Mina Anwar freely admits that her “real love is cooking”.

“I find cooking a form of meditation. If I feel stressed I go into the kitchen and put on some music and start to cook.

“Cooking is also a way to show love to people by making them food”, says Mina who is currently playing Shirley Valentine in Willy Russell’s one woman play at Leeds Playhouse.

An actress, director and classically trained singer Mina’s career has spanned dramas, musical theatre, concerts, T.V. and films but most people will remember her as Constable Maggie Habib in the Thin Blue Line sitcom.

Mina was born and brought up in Lancashire and was part of a large family of six so she started to learn her culinary skills at an early age from her mother.

“Food was important to us all and we would all be given tasks in the kitchen when meals were being prepared. My mother was a real expert cook. She never used cups or scales when cooking and made the most exquisite curries.”

During lockdown Mina delved into all the different kinds of spices used in cooking. “I also taught myself how to make pastry and then spent time perfecting my pastry skills – I even learned how to make French pastries.”

One thing that Mina eventually mastered was making Oven Bottom Muffins for her partner. It took me ages to perfect them. I had to experiment. I tried all sorts of methods to get the crust right – but that’s what I call the alchemy of cooking you don’t know what they are going to turn out like. That’s the magic of it”

Mina loves to travel having been to far flung places such as the Amazon and Peru. It was whilst she was in Egypt though that she had her most memorable meal.

It was the Millenium and I went to watch a concert at the Pyramids by John Michel Jarre. It was about 3.00am in the morning when I got back to Cairo and I found a restaurant in the middle of a Suk. This place was like no other.

“I had lamb which tasted exquisite with chickpeas and rice. This was an extraordinary meal because of the setting and the time of day. It was beautiful and a meal that I will never forget”.

As Shirley Valentine, Mina is on stage for over 2 hours – sometimes twice a day and even cooks egg and chips on stage during the play. “This role takes a lot of stamina. On two show days I eat sparsely – just some banana and other fruit before the first show and then I make sure I have something that is not too heavy and easy to digest with lots of protein between shows.”

But Mena confesses that after the last show at night “I have a very sweet tooth so I have to eat something sweet at night”.

Mena loves family food history “My mother has left me with lots of history and my mother in law Jean Bintley has given me a wonderful recipe from the 50’s for trifle. This trifle will change your life.”

“It’s important that I make this dish in a particular large cut glass bowl to preserve the magic of Jean’s recipe”.

VINTAGE TRIFLE

Photo by Márcio Carvalho: Pexels

Image by dan from Pixabay

Photo by cottonbro studio: Pexels

Cut up a jam and cream Swiss roll and line the bowl with it

Drain a tin of peaches the best ones are those in their own juice. Put the peaches over the swiss roll.

Then make up a lime jelly and pour over the fruit and swiss roll. It’s important to get the right taste that you use a lime jelly.

Pour jelly over swiss roll and leave to set.

Make the custard and when the jelly to set pour the custard over the jelly.

Do not put cream on the top but when you serve your guests a portion pour over some fresh cream.

Shirley Valentine is at The Leeds Playhouse until Saturday 26th April. More Information here