Spanish Nuns Present Cookery Show

They are billed as Spain's new celebrity chefs but while Sister Liliana and Sister Beatriz appear weekly on television sets in Spanish living rooms they are not allowed to leave the convent where they live as cloistered nuns.

The two nuns are the stars of a hybrid reality and cookery show called Taste of Heaven in which they teach viewers the secrets of the handmade cakes, pastries and desserts for which the country's convents are famous, and which many sell. They are also shown going about their other tasks and pastimes at the convent of the Concepcionistas Franciscanas in Segovia, central Spain, including singing, praying and basketball.

"It was a good opportunity to show to people what a contemplative life is, and to share our recipes," they said.

Plum cake, rice mousse, custards, apple sauce, ice-cream and almond cakes are all on a list of recipes in which divine inspiration is given as an added ingredient.

The nuns, aged 24 and 69, will share their recipes with viewers over the coming three months. Unlike other television chefs, however, they will not enjoy the slick studio sets often seen as an essential part of the genre. They film their show in the convent's spartan kitchens, using the simple - and sometimes aging - instruments, gas rings and ovens at hand.

Liliana, the younger of the two, does most of the presenting, though Beatriz is given to occasionally barking out orders. "She is a bit temperamental," Liliana said. "I am more peaceful."

The nuns appear on Canal Cocina, a cable channel that includes Jamie Oliver among its international assortment of chefs. Beatriz has been behind the convent walls since 1948, when she began learning recipes handed down over hundreds of years. Liliana is a Colombian who entered the convent at 16.