What happens when you swap the spotlight of Covent Garden for the gentle clatter of pans in a West London flat? For Yasmine, principal ballerina at the Royal Ballet, the answer is simple: you get pasta, stories and a fresh perspective on the art of living well.
Listen to the full episode with Yasmine Naghdi from the 5 O'clock Apron Podcast then delve into the podcast archive for more culinary adventures.
The discipline of dance, the rhythm of the kitchen
Yasmine’s kitchen is a study in precision, each ingredient laid out with the same care she brings to her craft. “I think that’s the ballerina training,” she laughs, as she tosses a mountain of garlic onto the counter. “Having everything kind of all organised.”
Her chosen dish – pasta alle vongole but with linguine instead of the classic spaghetti – comes with a personal twist. “I find it sort of holds onto the flavours a lot better,” she explains, as she inspects a kilo of clams soaking in salted water. “You see the clams start opening up as well. Shows that they’re healthy clams.”
The process is meticulous. Clams are soaked and rinsed repeatedly to rid them of sand, parsley and garlic are chopped with almost balletic precision, and every step is infused with stories of family and heritage. Yasmine’s husband, from Milan, taught her the recipe, but she confides with a grin, “Dare I say it, I’m now the master of cooking the dish better than him.”
A life in motion: breakfast, ballet and balance
As she cooks, conversation turns to the daily demands of a ballerina’s life. Yasmine’s mornings begin early, always with a substantial breakfast – kefir with pomegranate, blueberries, kiwi and a medley of seeds, or homemade sourdough with eggs and avocado. “I never skip breakfast,” she says, reflecting on the importance of fuelling a body that is both her instrument and her livelihood.
Her days are long and physically intense, starting with ballet class at the Royal Opera House and running through rehearsals until early evening. Nutrition is paramount, but so is comfort and joy at the table. “I need the calories,” she laughs. “I always have like an extra piece of bread and butter and cheese on the side of our dinner.”
The myth of the ballerina diet
Yasmine is quick to dispel the clichés about dancers and food. “I’ve met so many people and they’re like, so you just eat grapes? And I’m like, no, I would not look like this if I just ate grapes.”
For her, food is about longevity, strength and pleasure. She often brings her own meals to the Opera House, favouring home-cooked dishes for both cost and control. “I really love taking care of my body. I pay a huge importance to my nutrition.”
Family, heritage and home-cooked rituals
Born in London to a Persian father and Belgian mother, Yasmine’s culinary life is as international as her dance career. Her father is a gifted Persian cook, her mother equally adept in the kitchen, and her husband brings the Italian connection full circle. “We cook a lot on the weekends together. I’m kind of more the weekday chef. We cook a lot of healthy, high vegetable, high protein dishes.”
Weeknight dinners are quick but nourishing – salmon fillets, prawns, stir-fries loaded with vegetables and, when time allows, homemade pesto with basil from the windowsill. “My husband judges me anytime I use a jarred pesto. Big time. You need to make it fresh.”
The secret to perfect pasta alle vongole
Back at the stove, Yasmine reveals her secrets. The dish is quick, but demands precision: two rounds of sofrito (a sauté of garlic, parsley and chilli), a generous splash of extra virgin olive oil and, crucially, “that juice is gold” – the briny liquid from the clams, painstakingly sieved to remove every last grain of sand.
The pasta is cooked al dente, then finished in the clam juice, absorbing the flavours and transforming into something creamy without a drop of cream. “It’s just the collaboration of the juices of the clams and the starch of the pasta,” she says, as the kitchen fills with the scent of garlic and sea.
A final flourish of fresh parsley, a grind of black pepper and the dish is ready – simple, comforting and utterly transporting.
A life at the top – and at the table
As principal ballerina, Yasmine has reached the pinnacle of her profession, but the journey was anything but assured. She started ballet at six, trained at the Royal Ballet School’s White Lodge (described as “Hogwarts for ballet”) and was the only girl in her year to join the company. The demands are relentless, the competition fierce, but her passion is undimmed.
Now in her early thirties, Yasmine reflects on the balance of career and self-care. Injury-free and still dancing at her peak, she credits both discipline and a love of good food. “There’s a life after dance as well. So very important.”
source https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/ballet-a-kilo-of-clams-and-double-sofrito-cooking-with-yasmine-naghdi-in-west-london
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