I see the lovely Nigella Lawson is in the headlines again – this time for devoting a five-minute segment of her latest series to, er, buttering toast. Unsurprisingly this has led to much mockery, something that I'm sure the serene Nigella will rise above. Her critics don't seem to have quite twigged what Nigella's TV series are – not programmes of cookery instruction but demonstrations of the sheer carnal pleasure of eating, filmed in an intimate, high-gloss style that, along with the entirely unreal settings, is suggestive more of high-end pornography than cookery. Nigella takes an almost indecent delight in her food – and who could deny that there is delight to be had from eating hot-buttered toast? Correction: hot-buttered then cool-buttered then sprinkled with sea salt. I wish I could try it myself (though I would use sourdough in preference to the sandwich loaf), but I have to avoid dairy these days, thanks to the lingering effects of a Hong Kong virus I picked up four years ago – but that's another story... Nigella describes her twice-buttered toast as 'the Platonic ideal of toast'. You've got to love her for that. Speaking for myself, I've been in thrall to Nigella ever since the morning, some years ago, when I saw her emerging from a lift and she turned her melting smile on me. That did it.
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Not exactly a 'carnal pleasure', but a similar, heart-stopping moment circa 1990 when driving west along Brompton Road, I slowed, and stopped for 'a woman' trying illegally to cross the traffic to turn east. It was Lady Diana, driving, with a bodyguard sitting next to her. With her head lowered and eyes looking up with that now-familiar half-smile, she raised a hand to me in thanks. I think I must have reached the Cromwell Road before my heart restarted.
ReplyDeleteI know just how you felt, Mm – and I only passed her on an escalator. An utterly dazzling presence...
ReplyDeleteI've always assumed Nigella Lawson's (1st?) recipe book called How to Eat was a wonderful swipe at Delia Smith's very popular recipe book called How to Cook.
ReplyDeleteLawson is obviously now all about all sorts of things besides cooking, but central to her mission has always been the pleasure of eating, with cooking only the means to that end, and I do love her for that.
Me too. Especially as so many chefs etc seem not to enjoy food particularly – and many of them, I suspect, can barely taste anything any more, to judge by their recipes.
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