Whatever the weather at a Grand Prix weekend, the sunniest spot will always be wherever Renault DP World F1 team's Head of Digital Media, Aurélie Donzelot happens to be. Cheerful yellow may be the colour of her team kit, but that's not the reason - Aurélie will always greet you with a beaming smile, however annoying or difficult you're about to make her job with your request. Responsible for the team's digital channels, she is often to be found in the garage taking photos of the drivers which are then be used for social media posts, and last season Aurélie had the extra task of looking after Daniel Ricciardo's media sessions which gave us all the pleasure of not one, but two beaming smiles to brighten up our interviews.
Recently Aurélie added another string to her bow by launching a podcast -'Racing Lives' - where she chats to a host of different women working in F1 about how they got to where they are, and how they cope in such a busy world. You can find all of the episodes here.
This is Aurélie's taste of home:
"This is my favourite recipe from growing up. No idea how French it is, but it’s 100% HOME for me and I love making it and love eating it! Olive and Pancetta Cake.
It’s my mum’s recipe, no idea where she put it together from, but it’s amazing and straightforward and I’ve never messed it up.
I remember asking her to make it every time I came back from university or every time I was visiting home once I'd moved out.
It makes me think of my mum and her cooking – she’s a really good cook and has always kept the French approach to meals which is: sitting together at the table, having several courses (always an entré, mains, salads, cheese and pudding).
It might not have been like that for every meal when we were at home full time, but these days if we have a family day with everyone coming back to my parent’s house, she goes all out and we love it!
When I eat it now, it makes me proud that I can make it as I am definitely not someone that cooks or bakes often. It also means I’m home long enough to take the time to bake something, to relax. And the taste of it…I always use herbs from Provence to make it so that I get a hit from the South of France where my mum’s parents retired to. After we moved to England, their home (as well as my other grandparents’ place which is near Switzerland) became my slices of ‘home’, of where I come from. So I get a HUGE hit of nostalgia every time I eat it"
Ingredients
180g plain flour
3 eggs
100ml semi skimmed milk (you can use dry white wine instead)
100ml olive oil
100g grated gruyere
100g smoked pancetta cubes
100g rinsed and pitted green olives
100g rinsed and pitted black olives
1.5 tbsp baking powder
Salt and pepper
Herbs (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Drain the olives but leave them whole.
Butter and flour a cake tin approx. 21cm diameter or use a loaf tin.
In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the oil and the milk (or white wine if using instead).
Add the sifted flour, gruyere, olives and pancetta (and herbs if using).
Add very little salt and be generous with the pepper, then mix the batter with a fork.
Add the baking powder very carefully and mix. Pour the batter into the cake tin, cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes, removing the foil after 40 minutes. Check if the cake is done by inserting a skewer into the centre – it should come out clean.
Let it cool before removing from the tin.
Excellent cold with a salad.
Bon appétit!
