Mary McCartney added: “In a McCartney sandwich, we are not afraid of a condiment.”
Having inherited a love of cooking from their mother, Sir Paul said he regularly visits his daughters for a home-cooked meal, while embracing his own “big routine” of providing the sandwiches for family trips.
The cookbook, titled Linda McCartney’s Family Kitchen, compiles many of the late photographer’s beloved vegetarian recipes while giving them a modern, healthier twist.
Stella McCartney said the cookbook modernised her mother’s recipes while celebrating her position as a pioneer of meat-free cooking.
Telegraph verdict: A decent quick-fix lunch fit for a commuter
Lisa Markwell, The Telegraph’s food editor, gives her verdict on Sir Paul McCartney’s bagel recipe
Sir Paul McCartney’s sandwich recipe (if you can call it that) requires hands-on testing to find out if it’s a medley worth copying.
This tuneful, frugal billionaire slices two bagels each into three, thus making a whole extra serving. But that does mean compromising on structure. I can see he might be going for a good carb-to-filling ratio but It’s hard to slice a bagel that thin without total collapse. Perhaps he should “get bap” (sorry).
I would never have an untoasted bagel, so this is a bit flabby for my taste: the Marmite (and added pickle) does a lot of heavy lifting, flavour-wise, to rescue an otherwise generic snack. A salty thwack of the yeasty spread does elevate hummus, a sometimes mealy, bland dip.
His genius move is to create “lettuce barriers” between the Marmite and the hummus and then again before the top bagel, so when you squish the second circle on top, the filling does not ooze through the hole (and, with sad inevitability, all down your top). It does still ooze out of the perimeter, however: diner beware.
So far, so harmonious. But in his YouTube explanation, the star adds that he “might have cheese, one slice of tomato… a pickle or two”. No doubt McCartney, unlike me, has ready access to Montgomery cheddar, artisan relish and San Marzano tomatoes. Posh or not, I don’t think the sandwich needs these additions – it smacks of ‘use up everything in the fridge before the Ocado delivery arrives’.
Sir Paul’s final flourish is a dab of honey mustard which gives another, peppery, dimension to the by-now cluttered assembly. “We’re not afraid of a condiment,” is how daughter Mary puts it.
When I eat his exact recipe, it’s nowhere near as muddled as I think it’s going to be and, although bits of filling are tumbling everywhere, it’s a decent quick-fix lunch. Although, it feels more like something a school mum or harried commuter would slap together than a superstar.
The chef in me would have blended the Marmite and hummus together – ebony and ivory, if you will – then added finely chopped gherkin to the mix, before piling on shredded roast lamb (Linda, cover your ears) or even slivers of dressed red cabbage.
And please, Sir Paul, toast the bagel.
