Norfolk's queen of pies is preparing to mix up a surprise after she was invited to film with experimental chef Heston Blumenthal.
Sarah Pettegree, owner of Brays Cottage Pork Pies, is heading to London tomorrow for a day behind the cameras with the internationally renowned kitchen star, who is known for his unusual culinary combinations.
Ms Pettegree will be filming for Mr Blumenthal's new TV show - the details of which are being kept tightly under wraps. All she has been able to reveal is that it will be shown on Channel 4 in the new year.
'I've got a vague outline of the day timing wise but they haven't told us specifically what we'll be doing. They don't want to spoil the surprise on the day because anything with Heston is always a showmanship sort of thing,' she said.
'I think I'm going to meet some interesting people.'
She added: 'I'm a fan of Heston, I think he's done great things and brought a lot of focus to UK food, which is always good for us in the food and tourism industry, because he's known internationally.
'I mentioned on Twitter that I was going down and I have had tweets from people from Australia and America who are aware of him. He's more than just a UK figure so that's exciting.'
From her base in Letheringsett near Holt, Ms Pettegree and her team bake a variety of pies that are sold across Norfolk, Suffolk and as far afield as Wales.
And she said a little sprinkling of Mr Blumenthal's approach to ingredients makes its way into her recipes.
She said: 'It's a nice tie in with how we approach food just within the humble pork pie. We do a traditional pork pie but we don't just stick to traditional. We play around with flavours.
'We do one with quail egg at the moment and the seasonal specials are fig and orange and a layer of prune and brandy.'
Ms Pettegree said she was looking forward to her day behind the cameras and would be taking the chance to champion her home county.
'I will definitely represent Norfolk. I always do whatever I can to mention to people how great Norfolk is and how wonderful the food is,' she added.
'I don't think it's well enough known and my mission in life is that everybody, including Heston Blumenthal, knows how wonderful Norfolk is.'
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