840 disordered eating, but they are praised and celebrated within the 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:52.120 industry and they work even more. It's that in itself 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:56.480 is an uncomfortable thing to get your head around. I 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:59.640 think that's where sometimes the pressure for me. Lies. It 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:03.000 isn't I want to be onwell, it's just the fact 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:06.120 that I see people doing well because of it, you 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:08.920 know what I mean. And that's a that's that's a 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:10.679 mad thing to get your head around, you know what 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:12.839 I mean. And it's and I don't think that kind 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:17.600 of breeds healthy ways of looking yourself. You know, if 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:22.640 you're being told that you are better for being thin, and. 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:25.640 I suppose the other you know, we haven't talked about 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:29.000 We've talked about body image and modeling. We haven't talked 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:32.440 about race. And I think that there is also the 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:35.040 issue of what it was like to be or what 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:37.480 it is like to be a woman of color in 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:41.400 very What was it thanks to Edward? It's it's not 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:45.040 so much and people like Edward, but how that affected you. 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:48.079 I think that's something that I'm really delving into at 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:52.320 the moment is how a lack of understanding about my 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:56.360 own identity has really kind of hindered certain aspects of 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.600 my growth, do you know what I mean? And having 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:02.280 been brought up in a predominantly white space, that how 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:06.360 that has affected me, How the things that I've tolerated, 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:08.440 the things that I've kind of brushed off. And I 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:12.600 think because of the resurgence of Black Lives Matter, the 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:16.960 conversations that they were having it kind of it really 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.400 kind of shook people's core. It wasn't that we were 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:23.120 just talking about slavery something that happened, you know, years 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.680 and years ago when people were I know, but for 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:29.120 certain people, like they weren't around where they happened when 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:31.240 that happened, so they were like, oh, I wasn't part 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:33.240 of that. I mean I would, I didn't do anything 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.679 like that. And I think Black Lives Matter kind of 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:41.000 brought it, made it current and suddenly you were kind 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:43.640 of they were speaking about things that you had to 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:47.320 check yourself on and I had to suddenly was I 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:51.760 think validated in a lot of experiences and feelings that 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:54.760 I had surrounding my own race and how I'd had 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:58.719 to kind of navigate certain situations. And also I think 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:01.679 I was also my privilege. You know, we talk about 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:04.800 colorism within the community as being someone who's like mixed 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:07.600 race and lighter skin. The way that I was treated 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:12.280 compared to my cousins who are you know who who 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:14.679 were a lot darker skinned than me. You know, I 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.240 think that's a conversation that we don't have enough either. 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:23.080 But for me, I think it was great. You know, 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.960 when Edward started doing what he was doing, what he 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:29.960 does and continues to do and sets the bar so 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:35.080 high continuously. I think for me it had always been 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:40.440 unspoken how uncomfortable I'd felt in certain situations. It was 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:42.440 almost that I didn't want to give it a name. 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:45.520 It's like I felt that there were certain reasons why 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:50.200 my career hadn't taken off. You know, when I'd started 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:52.880 with certain people, you know, who look very different to me, 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:56.720 I think I still was searching for something that was 0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:02.480 completely unattainable. Different hair, different body shape, you know, sometimes 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:05.440 even like you know, different colored skin, you know, And 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:09.320 so I think I didn't want to blame it on 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:11.320 something like that. I was like, why, you know, I 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:13.840 started at the same time as car I started at 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:15.960 the same time as so many girls, and they kind 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:18.960 of reached such great heights and I was like, why 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:20.320 is that? Do you know what I mean? I think 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:23.160 it was quite nice when Edward There was many things 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:25.760 that were beautiful about it, but like having him come 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:28.120 in and be like, we got to change that. This 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:29.840 is what is going on, you know what I mean? 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:32.400 Were you born here? 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:35.680 Yeah? Yeah, born in London and your father's yeah gone 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:37.600 in he was born in Akras. 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:40.640 So going back was part of your childhood. 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:43.720 Yeah, very much. So it was always something that we did. 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:46.840 Sometimes my mum came and sometimes it was just the 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:50.800 three of us, and I think it felt quite alien 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.480 at that time. And as I grew older and kind 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:56.640 of my career changed and obviously I became like a 0:15:56.680 --> 0:16:00.000 grown up, my relationship were gone to very much change. 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:03.200 I felt like kind of instead of just the kind 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:06.160 of traveler, someone who'd like been born in London and 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:08.800 who'd come back to Ghana, I felt like they really 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:12.240 claimed me, which was really like a kind of beautiful experience, 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.120 you know. I think especially after the British Vogue cover, 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.200 you know, it was like they call you a Brunei, 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.000 which means like a kind of traveler. Because I'm obviously 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:24.560 a little like paler skin than most gone ears. And 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:27.760 I think after that I felt very much like kind 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:31.400 of claimed by the people there, which was really really amazing. 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:36.000 But I have the most amazing memories of Ghana. We 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:40.040 always used to stay at my grandma and granddads. It's 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:44.200 just a modest house next to a nursery, so there 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:47.680 were always like kids playing outside. My grandma has always 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:49.680 had a little kind of like corner shop, so we 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:52.520 go in there get all like cold bottles of like 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:57.440 coke and like biscuits. Then we'd sit there and watch 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:00.080 her and my aunt Mary, all three of them and 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:02.000 live together, so we watch them. 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:04.040 Did you cook? Did she cook for you? 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:06.920 Yeah? She cooked, and then she had a woman who 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:08.560 also helped her comfort. 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:09.800 What is gonna and food? 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:14.440 Like, it's amazing. I mean, you've got the joll Off rice, 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.960 You've got lots of different kind of fish, You've got 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:23.399 food food, so it's like a kind of dough that 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:27.560 you dip into a soup. The spice there is kind 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:31.320 of like it's like an oily one. It's amazing. 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:34.000 And chili, yeah, a lot of chili. 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:36.480 Yeah yeah yeah, really, spike yeah yeah. 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:38.040 Yeah, did you go to the market. 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:44.159 To the markets are mad mad, like insane, just like 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:50.840 bustling food, clothes, people wandering around. It's like mental but amazing. 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:52.440 And how long would you stay? 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:56.399 We'd stay for like two weeks. I have some cousins 0:17:56.440 --> 0:17:59.560 who usually stay there a bit longer. Dad and my 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:01.680 sister there this year. My dad goes back all the 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:05.359 time all the time. My granddad's not alive anymore. My 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:09.080 aunt Mary, she's not alive anymore, but my grandma very 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.920 much still there and my aunt Tina lives with her. 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:14.600 So yeah, thats what. 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:16.560 Was it like growing up in your house? You have 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:19.520 memories of meals, you know, for cooked. 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:24.440 My house has always been a place that is kind 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:29.720 of people are in and out at all times, you know, 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:33.560 I very much grew up with Maybe it was someone 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:35.679 who had to move in for a bit, you know, 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:39.040 my godfather would move in, or someone in you know, 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:44.160 distress would be upstairs living in the upstairs room. There 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:48.959 were always parties and dinner parties and lots of different 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.199 people kind of in and out of the house. You know. 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:54.800 My mum has always been like an entertainer, my dad 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:58.440 as well. The home has always been one that kind 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:02.440 of it feels like sacred, but they're not precious about it. 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:05.119 You know, a place that people want to Geah, the 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:08.520 carpets are rolled up when a party happens. But you know, 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:12.040 they've never been kind of like prim and Popper, prim 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:13.920 and proper about their their places. 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:16.760 But were you kids part of it? Yeah, you kind of. 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:19.280 You weren't sitting on the steps watching the party. We 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:21.280 were down there. 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:24.840 We do like things like co check yeah yeah, and 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:28.719 we like charge everyone money and then they find all 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:32.399 their coats just piled off on one bed, pretending like 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:35.399 we'd organized them. Or we'd be like sat on the 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:39.679 staircase watching everyone get up to whatever mischief they were 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:42.119 getting up to. And then later on we were just 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:42.800 joining in. 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:45.040 Would you go out a lot? Would you go out? Yeah? 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:49.560 We do such amazing things, you know what. That's the 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:52.160 thing about growing up in London is like, I mean, 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:55.320 I wouldn't want to bring my children out anywhere else. 0:19:55.400 --> 0:20:00.000 I loved it. Galleries and restaurants and they took us everywhere. 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:05.160 It was never about separation. It was like you want 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:07.359 to sit with the grown ups. You learn how to 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:12.240 sit with the grown ups. You you know, learn how 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:16.199 to converse and listen and talk to whoever might be 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:18.399 next to you or in front of you. But it 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:21.200 was never like my parents were never into the idea 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:23.639 of like putting you on the kids stay. Yeah, you know, 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:26.520 if we were younger, it was like come out, enjoy yourself. 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:29.200 When you get tired, just sleep under the table, do 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:30.440 you know what I mean? And then we'll go out. 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:32.800 And then you went to the boarding school. Yeah, yeah, 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:36.200 what was that like? The food yeah, horrible, horrible? And Milfields? 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:36.600 Was it? 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:38.960 Millfield? Yeah, be rather proud of it. It was. 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:43.000 You know what, maybe this is my snobby side. I'm 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:45.719 not great with a buffet. I think school kind of 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:48.560 like traumatized me from that. I mean some days it 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:51.200 would be good, like the salad station was like banging, 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:55.600 like that was good. But to be quite honest, I 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:59.800 lived off dominoes for like five years. No, you weren't. 0:20:59.840 --> 0:21:02.760 We weren't allowed, but we'd like sneak it in and 0:21:02.800 --> 0:21:05.520 then in prep we'd like run out and get the 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:08.240 pizza and like bring it back in and all share it. 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:11.280 On Fridays we were allowed like to order in Indian 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:13.480 or a Chinese Yeah. 0:21:13.600 --> 0:21:16.600 Interesting, So that must have been quite shocking to go 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:20.200 from a house that was full of people and friends 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:20.920 and good food. 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:23.480 Yeah, I think it was also. I mean there were 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:28.720 certain days where it was good. Chinese day, wasn't that bad? Indianigh, 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:29.760 it wasn't that bad. 0:21:30.040 --> 0:21:35.360 How old were you thirteen to eighteen five years? Yeah? Yeah, 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:38.000 then you'd come back weekends or would youday? 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:41.320 Well, you were only allowed what do they call it? 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:45.480 I can't remember what they used to call xia. Yeah, 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:47.840 you were only allowed a certain amount of x yats. 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:51.119 But I had the best house mistress on the face 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:55.960 of the planet, missus Orton, and she I was really homesick. Yeah, 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.080 I mean I kind of got over it, but it 0:21:59.200 --> 0:22:02.800 wasn't my favorite of years being at that school. I 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:06.199 had some great friends, but I was just desperate to 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:07.520 come back to London. 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:11.280 Then from Millfield you went to university, went to what 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:12.360 was that like, Brunell? 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:16.040 Yeah, where is Brunel? That's an Oxbridge. I mean I 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:19.399