Tucked into a dimly lit corner within a tall, navy townhouse in Hackney, Nigella Lawson is mulling over her five desert island ingredients. ‘If you’re going to restrict me to five… absolutely golden syrup, which I’m very, very keen on and is one of the great ingredients. Lemons. Salt, obviously. And how many have I got to?’ she asks worriedly. ‘Five isn’t nearly enough, I must think of some other things…’
Cheese? ‘All of them!’ Thyme? ‘Cooking is also aromatherapy, remember. I find it just relaxes me, makes me feel I’m living in a beautiful world.’ Dried chillies and Colman’s English mustard make the cut, too. By now, we’re well over five. Oh, and she’s also fanatical about anchovies and capers. ‘Not everyone loves them. There’s always someone who’ll say, “I cannot bear that.”’ Fresh or tinned, the domestic goddess says she devours them on thick slices of double-buttered toast. We should know by now that Nigella Lawson doesn’t believe in scrimping, after all.
Though nor does she care for food snobbery, apparently. ‘The idea of fine dining makes me want to lie on the floor and weep,’ cries Lawson, who proudly says that she enjoys dolloping peanut butter on cooked spaghetti (‘it’s certainly not chic, but if an Italian ate it, it would work’) and ‘was so thrilled when Nigel Slater called me the Queen of the frozen pea — another desert island ingredient.’
In an age when everyone has an opinion on what we should be eating and where we should be eating it, it seems that this 62-year-old (deep breath) cook, author, television sensation and businesswoman couldn’t care less. In fact, she rarely eats out at all. ‘I don’t go out to restaurants in London a great deal because I eat such a lot at home.’ Though if push comes to shove, ‘I was really impressed with Manteca,’ she says. ‘I thought it was really good and had a nice atmosphere. And I’m a great admirer of Sabor, that is wonderful.’ And when it comes to takeaways, east London is Lawson’s go-to. ‘I was having dinner with some friends of mine and they have this incredible vegan Chinese takeaway near them called Facing Heaven. And they’re not vegan — not that I have anything against vegans — but we go there because the food is so great.’ No, not exactly an extensive list, but that’s no surprise considering that Lawson has built an empire from a genuine love for indulgent home cooking, an appetite that clearly rumbles louder than ever. And now, she’s scouring a new isle for produce: her own, thanks to a collaboration with Ocado where you can shop her favourite budget-friendly ingredients.
Cooking is also aromatherapy, remember. I find it just relaxes me, makes me feel I’m living in a beautiful world
‘I like sharing what I love. I have a slightly evangelical bent so this was great for me. I can now say exactly what I used for each recipe, which I think is more helpful for the reader,’ she says, assuring even the most novice cooks that they, too, can prepare a deliciously decadent, middle-of-the-week feast.
As the cost of living continues to soar, Lawson has also rounded up four affordable recipes — a hearty, high-protein feta, black bean and clementine couscous, super-speedy steamed syrup sponge, HP sauce stir-fry and the aforementioned ‘creamy dreamy’ peanut pasta — all of which will feed a family of four for under a fiver.
‘You really have to make the most of what you’ve got lying about,’ says Lawson, who is by no means a stranger when it comes to taking the low-effort approach to cooking. ‘Using what you have already gives any cook a quiet satisfaction in knowing you can get it all together very easily because we all have lots of different things going on in our life. I want to share the tips I have for making everyday food that doesn’t take ages or require a huge, extravagant shopping expedition,’ she says, convinced that pretentious meals only kill the appetite. ‘There’s a lot of snobbery in food and that’s not the sort of dish I want to make.’
This attitude — that food should be as pleasurable for the cook as much as the eater — is a constant for Lawson. ‘When I write a recipe, I want it to be something that I love and enjoy and that I think others will, too. I’m always thinking, “Does this make your life easier and more delicious?” And if it doesn’t, then no, I’m not interested.’ Where Nigella Lawson is concerned, cooking really can be that simple. After that it’s just about piling it on, or politely passing the peanut butter jar along…
