She’s embraced a solo lockdown, and is back with a new book (and TV show) of signature comfort food. Has Nigella Lawson found happiness at last?
- Read exclusive sweet recipes from Nigella Lawson’s new book, Cook, Eat, Repeat
Nigella Lawson – Britain’s only true “surname unnecessary” global celebrity since Princess Diana – is feeding everyone. Well, of course she is: the only thing that would be more on brand would be if she were suggestively licking a spoon. But all that cookery-porn nonsense was always just for the TV shows; feeding actual people is a different matter. She has been talking about her love of that, and her abject terror that someone in her vicinity might be slightly peckish, for three decades now, ever since the publication of her first cookbook, 1998’s How To Eat. “I’ve brought the Guinness crisps that you like. I ordered so many they sent a box!” she tells her publicist, Mark. Even in a black jumpsuit (“I’m the sucker who buys things from Instagram ads”) and Birkenstocks (“the only shoes I’ve worn for months”) she has a slightly regal air that brings to mind a queen distributing food to the masses.
We are in a London studio, where Lawson has just been photographed for the Guardian, and the stylist mentions that she could do with a snack. Lawson is on the case like the fifth emergency service. “Do you want some Twiglets? I’ve brought three bags! And what are you going to eat for lunch? I have a Vegemite sandwich if you want it,” she asks, returning to Mark. I tell her I admire her preparedness. “Well, it’s a bit of a Jewish thing, isn’t it?” she says quietly, knowing we are both Jewish. And then she raises her throaty voice a little, which she does when she’s playing to the gallery: “Also, I’m just really greedy.”
