The time Kim Basinger invented the Findus Crispy Pancake

“Cut,” shouted 9 ½ Weeks director Adrian Lyne, “that’s lunch.”

Kim Basinger lay on the floor by a beautiful retro-styled refrigerator. She was wearing nothing more than a lacy bra and pants.

Mickey Rourke had just finished rubbing her stomach with a strawberry for some reason and now she was hungry.

She craved pancakes. Savoury style with ham and mushrooms.

The on-set caterer was happy to make her the pancakes she so desired, but when they arrived, they were limp and disappointing things.

She took a bite and sighed disappointedly

But then, inspiration struck. Kim stood up tossed the pancakes in the rubbish bin or ‘trash can’ and put some clothes on.

She had a crispy pancake to create.

“The problem is that when you’ve had a hard morning being rubbed by bits of fruit in your underwear, you need something tasty and substantial for your lunch,” she said in a 1985 Wogan interview.

“As I was eating this disappointing pancake it just hit me – what this pancake needs is a weird crispy coating like a fish finger.”

The sexy star set about creating a culinary revolution.

Taking the very concept of a pancake and abandoning it, she created a weird orange crispy sack filled with a molten hot grey goo with pink meaty bits in.

The problem was, the public were sceptical, and when presented with ‘Kim Basinger’s Crispy Pancakes’ they just weren’t interested.

However, Kim wasn’t ready to give up yet.

“The thing was, I was working on a film that would go on to popularise getting your stomach rubbed with bits of food,” she said.

“So I came up with a plan.”

She prepared some of her crispy pancakes and waited the next day of filming to begin.

She lay down by the fridge in her underwear, as she had done every day, and began the scene.

Instead of rubbing her stomach with a big lobster though, as the script demanded, her friend and co-star Mickey Rourke brought out a crispy pancake and began rubbing her stomach with it.

When the film came out, it was a huge hit and the public, desperate to recreate its raunchy scenes of being rubbed with bits of food, began seeking out the crispy pancakes.

“Demand went through the roof,” laughed the Batman star.

“More than I could cope with at the same time as being a full-time sex symbol.”

Ultimately, food giants Findus bought Basinger’s clever concept, changed the name to Findus Crispy Pancakes, and the rest became history.

The star remains pleased they were a success but has mixed feelings about some of the food giant’s choices.

“Filling a crispy sack with molten hot white goo is fine,” she said.

“But filling one with minced beef?”

“That’s just mental.”