Quincy Jones gave Amy Winehouse a rat recipe

Quincy Jones says he once gave Amy Winehouse a recipe to cook rat and relaxed Michael Jackson in the studio by talking in Cockney rhyming slang.

Quincy Jones once gave Amy Winehouse a rat recipe.

The legendary producer - who has worked with some of the world's biggest stars - urged the 'Rehab' singer to cook the unusual dish during one of their recording sessions.

He said: "I gave her a recipe. I said, 'You eaten a rat before?' I'm telling you, it's like any other meat. I was 7 and my grandmother would send me and my brother out to get the fat ones. The ones wriggling their tales are most tender.

"It's true. It's not a bad meal. When you throw in some onions. And you get over it being a rat."

Quincy famously worked with the late Michael Jackson and revealed he used Cockney rhyming slang - a form of phrasing which originated in London - to put the singer, who he nicknamed Smelly, at ease during their recording sessions.

He said: "If I wanted to make Smelly laugh in the studio, I might make him look out of the window at a pretty girl and say: "Watch the boat on the ice cream when he gets a butcher's of the Bristols on that Richard."

"I am gumbo. My roots are Cherokee Indian, Cameroon and Welsh. I even speak a little Serbo-Croat. But Cockney rhyming slang is the language that made Smelly laugh."