Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S15 Ep 10: Ramy Youssef

Episode Date: April 26, 2023

This week actor, comedian, writer, director and all round brilliant person Ramy Youssef joins us on Table Manners.I’m on the food, serving up butter sage fried eggs with pickled chillis and homemade sourdough (courtesy of my yoga teacher Helen Russell-Clarke) along with lapsang souchong plums, yoghurt and homemade granola. We talk about his upbringing in New Jersey, eating his parents delicious Egyptian food, how to make the perfect Koshary, eating his way around Palestine while shooting his Emmy award-winning TV show ‘Ramy’ and the joy of eating with small cutlery and chopsticks.A wonderful breakfast with a wonderful person. Ramy is served! X Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Table Manners. I'm Jessie Ware and I'm here with my mum and we've got something to tell you. Jessie, this is a very big week and I'm so excited. Why are you so excited mum? Darling, you know how proud I am of you. Yes. Always. Yes. The album, Friday.

My fifth studio record is out this Friday. I want everybody to go and listen to your album and I'm sure everyone's going to go out and buy it because it's so fabulous darling. Thank you. I love all of the songs. Pearl's being one of my favourite obviously and I do like Begin Again but

every single song on that is a banger. Oh thanks mum. Yeah I'm very proud of it. Oh killer no filler. Oh there she is a banger. Oh, thanks, Mum. Yeah, I'm very proud of it. All killer, no filler. Oh, there she is with the advert. Thanks, Mum. I'd love you to let me know what you think. Yeah. I'm in charge of the cooking this morning.

How are you, Mum? I'm fine, darling. It's an early start, but it's going to be worth it. It is. We have Rami Youssef on the podcast today. Rami and I met, I think, maybe five years ago um in can touching the palm door no mum we were on a panel um we made friends and he was really maybe he wasn't on the panel but anyway it was like samira wiley me miguel rami and kerry washington was in the audience and we both

bonded over our love for kerry was and Scandal and we kind of spent this few days together just making friends going to Killers concerts it's kind of mad can because loads of stuff's happening and it was quite good fun and a big old schmooze but Rami was a friend that I made we've kept in touch we've barely been able to see each other since that trip but all of a sudden he is over in the UK we've met up we've had a lovely breakfast together I've made him some food reservations and I've managed to get him to come and do the podcast and he requested an early morning which is absolutely fine by me so I'm on breakfast duty I've made well actually I haven't made my lovely yoga teacher Helen Russell-Clark who actually was the person that

we should all be thankful for because she's the one that told me about the Alison Roman cookbook has baked a fresh loaf um so we have sourdough fresh loaf it's still warm it's on a wire rack now and I've deep fried in butter browned butter some sage leaves and I'm going to do some fried eggs within that kind of sage leaf butter so the sage leaves are on like some kitchen roll and they're crisping they're staying crispy are they purple sage leaves yes yeah why I thought notice they weren't green they were purple yes um and then I've done a plum compote with lapsang souchon so what you do is you cook the plums in lemon sugar and water and bags of lapsang souchon sadly one of the bags broke so I've been sifting out tea granules for the last hour but it still adds a certain smokiness yeah so we're doing that with

a homemade granola which my husband's tried to get through before we've even started, and some yoghurt. So there's a bit of sweet. Your brother's now helped him. Oh, yeah, and also for the fried eggs and sage, I did some pickled chillies to pump it up, which I know you won't have, but I quite like the look of. And it's so easy.

And actually, I'm going to add some more chillies because I didn't have enough in there. So now I'm going to just keep on adding because I've got the pickle juice there. yeah we're having that Rami has a show that's three seasons in it's called Rami it's I guess inspired by his life as an observant Muslim coming from his Egyptian family living in New Jersey growing up up. It's really funny. It's incredibly endearing and beautiful. And it's kind of provocative too. It's brilliant.

He won a Golden Globe for it. He's been up for Emmys. I also went to see his stand-up show, which was a fundraiser for Turkey and Syria, Earthquake Relief. And it was... Was it funny? It was really funny.

And you know that awkward thing where you're like, I really hope you are funny. It was funny. Rami you know that awkward thing where you're like, I really hope you are funny. It was funny. Rami Youssef coming up on Table Moms. Rami Youssef is here about to meet my mother. This feels quite important. I don't know. Why?

I don't know because I love Rami so much. And I do like you. And I feel like I'm interested to see how this is gonna go you know rami i know this is a podcast but i really like how you smell oh do you yeah i don't know is this nice chanel called gabrielle i love chanel gabrielle gabrielle yes it's a new one. You're on the new Chanel. Yeah. It's a new Chanel. I don't know. How do you hear about a new Chanel? I don't know how I came across it. You've schlepped all the way from West London.

Because it must have taken them an hour and a half. You've been here, there and everywhere on this London adventure. Yeah. I didn't even know that I was going to be in London. And then now I've been here for like weeks. And how is it feeling? I love it i got him a table at sessions did you enjoy it sessions was amazing that was a really good meal yes no we need to go from moscow you haven't taken your mom i tried to but no you never tried darling you don't try when someone had covid because we do

a food podcast she gets we get freebies but she always takes her husband. Do you feel taken for granted? Yeah, a little. Yeah. I'm just putting it out there. You're doing fine, Lenny. Let's talk about you. Let's talk about why you're in London. Are you allowed to talk about where you've just been? Well, so I'm working on a project without even giving everything, but it involves food. And I went to kind of go study some of the restaurants in copenhagen which was

really fun can you talk about which i will yeah i mean i i got to stage at a few spots i went to a bakery that for a couple days which was really great it's like 4 a.m filling donuts very meditative it's like a donut filling machine oh it's nice that isn't it it? Oh, it's so nice. But also, do you think you like it because you're a man that ejaculates? Oh, my God. No. Jesus Christ. Who are you? Catherine Ryan.

You like that? No. Mom. Good God. No, it's like doing a sport. But it's been five minutes. It's half past nine in the morning. You're talking about ejaculation.

Jesus. I don't, I mean. Oh, my God. It's very, yeah, this is totally up ejaculation. Jesus. I don't, I mean. Oh my God. Yeah, this is totally up my alley. I mean, I don't think, yeah, just like as a man and subject wise, I think it comes up in a lot of my work. I'll never eat a donut again with those associations. How did you think it happened?

What? The donut. We filled them once ourselves. We have little squirty things. I'm not talking about... Anyway, carry on. This is like someone finding out how kids are made. What happens?

What was the filling, Rami? Cream. I love that creamy filling. Yeah. I got to... Sorry. I got to make the filling and then i got to fill it i've ruined it it's all over yeah it's all over so you went to a bakery can you can you name check the bakery oh heart bakery it's amazing in copenhagen yeah it's really really great um

and and and everything they do is so thoughtful and detailed and just you i don't know there's something about like really seeing how much people think about making a pastry is so amazing there's so much detail and it's really it's really artistic too i mean and then the whole thing is the way you got to run a team there and the way i think i might have told you about this but i was really amazed by how fast time goes i worked a little bit of a food job i was at panera bread in the states i made sandwiches for like three months why only for three months i left it was it was an abrupt departure yeah i i was done there and then i went and i started working this was in high school i started working

at a pharmacy in town and uh i would like deliver medicine to old people which is like not a good job new york new jersey new jersey but it would be like it was like the weirdest job they were like you're just gonna be like you deliver these four medications i was like that's what i'm doing the whole shift and then i didn't realize that you bring it to someone's house who like hasn't seen someone all day and then you like they're like hey can you come in and fix this light you know and then you're like going around and then yeah and then you don't they don't have the light bulb and then and it's not sweet by the way this isn't like a an altruistic like oh no no no i mean they're like mean yeah yeah like none of it was yeah yeah it's like oh no it's not wholesome it's like old people in jersey and they're like god give me a kid and they like can't pronounce your name and they're like get in there kid you yeah it's like oh no it's not wholesome it's like old people in jersey and they're like

god give me a kid and they like can't pronounce your name and they're like get in there kid you know it's like that kind of like kind of like dr quinn medicine woman nope no no that's why i'm making sure to like undercut this properly like it's not sweet and then i would spend hours just like randomly like not doing my job i would just drive the delivery car around anyway so i hadn't worked in food for a while. What I realized just by like being in kitchens for a few days, I was just really impressed by how fast time goes. You know, it's like you get there, whatever, early, even 4 a.m. And then all of a sudden you're like, wait, it's 10 a.m.?

Like it's just like that, just from filling donuts and putting icing and doing this and doing that, all of a sudden six hours have gone by. And you feel really accomplished because there are like all these like towers of sweets and and you've done stuff and it's it's kind of amazing actually i think cooking is like that yeah i can never really but i never really can plan how long something's going to take me yeah and i always think i've got more time than i have time runs really quickly when you're cooking I think, do you watch any cooking programmes?

we're not they're always trying to catch up having prepared and planned my lovely yoga teacher Helen Russell Clark she really wants me to go to a garage night tomorrow that's why I think she's done this for me what is that?

garage is a genre of music and it's like this for me but she what is that garage is a genre of music ah okay cool nice and it's like dance music it's very uk and so she she brought over a fresh loaf she made it she made it still warm fresh out the oven yeah she's doing a master's in psychology and she finds that if she goes and bakes a bread, it's like a brilliant distraction where she kind of has time. And anyway, I feel like I need to maybe get that starting again. I clean the house. Yeah, I'm not doing that.

No, I thought that wouldn't be your distraction. Absolutely not. I'll eat, I'll bake. Okay. Anyway, so can you talk about the other place that you went to? I did go to Noma, which was amazing. Was it a very memorable meal? It was amazing. Was it a very memorable meal? It was amazing.

I mean, they had this like deer heart that was like the best piece of steak you ever had. Really? It was so good. Yeah, it was really, really good. Did they let you choose what you ate or they just give it to you? No, they just, they have their course. They have their menu. They have what they've done.

You can say if you have allergies, that's the only way they'll swap something. But do you eat everything? Because you don't, do you eat everything because you do you eat pork i don't eat pork no they didn't have pork though because it was all like from the deer that was kind of what they were you know making food oh stop it mom you eat lamb so what are you talking about i think i could eat deer you absolutely could you are a liar can you just not eat any food that's been made into a Disney character? Probably. That's it. That's the key. No Disney characters. So I wouldn't eat elephant.

Dumbo. How kind of you. There's no cow Disney characters. You're right. Yeah. Maybe they know. They might have written one and then it got shut down by the meat industry. They might have been one and then it got shut down by the meat industry anyway everyone says that dear venison is really good for you it's i mean it's very tasty it was dear heart was your heart was a memorable dish yeah it was amazing so we can't talk anymore about

what program you are doing but trust it is very exciting yeah yeah it's really so but you came over here it was very romantic rami we spent valentine's morning together you flew in so that we could hang out and have breakfast couldn't have anyone better to spend it she absolutely does she's coming over soon i can't wait to meet her but have you got children no should i no i don't know how old you are um i'm i'm turning 32 oh you're a baby boy you can wait a bit how old was sam when you had your first 31 when we had the first one yeah yeah but stuff gets really tiring so yeah i i'd wait a little bit hang on hang on a minute yeah um so um so deem is coming over hopefully, hopefully. Yeah, she's here. Oh, she's here.

Why didn't you invite her? She had plans. I was like, come with me to the thing. She's like, I'm going to see friends. Oh, I'm gutted. Yeah, I know. I know. I think she's lying.

I don't know. It was kind of wild. I think I need to apologize for spending Valentine's with you, Robbie. No, I think she didn't want to wake up early. Fair enough. And then she was like, I'm going to this thing. And I was like, all right, whatever, go for it. Oh, well, hopefully we'll all meet.

But yeah, yeah, you got to see her before. So you're here. You've been a kind of Airbnb-ing, hopping. Yeah. You were in Marylebone first. Yeah. Oh, that's great. Where did you eat?

Did you eat anywhere good? I really like it over there. I ate at Juconi. Did you like it? I loved it. I loved it. It was sooni. Did you like it? I loved it. I loved it. It was so good. Did you meet Ravinda, who's the...

No, I didn't. No. I'm so glad you liked it. I loved it. I ate there. I ate at Hoppers. Love Hoppers. Hoppers is great.

So good. Like, I might even go again before I leave. It really hits... Is it the one in King's Cross that you went to? I actually went to the one in Marlborough. Oh, okay. Yeah. And now you're in West London.

Yeah, we're... How are you finding the food there? Whereabouts are you now? I actually think we're in Notting Hill now. Notting Hill. Oh, well that's

hardly West London. We'd still call that... Central, West? Central. Central? Yeah, I think I'm just... Notting Hill's gorgeous. Yeah.

I feel like all my friends who live here though I'll be like, oh, I was in Marlborough and then I'm in Notting Hill or whatever and they just look at me like I'm who live here, though, I'll be like, oh, I was in Marlborough and then I'm in Notting Hill or whatever. And they just look at me like I'm a fucking tourist. They're just like, oh, yeah, nice. You're doing it nicely.

They're the most gorgeous places to be. Because everyone I know is in East London and they're like, oh, yeah, enjoy Notting Hill. Notting Hill. Buy a Julia Roberts tote bag. And then we'll walk in. But it's beautiful. It's gorgeous.

Yeah, it's gorgeous. East London is not gorgeous. I like being a sellout. You walk down. I love it.. But it's beautiful. It's gorgeous. Yeah, it's gorgeous. East London is not gorgeous. I like being a sellout. You walk down. I love it. Yeah, it's beautiful. No, like I think being in Notting Hill is like being in the West Village or Greenwich. Okay, cool.

It's kind of more glam. I think it's more glamorous. It's more elegant. I think the houses are very elegant. West Village is pretty elegant. Yeah. You think? I think so.

And Marylebone is like being in Tribeca, I guess. Maybe? I'm making this up. Oh, is that what it is? I feel like maybe. It's prettier than Tribeca. Chelsea. Maybe Chelsea?

Chelsea's not that pretty. The thing is, New York, like the West Village is kind of the nice area in Manhattan. And then Brooklyn's really nice. And you're in Brooklyn. Yeah, I'm in Brooklyn. Yeah, yeah. But I think that I can't find all the comps when I'm in London. Like, I don't know where we are right now.

Like, I don't understand. You're in the dirty South. No one does. People come this way to go to France. This is the equivalent of being in Brooklyn, I would say. East London is another equivalent of Brooklyn, but this is the other. I think this is like Brooklyn. It's like, I think this is like Carroll Gardens.

I didn't know if this was New Jersey. That's what I was. Fuck you. No, I grew up in New didn't know if this was New Jersey. That's what I was... Fuck you. No, I grew up in New Jersey. I grew up in New Jersey. Oh, yeah, we're in Hoboken. Yeah, sure. Hoboken's lovely.

This is a little enclave, a little pocket of really niceness. I mean, it's beautiful. And there's lots of not niceness around, I think. I'm going to tell you what we're having. Oh, you're frying eggs? Amazing. Okay, we're having fried eggs with freshly homemade bread with deep fried sage. Okay.

And some pickled chili. Oh, what? And you don't have to have the chili if it's too hot. No. It's very simple. I'm trying to keep it simple. I love spicy. And then I've made lapsang souchong plums.

Oh, my God. With homemade granola and some yogurt if you want it. Because I know you've got a sweet tooth. Dude, this is amazing. This is the best version of simple. This is the service. However, I do have to do a disclaimer. One of the tea bags broke in the thing.

So we're going to have tea. So I've been sifting it. It still tastes fine. It'll be fine. Darling, where did you grow up? Well, I grew up in New Jersey, which is why when... Which bit? North Jersey.

I grew up in... It's really right outside New York, a town called Rutherford. But it's probably... I mean, if there's no traffic, you can get into the city in like 20 minutes. My niece used to live in New Jersey. Yeah. Cliffside Park. Yeah, not far.

So not far. And there are some very good, if you just go not too far away, quite good outlets. There was a little place that we went to. That's where all my family would come from Egypt. They'd stay with us and they'd be like, we want to go to the outlets. Yeah. So it's where you could go and just get all the... I love an outlet.

Yeah. So Ramy is a classic Egyptian name, isn't it? It's up there, yeah. I wouldn't say it's like... It's probably in the top 20 names, maybe. What does it mean? So a Rami is a bow and arrow shooter. So basically kind of like a marksman, you know?

Okay, so I absolutely have got a vision of it now. Yes. Like on kind of hieroglyphics like rami yeah i can yeah okay fine so you grew up how many people in your family a lot of people i mean in our house it was just me my mom dad and my sister so it's the four of us um is she older or younger We're like 15 months apart. Wow. So especially now, it just feels like we're the same age, you know? When did your parents come from Egypt?

Well, my dad in the 80s and my, actually both of them in the 80s, but they came separately. They met in New York. Yeah, yeah. Is that because all egyptians stuck together everyone tried to know each other for sure yeah yeah there was always like people like my dad told me there was just the network of you know people who you you'd meet and and when you when you came over and they'd kind of help you with stuff like hey go to this guy to help you get a driver's license okay that kind of stuff it's a kind of immigrant world yeah yeah everyone's like

together everyone's sticking together, helping each other out. Like, Hey, I know someone who can get you a job, you know, you know, everyone just really,

you know, living together, that kind of thing. Yeah. What does your dad do? My dad worked in, well, he,

he basically in, in Egypt was, um, was a tour guide. And so he'd give tours to people who are coming. And I think, yeah, he got really good with'd give tours to people who were coming and I think yeah he got really good with English and talking to people

that really helped him my dad is so charismatic he's just so it's genetic then my mom too they're both really charming people and I think my dad picked up really good English just kind of showing people around.

Cairo. Yeah, Cairo. And then when he came to America, he actually did a little tour of the states visiting people who he had given tours to. So it was kind of people being like, oh, if you ever come, come see us. If you ever come, come see us. And he did. And they were very happy to host him and have him. How lovely.

And then he ended up just staying in new jersey and the tour company that he had worked with they had a branch he was kind of helping them out with something in the states and then he just i think was i think he told me he was trying to get a second job because whatever it was wasn't paying much and he was like on his way to an interview um to work at a pizza spot and then he stopped into the waldorf astoria and was just looking around and he was like whoa this place is amazing and and then he started talking to someone who was there who kind of one of the clients who was just sitting and they were talking in arabic and then someone there was just like hey what are you doing like where are you going i think my dad

was wearing a suit going to a pizza interview and he was like i'm going to interview at this place and he goes no no like we come can you work here like you know we need you know your your english is good your arabic is good we need you know um we have just all these clients coming in from the middle east this is probably early 80s so my dad just starts you know working at the waldorf story just like busing tables. And then probably over the next 15 years, he goes from bus boy to one of like three managers at the Plaza Hotel. Wow. Yeah, he ran all the food and beverage and all that. So I think like, you know, food is always a big part of our family, like at home, obviously.

But also my dad was really into service and into, you know, how food should be served, how a restaurant should be, you know, and it would always be so annoying going out to eat with him because he'd be giving like notes to waiters at restaurants and we're like, dad, you don't work here. Like, you're not supposed to do that that way. You know, like, like never pick up a plate, you know, if someone else is still eating. That was a big one for him because now you're putting pressure on the person who's still eating to finish eating. Because he comes from a different place. I mean, he comes from just like high class fine dining.

You know, like it was all about managing, you know, high class dining. That was his thing. And, you know, there's no like it's funny because I always used used to think, oh man, my dad works at this amazing luxe place. There's not a ton of money in it if you're working at that level, at the level that he's at. But I think there's a lot of pride in it. And there's a lot of, oh, like we are putting on an experience and we serve people and we give people something that they can't get anywhere else. And he really took pride in that. And I always thought that was really admirable. Is the Plaza the Home Alone hotel?

Excuse me? Is the Plaza the Home Alone? Yeah, the Home Alone hotel. Yeah, yeah. So he was there when they were filming Home Alone. Oh, my goodness. This bread is amazing. Darling, there's a salt on this.

There is, but I'll get some more. This bread looks so good. This bread is so good. Is this sourdough? What is this? This is sourdough, yeah. Yeah. And I've got a-

Get a starter from her, Jess. I've got all the chilies you want. And this butter is very good too. Thank you, mum. Don't you wanna even try a bite of it? I hate chili. It's really nice with it. Donny, I went out last night and I had to pick out all the chili

from what I was eating. They put chili on everything. This chili's amazing. It's good, isn't it? I pickled it last night. Wow. The sourdough is good. This is so good. Good. So who was cooking? If your dad was kind of working, did he come home being like, you know what we should try this evening in the kitchen? I've just tried this thing at the plaza. Like weekends, my dad cooked, you know, if he wasn't working, he'd start, you know, omelets in the morning. He'd do dinner. He really likes cooking and he's really good at it. And I remember my mom when we were really

young, I just remember early memories of her kind of, I think she was faking that she couldn't cook because I think she just kind of didn't want to and then I think she just flipped the switch all of a sudden and became this amazing just amazing chef like just like had these amazing recipes and they did a blend of we'd have classic Egyptian food you know Arabic food all of that um and then we'd also just at a certain point I think definitely even when I was like a teenager my parents were really emphasizing just like eating healthy actually so they'd just be like we're doing salmon and veggies you just have that like three times a week or whatever and then soup salad whatever i remember my mom really consciously not wanting to do everything fried or whatever what is an egyptian

breakfast well we have these these beans we call it it food, but they're basically fava beans. And you do it with a little bit of olive oil, some spices. You can do a little bit of, you can do a yogurt or a lebna, which is basically kind of just like a. Yeah, a lot of cheese. Yeah. So easy to make. Easy. Pita bread.

Because the thing is, Egypt, so many people, a big part of the cuisine is like, how do you feed so many people without a lot of money? And so it's like a lot of beans, a lot of rice, a lot of lentils. It's like the Lebanese full madame. They're brown beans, kind of pale brown beans. Yeah, it's very similar to that. Yeah, yeah. So that's the classic breakfast with eggs, whatever.

But then also we grew up in Jersey, so like bagels. We loved having a bagel with lox and cream cheese. Your family, are they quite observant? Mm-hmm. Do you all pray? Yeah, for the most part. Yeah. I mean, we were raised, my dad was just like,

I'm going to show it to you, and then when you grow up, you're going to do what you want to do. But, you know, he definitely showed it to us. went to uh yeah we had like a sunday school and kind of kind of worked out in the sense that yeah a lot of my friends yeah we'd go and i mean did i learn is a different thing but i went i attended um and i kind of had a couple of my friends who would go to you know the the Hebrew school on weekends. There was this Christian school called CCD that kids would go to. And we'd all just be like, man, why do we go to school six days a week?

This is just too much school. This is crazy. You just feel like you have a job, like a full-time job. I know. But you have friends there. Yeah, yeah. You have friends there. And it's kind of a hang.

But then you also, like, you have friends there, and it's kind of a hang. But then you also work on, all of us are really good actors because you'll really play, oh, I'm too ill to go to school. I have this really deep sickness that's going to affect me for four hours. But your dad had this really quite demanding job where he's in the public eye the whole time. He's a manager of a big hotel. How did he manage to fit his prayers in? Chad had this really quite demanding job where he's in the public eye the whole time. He's a manager of a big hotel. How did he manage to fit his prayers in?

Did he just used to go and find a little quiet space? I think he had a lot of people. A lot of people who worked in that industry were also Muslim. So I think they had their flow. They kind of found, you know, what they needed in order to do it. It's a fast paced job, but I think it's one of those. He probably figured out the flow. I actually haven't asked him. It's a good question.

Now, I just wondered because whether people were respectful of that and people, you encouraged it. I think as time went on, I don't think it was something that I remember him telling me in the 80s. It was like, don't talk about it. You know 80s. It was like, don't talk about it. You know? Yeah. It was just like, don't even bring it up. And I think I think also, too, you know, we were we were in New York, you know, 9-11, all that stuff. That episode is so profound in the series.

Yeah. It was really real to kind of a lot of the emotions at that time. A lot of the emotions of that time. Mum, in the first series, Rami has this episode in his show, Rami, that is about when 9-11 happened and about how people treated him and his family differently after that because they were Muslim. So that was very true to what happened. I think a lot of the emotions, I mean, I think when I look back, we could have been in a, I think we had a very loving town that we grew up in,

like a lot of really great people, a lot of really great families. Who respected you. Yeah, but at the same time, it was just this like really wild, unprecedented thing occurred and people were just scared and just didn't know and we definitely felt that and it definitely kind of put every relationship under a microscope so i think a lot of that episode and a lot of that isn't to like you know i try not to talk about it from a place of just oh poor us or but it's like it's that feeling of oh wow

everything every interaction's under a microscope that was really real. And I think that's a, to have that feeling of being watched in a certain way is really, yeah, as a kid, it just shapes a lot of how you move. Of course. And I think even, you know, for my parents too, just as adults, it's a lot. Was New Jersey a great place to grow up? Did you love it? Yeah. I mean, you've come back to New York. Yeah.

From the West Coast. When I met you, I was living in LA. Yeah. So I was trying to set you up with my sister. She missed out, darling. She did. Yeah, you tried to set me up with your sister, but not really. You just mentioned it.

I just said you two should be friends. But did you even, I don't even think a text started or anything. Oh, no. You didn't even start a text thread. Oh, I'm sorry. I mean, honestly, everything's worked even think a text started or anything. Oh, no. You didn't even start a text thread. Oh, I'm sorry. I mean, honestly, everything's worked out. Everything's worked out great. But, you know, I was living there for 10 years.

And then recently. Which bit? I started living in Koreatown, which I really liked. Because a lot of stuff's open late, which in LA there's not. And that's not far from Hancock Park, is it? Right next to Hancock Park. Yeah. And then you've got Larchmont, which is like...

It's Hancock Park where I went Halloween trick-or-treating with the kids this year. It's like the Father of the Bride area. It's very... Well, Father of the Bride area is San Marino, which is right outside Pasadena. That's the true Father of Bride. But Hancock Park has Father of the Bride vibes. Yeah. Where was your favorite spot for Korean food in Koreatown?

There was this barbecue spot, you know, called Bibim. Bibim. Bibim something. Yeah, I actually remember it just had this logo of a pig on it, which is funny because I don't eat pork. But I would just go in and I'd be like, I don't want any of the pig stuff. And then they'd wipe the grill down for me extra. And then, yeah, I'd just sit there.

And they had a really good cow tongue. Would you do that? God, you're really good cow tongue. Would you do that? God, you're quite into it. I like gamey meats. I've been actually I was brought up never eating pork, never eating anything like that and I've become really bad as I've got older.

No shellfish, no pork. And now I've just got prawn kebabs for the kids for later. Yeah, sure. Yeah, I don't do pork, but I'm allergic to shellfish. So I kind of am. I have a Jewish observance. There is a reason, yeah, I think.

I mean, I would never eat roast pork or buy pork. You'd have a little taste, though, wouldn't you? No, not at all. Don't fancy it. But I love par'd have a little taste though no not at all don't fancy it okay but I love parma ham ah because it's almost like smoked salmon it's just kind of salty and delicious so how do you feel when you're eating it I feel fine there's no guilt I look up and nothing happens God's a forgiving God I'll be fine right do you cook i'm more and more like i think i'm you know how it is like you're moving around you're

doing shows you're doing whatever it's like really hard to do i think over the last couple years though i've cooked a lot more than than i did probably around when we met around when we met i don't think i cooked at all now i i try and cook at least a couple times a week and what would be the dish that you would be making for us if we were coming around for dinner there's this like fish that we make that we really like uh it's just it's like this fish with like cilantro and lemon and parsley and peppers which Which fish? With a rice, like a cod. Cod? Yeah, it's like a cod and we just like bathe it in parsley and cilantro and peppers and lemon.

Oh, there's love there. And it's really, really good. And my buddy Chris Storer, who I, you know, worked with for years and he made the bear, he gave me this really great rice recipe. Yeah, and it's super simple but he was just like you know just let the rice like just put it in with some some onions some garlic a little bit of oil and just kind of till it smells nutty and then throw in water and broth so it'll be like it'll be like with water and chicken broth and it comes out so good i always

do my it's sacrilegious, but we do it usually, I'm surprised you're not getting it today, we do a similar one where we do onions, mum does dried onions, which are kind of sweeter, and then with chicken broth, but we do it in the microwave, and then it never can go that wrong.

But I like the idea of adding garlic. Yeah. And maybe I should just not be lazy. There is an Egyptian dish, think Otto Lange does it is it kuretsi? kushuri? kushuri is that Egyptian?

kushuri is Egyptian but there's another rice dish he does with lentils so the kushuri is rice and then like a like an elbow pasta this really red like nice tomato vinegary spicy sauce it's like it's like tomato vinegar onion garlic so spicy and then there's blackened crispy onions on top like they're so crunchy they're basically almost black and the texture is so good. Sounds great. It's, and then there's lentils and it's, it's amazing. It's amazing.

Just this like lentils, pasta, rice, spicy sauce, crispy onions on top for texture. Actually three years to make. It, you know, it's just five pots. You just gotta have all these pots and then you, we usually eat it kind of like buffet style where there's like each ingredient. Cause everyone in the family has like a different ratio of what they like.

So it would be like, oh, I want, you know, someone like my sister wants like more elbow pasta. I like way more sauce. When you say elbow pasta, what does that mean? It's just like those little elbows. Is it like the ones that like in Turkish? Like vermicelli? It's like. Very fine?

No, it's just like a little noodle Like a little elbow shaped noodle Yeah Elbow shaped So it's got a hole in it Yeah It's like macaroni Yeah it's macaroni Okay fine

Yeah it's basically macaroni Okay Yeah It's like It literally looks like The little macaronis From macaroni and cheese Yeah

That sounds amazing Oh it's really good Can you make it Yeah yeah Yeah it's great I quite like that With the fish Is that a possibility

No you do Oh of course it's possible great i think it's a different cuisine is that something you kind of keep going all day so people can pick in and out i mean that's one if my mom's making it she'll have all those pots you know it's like four one's the lentils one's the pasta one's the rice one's the sauce and then you have on the side on the counters the onions but then there'll be like a raw onion there, like cut in half. So if you run out of those onions, you just fry them real quick. That'll stay there for like two days. Like that'll just be there.

Like you kind of move the pots from the fridge back to the stove, back to the fridge. That's what I'm eating for two days. Like it's just so good. And she'll sometimes make a little fried chicken on the side this like panade you know chicken breast and we'll kind of mix it in there yeah yeah that that's like a meal if i'm at the you know staying at my parents for a couple days my mom will make that the night i land and then i'm eating it probably till i leave yeah that's i want that's a classic i want to know about when you shot the last series in palestine yeah Do you have a memorable food memory from eating there? Oh man,

so many. Really good food. Really, really good food. And I think it was just like, you know, you go to, you know, they have this dish, matluba, which literally means like, it's like matluba is, it's like flip something, you know? And so they do this pot with chicken and rice and spices but the way you finish it is you you flip the pot into a plate so it all kind of like falls and all the juices kind of come down on it and that was amazing and that's just like you go to you know we did like a house tour like anytime you're with someone you know they're just like you got to come to my house and eat and we were really before we even went we knew we were gonna get those offers of just like come to my house and eat come to my house and eat you know you're always so busy like oh i wish i could

we were like we're gonna take every house offer like we gotta go so we're just going to people's houses and eating and it was oh man it was amazing it was a really unique way to make a tv show as well to be able to be like you're catering as people's houses it was amazing yeah it was really it was really special yeah and and i think like that that whole every time you go to a different country it's really interesting because it'll be like there they'll use za'atar a lot it's like a big spice egyptians won't touch za'atar we'll make sometimes the same recipes but totally different things so it's like a big spice egyptians won't touch sata we'll make sometimes the same recipes but totally different things so it's like palestinian kunefa has rose water big big thing egyptians will be like ugh rose water like they won't even touch rose water so it's really funny

like the the the politics behind just like little ingredients just within the arab world that's a funny herb though yeah you think i love it spark? I love it. Because it's bark. I love it. I was going to do Zatar eggs actually today. It just tastes slightly lemony. Lemony barky. I love it.

I love Zatar. But like my mom, I'll be like, oh, I'm putting Zatar in. She'll be like, why are you? Like she'll look at me like I've been like hanging out

with the wrong people. You know, she'd be like, Zatar, rosewater, what are you doing? Like what's going on? You know, and I'm like,

it's so good. And then I made her something with it and she was, she's like, okay, fine. You know, not the rose water, but the zaatar she got me too. It's just like a personal Egyptian bias, I guess. So what's the most celebratory Egyptian meal that you can eat? I would say it's koshiri, but like we have, you know, a lot of liver is a big one. Kibda, like we love liver like and it's just fried pan fried salty with some rice you know um and i think liver uh no not usually it's usually

what do we usually eat so i if i'm making chopped liver i'll make chicken livers yeah but in the old days my mom used calf's liver. She didn't use chicken livers. Yeah. Oh, right. Yeah, that's mainly what we do. But I would say also too, like the street sandwich will be like that food.

It'll be the beans in there. It's comforting. It's all like very like comforting, carby, filling. Yeah, that's the... And everyone's like rail thin though because everyone's just like moving around all day

and just like we'll eat this thing and then just it's kind of amazing. It's hot and everything. everything yeah but do you eat like israelis do you eat early in the morning we'll eat right yeah right when you get up you gotta eat yeah right when you get up eating all day i don't know if you've prepared this it's fine you can mull on it but um we need to know your last supper you're not gonna die okay you're going somewhere for six months at least no let's say six years i don't know okay but okay it's the last changing it up i don't know let's switch it up it's our

series um starter main pud drink of choice wow okay i'm gonna finish this bite yeah enjoy your bite um do you drink mainly because i feel like if i started i would never stop like i have this like really intensely unable to stop anything that i like like i'll just be like oh i like this i gotta do it i gotta do it i gotta do it and so pretty quick i was like i don't think i don't think i'm wired for for a drink i think it would i think it would be pretty tough. Okay, so last supper. I think I would definitely want kushri because it's just so classic for me. Would that be starter or main?

That would probably be main. I think my starter would be buffalo chicken wings. Just because I love spice, vinegary, texture, blue cheese. So I'd probably start there. And then what? Do I get another piece, I guess, in the middle before the main?

You can do whatever you like. I can do whatever I want, huh? Well, my mom makes these really great stuffed artichokes. So they're artichokes that are grilled whole until they get kind of soft. And then she stuffs them with ground beef with like a bechamel sauce and then puts them in the oven just until the whole thing gets kind of brown i'd probably go right into that yeah that's amazing there's no tomatoey aspect to it there's a little bit of tomato in the bechamel sauce okay yeah yeah yeah so so it's it's

got it's almost like is that a made up one of hers i know egyptians who do it yeah i think i think it's there but i think she the bechamel of it i'm not sure the whole lineage but it probably is i just i i my mom makes it so good so i'd want that and then and then i'd go into the kushri and then dessert just like a scoop of vanilla ice cream. That's just, I love vanilla ice cream. Plain, nothing on it. Where do you go for your vanilla ice cream in New York? There's a bunch of spots.

I mean, there's this spot near where I live in Brooklyn. It's called Pharmacy. Like they took over this old school pharmacy. So they still have kind of the vibe of the rx pills and all that stuff in the back um they do a great just simple vanilla there's also i guess because it's my last meal uh have you ever had canefa canefa is this great like it's like this shredded phyllo oh yeah mom's cooked with it actually we buy it in the Turkish shop. Yes. And it looks a bit like shredded wheat. Yes, yes.

And then you bake it. Yes, and you can fill it with cheese. Yum. Put some honey on it. We should do that for somebody. Oh, it's so good. Yeah. Because you don't actually have to.

Do you have to prepare it? Or do you just put it in the oven? No, you don't. You can bake it, but you do have to put egg on it or something. Okay. Or oil or something because it's very dry. Ask your mum. What's your drink of choice?

I really do like drinking water. I mean, I have it all day, but I probably do that. And with that meal, a ginger ale. Ginger ale. Yeah. This sounds really nice. I'd be a good last supper. I also came to watch you do stand-up.

Yes. Which was fantastic. Where was that? It was in Leicester Square, Leicester Square Theatre. It was a fundraiser for Syria and Turkey. For the earthquake relief. When was this, darling? It was on Friday, and I took my mate Samantha.

Yeah. And it was... You were invited, by the way. She never tells me. But just what you said earlier. She's a monster. You were invited. Yeah.

And just know Samantha came. And she doesn't tell me. Yeah. I know, thank you. Just proof of the feeling you've been feeling. She does. Anyway, it was really good. What spoon should I use? I'll just dug in.

Why have we got little spoons? I love little spoons, actually. The other daughter does the little spoons. I really like small utensils. Me too. Like a little spoon, yeah. The other daughter does the little spoon. I really like small utensils. Me too. Like a little spoon, a little fork. Why? It makes me feel like I'm...

I don't know. It makes me feel more productive when I'm eating because I got to work more. Like the big spoon. Could I have some yogurt? I feel like that when I have chopsticks as well. Chopsticks. I love chopsticks.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It feels very active. It's exciting. so you were doing stand-up you were trying nobody could put their phones it was brilliant it was like an adele concert um i know we have to clarify so it's it is it is like the adele thing where where we do the the no phones thanks and i think that's amazing i like it because everyone's so present it just makes it creates like a totally different experience. It's really cool.

If I could do that in all music shows, I would. Yeah. But then also, I love that people feel like they want to capture it. But you were also doing it because you were trying out some jokes, right? Yeah, I mean, I just do it all the time now. Do you? Yeah, I do. I just do it all the time.

Was it just you? I had a friend of mine, Natalie Alcar, open. She was brilliant. She's really great. She's just like an amazing young comic. Lebanese stand-up comic. She's great. Who lives here or in America?

No, she lives in Brooklyn. Yeah, she lives in Brooklyn. And so she was really great. Yeah, I just do it for all my shows. But it's funny. There is this element of content you don't get because people, people will take photos of you on stage and be like, I love this, but you know, and post about it and whatever.

And so there's none of that, which I, I actually like it. I I'm, I'm, I'm cool. And they can never like really retell the story. Yeah. It's okay. You had to be there. If you want to come, come. Yeah.

If you want to come. But it was brilliant. Um, how much did you change the you did two sittings you incredibly generous big fundraiser how much do you change from the first seven o'clock show to the 9 30 surely it goes in a different way slightly because you were riffing off the crowd like yeah a lot of stuff is like would be off the crowd i mean i probably was doing like an hour and a half each show and you know i have a bunch of bits written that i want to work on but right now i'm just kind of playing with how i'm going to do it i'm going to film my second special and um

probably in september or something so i'm just kind of figuring out order is it feeling good i want to say and yeah that's really fun i love doing stand-up because you're in the room you know when you're making a show it's like you write a joke you start doing stand-up that's what i don't know you went to school were you clever was i clever yeah good at school yeah no i was i was a really bad student really yeah i'd be good in like english or if there was any time you could write or if I got to present a project. Anything that felt you could use words and be social, I was pretty good at. Math, science, all that stuff, just horrible.

There's a few kids between middle school and high school that I'm like purely reliant on for allowing me to graduate like what i just feel like if i didn't have kyle van winkle in my science high school kyle van winkle kyle van winkle totally saved my whole biology class situation you know he really he really carried me on his back did you pay him no he just carried me on his back. Did you pay him? No, he just carried me on his back. What does he look like? He's just such a genuine, generous guy. He knew I was struggling. He knew I wouldn't get out of there without him.

And so he just... I love Kyle. Kyle took care of me. And I think about him all the time. I got to call him. Is he your best friend? I haven't talked to him since high school. He used to be your monster. call him i haven't talked to him since high school i genuinely i genuinely have not spoken to him

for i don't know how many years now i guess it's like been almost 15 years but i love him uh he really helped me so yeah i wasn't i wasn't a great student um i started doing comedy while i was in high school as i was finishing high school. And then it was like sketch comedy, improv, that kind of stuff. And then when I moved to Los Angeles, I started doing stand-up. Yeah. So, yeah, I love the process of like being in a room with people because when you're making a show, you write a joke, you write a bit, you put it into a scene. No one sees it for a year and a half.

It takes so long to go from writing to making to editing to airing. It takes forever. And stand-up's just, oh, I thought of something this morning and I get to hear the laugh tonight. It's amazing. It's such a cool, it's a really cool experience. Do you write for other comedy shows? When I was coming up, I wrote on a couple of things that didn't get made

and then I have some other things that I'm starting to work on that just aren't my show and so I love writing yeah it's actually he's done three seasons of his own show which is called Rami won awards, did you win an Emmy

or a Golden Globe? Golden Globe, yeah. Not too shabby. Not bad. Not bad. Did you think you were going to win? No. Why?

I don't know. No, why would I? It was so crazy. Was it like the buzz around the room being like, Rami, you got this? The buzz around the room was, well, at first it was like, I can't believe you got nominated. But once I got nominated, it was almost like, well,

it's so crazy that you got nominated. Maybe you could win. You know, like it was just such a glitch that I even got nominated that they were like, oh, maybe you could. No, not that rude. Like it made sense. I was like, why? You know?

It's really. You know why? You know why? it's really you know why you know why because it's like it's so hard to get into the world of awards is its own walled off world and so you know there's 600 television shows in america every year right and so now you're getting whittled down to like 10 shows that might get recognized 10 out of 600 so this thing is all fueled by celebrity power it's like who's already a star and what networks are putting a lot of money into shows and marketing them and whatever so i just think for us it wasn't even like the like everyone loved the show who saw

it but it was just like we don't have anyone that's a known in any sense in any way on any part of the show whether in front of the camera or behind the camera so now it's on channel four one two oh okay three is on stars play okay fab right got it and then it'll be on channel four which comedians do you like to watch i grew up watching george carlin that was like my favorite who that is oh george carlin was like classic American stand-up, just like really, really funny. He's passed now, but his records were probably the thing that most got me into comedy. My uncle would play them for me like way too early.

So he just played audio. Yeah, I would hear. You didn't watch him. Both, but I mean, I loved, that was a big thing for me too because I was, when I was in college, I did college for a little bit and then I dropped out. I wasn't very good. What were you studying? English?

Nothing. Like, I was just there. And then I was just kind of like... What did your parents want you to be? When you said, I'm going to do stand-up comedy, did your mother say, oh no, what's happened? We were all confused by it, even me, because I didn't know anyone who was successful at it. You know, who was successful even at doing anything on camera or there was no path really. I just kind of found my

way. I was performing a lot of comedy in New York and I met someone who saw me perform and he said, you know, you're really good. You should train as an actor. And he worked at an acting studio and he was like, come to the school, like it'll change your life i said listen i'm already in college i can't afford to go to an acting school and then he said okay listen you know i know you make videos we need videos for the school do our videos for us and i'll give you a scholarship to the acting class who's this person what's his name well the funny thing is is so his name is lathe knackley and he's a great actor so he worked over at the studio and then that was you know i guess almost 10 years later i then cast him in my show and he plays my uncle so yeah the anti-semitic my anti-semitic uncle yeah yeah yeah so i have this uncle character he's amazing who who's you

know everything's a conspiracy. Like he blames everything on Jews. Yeah. So no matter what, it'll be like, and he works in the diamond district. So all his friends and all of his business partners are Jewish. And so, you know, he, he just, it's just this like love. Like it was based on a couple of my friends who I grew up with who worked in the Diamond District. They were two families who were like the Arab guys

in their world of all Jews. And it would just be so funny because you go there and then they're fighting and they'll be fighting about the price of something. Then they'll be fighting about something in Palestine. And then it'll be like, oh, hold on. I got to go pray. And he'd be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, go pray, go pray.

You know, and then like you go pray and then you come back and then everyone's just kind of like bickering. And I always thought that was, it's just so American. You know, the idea of just like, we're going to bicker, bicker, bicker, but we're still doing business together. And there's also these friendships because they're just, this is who you're seeing every day.

And then actually someone told me that about this show, I think it's called Stissel. Have you heard of this show? Stissel. Stissel, yeah. Oh, I loved it. And and and they were like oh they have an uncle who hates muslims and so i started watching it and i was like oh it's so funny just this like you have these people in the family and then you have the younger generation that's like can we try and look at this from a little bit of a different way like what can we do to shift this and so i met him 10 years ago, Laith, who plays the, you know, who plays that actor,

that character. They're very different. He was managing this acting studio and he gave me this opportunity, which was really amazing. And then eventually I kind of just stepped out of going to regular college and I was like, let me finish my acting school training. My parents were really upset, but I said to them, look, let me just finish this training. Like, let me finish my acting school training. My parents were really upset, but I said to them, look, let me just finish this training.

Like, let me finish the training and then I'll go back. And I ended up booking an acting role that brought me to LA before I could even finish acting school, which was wild. That was just like the true miracle. I dropped out of college in December, and by February Iary i was moving to la it just all happened like a few weeks then about you moving you know parents you i don't need to tell either of you but it's just it's all about like you know you just want your kid to be safe

you just want you want them to have a secure future and i think for them just being like wait you got a solid job doing this thing and they're moving you. And my dad was like, well, who's paying for the moving? And I was like, they are. And he was like, okay. It was just kind of this like, he was like, oh yeah, they're going to tell you to move across the country. And then by the time you pay to move yourself across, you're going to lose all the money you were going to make.

And I was like, no, no, they're moving me. And then I think that was a big one for him. What TV show was that? It was a family sitcom on Nick at Night was like what tv show was that it was uh it was a family sitcom on nick at night uh with do you know scott baio yes yeah of course yeah he wasn't he in uh he was happy days yeah yeah he was touchy and happy yeah yeah so it was this like idea they had to do we have this nickelodeon you know and they were like we're gonna do a nickelodeon show for older people like adults kind of you know and um so i just went and

did this show that i don't think it ever had the biggest audience but the experience of doing it changed my life because i got to move to la to work and i got to see how a show was made and the people who made the show were some of the best people you know I've ever met and uh it was yeah it was amazing it changed my life where do you make your shows in New York I make in Brooklyn now yeah yeah we shoot everything in Brooklyn we shoot between Brooklyn and then we go overseas so we've shot in Palestine we've shot in Spain we've shot in Cairo um we we kind of go you know international and um we're kind of figuring out how we're going to approach a fourth series but i think we'll probably do what would be our last one all of it overseas yeah maybe some london i don't know i don't know maybe so rami before

we let you go what is a very nostalgic taste from anywhere that just brings you back to somewhere it's a great question it's interesting because i think even like when you were asking me about nostalgic taste from anywhere that just brings you back to somewhere? It's a great question. It's interesting because I think even like when you were asking me about my last meal and a lot of the things I really love, most of the food I really like is nostalgic because it just puts me... With your family. Yeah. Yeah.

It just puts me there. So my grandmother who lived, I had two grandmothers. They both passed now, but the grandmother who lived in cairo would always be so excited to see us because we you know she hadn't seen us all year and we'd come for the summer and she would tell me that she'd be so anxious and she'd be like sick she'd be like shaking like the first day we saw her wouldn't even be fun because she would just be like yeah in a state of hallucination she's like i can't believe i'm seeing you i can't believe i'm seeing you know she'd been thinking about all year and so she'd be so out of it that

she couldn't cook there would always be the same meal when we arrived which was these like long kebabs with like a side of raw vegetables it'd be like raw i love those vegetables yeah you know and they put them on a lovely plate yes but they roast the tomato. The tomato would be roasted and the rest is kind of raw. And then it's like these long kebabs and they, and the place she got them from to keep them hot, they put them in these styrofoam plates and then like wrap it with plastic. And so anytime I see like, like just like the meat wrapped in plastic, which I just always am there. Like I'm in that moment of this like this love, but also this deep anxiety.

And so anytime I have, you know, anytime I go to Cairo now, yeah, it's like she's not there, but I'll go and get that. And that makes me feel like I'm like nine. Like I'm all of a sudden I'm just like, I'm just like a kid. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The image of it and just like unwrapping what do you call grandmas in egyptian uh teta teta yeah yeah yeah so that that that's like uh that's a big one that'll because it was those were always really specific trips too because you know you're you're leaving you know the summer vacations all there and and you know you don't

do the same things your friends do you're arguably doing something cooler like i remember i had been on a ton of international flights before i had ever even flown within the united states you know it's like my friends would be like you know we went to florida and i'd be like i've never been to florida i've been to switzerland i've been to egypt i've been you know it's like anywhere we have family i've been um but otherwise that's the thing about my immigrants i mean your holidays are always going to see family yeah it's not going back to where you know it's not where are we interested to go it's where do we need to go yeah i'm really thankful for that now yeah because now i can travel however i want yeah like I didn't even know I was going to be in London and I've been here for two weeks

when you're a kid you want to be able to go to different places but it actually is great like I'm so thankful that that's what we did because a lot of those people aren't even around anymore and then you're just kind of like oh wow I'm glad I got to see them while I was able to you need to spend time with people Rami it's been such a pleasure to have you on.

It's long overdue, but it's been so lovely. And I'm really enjoying you being in London. I can't wait to meet your wife. I know. And I hope you have the best rest of your experience in London. Is there anything that you've got planned that you need to go and eat together? Did you go to Mangal too? Oh my God, I went to Mangal too.

It probably quite suits you because of like all the livers oh my god i went with jamie jamie dimitri a past guest in a friend yes did you have a good meal we had so much fun he's vegetarian so that is not great for him is it no no we figured it out we had a good meal um really it's really something else isn isn't it? It was so good. Yeah, maybe I'll take her there. And they do that nice rice with the little vermicelli in. This granola's really good. Thank you.

Thank you. I made it last night. Did you make it? It's really good. What's in it, darling? Lots of olive oil and salt. You put dates. I put medjool dates at the end.

Instead of raisins. Well, I could have put raisins, but I like dates. No, no, no. I don't like, I hate raisins. This is better. I didn't do it then. This is an amazing, it's so much better.

It's pretty easy. It's cinnamon, maple syrup, salt and olive oil and like lots of nuts. I didn't have that many porridge oats. Is there coconut in there? No, they're quinoa puffs. No, but what's that flat?

Flaked almonds. Oh, okay. But yeah, little chopped up medjool dates. You know. And you need to write that down for me because it's so delicious. It's in the? Flaked almonds. Oh, okay. But yeah, little chopped up medjool dates. You know. And you need to write that down for me

because it's so delicious. It's in the cookbook, mum. I'm not even kidding. It's the best granola I've ever had. Oh my God. Yeah, me too. Because you circumvented

the raisins and all. There's no bullshit in it. And those are gorgeous as well. You can get it in the Table Manners cookbook, everybody. It's slightly more faffy one.

I had to bring him a tea towel. Oh, I think he'll live. Okay, he'll manage. I'll give him one next time. Ramusev, thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. Thank you for enjoying.

He's not moving. I mean, he had a meeting to go to, but he seems quite happy. Just wait a minute. Thanks, mate. Well, Mum, you've now met my friend. What do you think of him? Very handsome.

He just said about you, he went, I love you, Mum. I know, she's quite a star. He went, I love her. Very handsome, very warm. The nicest teeth I've seen in a long time. Had beautiful white teeth, pearlies. That was Rami Youssef. You can watch Rami on Channel 4,

the first and second series. What's it called, Rami? It's called Rami. It's really good. I'll watch it. It's really brilliant. And I appreciate him coming and doing this before. He's quite a big deal, Mum. I know, darling.

I can tell. Yeah. Are you going to give me any pointers on my breakfast? Darling, everything was so delicious. I'd say this bread. I think you're better than me at cooking, darling. Oh, shut up. I think you should do more cooking.

Helen Russell-Clark, you're a great yoga teacher. I'm not going to say you may be an even better baker,, you're a great yoga teacher. I'm not going to say you may be an even better baker because you're a great yoga teacher, but this bread is a delight. And I feel motivated to bake. Good. Thank you to Rami for coming over. Thank you.