Nigella Lawson Biography
Seductive TV Chef Teaches the Pleasure of Eating
Nigella Lawson focuses on simple and sensual food like this recipe such as Slut-Red Raspberries in Chardonnay Jelly. Here's what you should know.
British-born TV chef Nigella Lawson got her start as a journalist and authour before she made the move to television. To date, she has written six cookbooks:
- How To Eat: Pleasures and Principles of Good Food (1998)
- How To Be A Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking(2000)
- Nigella Bites (2001)
- Forever Summer With Nigella (2002)
- Feast: Food To Celebrate Life (2004)
- Nigella Express (2007)
She has also starred in five television cooking shows:
- Nigella Bites (2000-2001)
- Forever Summer with Nigella (2002)
- Nigella Feasts (2006)
- Nigella's Christmas Kitchen (2006)
- Nigella Express (2007)
Born to a socialite mother and a politician and baron father, Lawson grew up in a very well-to-do household. She discovered the joys of eating for pleasure on a trip to France when she was a teenager. After university she worked in publishing and as a journalist, writing for such prestigious publications as Vogue, The Sunday Times, The Observer and Bon Appetit.
It wasn't until she was in her late 30s that she published her first cookbook, How To Eat. With the combined success of How To Eat and her second cookbook, How To Be A Domestic Goddess the foundations were laid for Lawson's first television program, Nigella Bites. She became a celebrity almost overnight in the UK, and eventually became internationally recognized.
Focusing on the pleasure in food - from cooking to eating - Lawson's TV programs and books feature uncomplicated dishes, designed to both enhance the eating experience and make your day easier. These, however, are no basic recipes. Lawson's privileged upbringing and sophisticated palate prove to provide a bit of a challenge with recipes such as Turkish Syllabub (a delicate pudding) and Double Potato and Halloumi Bake (a cheesy potato casserole). Exotic and indulgent ingredients add a twist to basic recipes such as American Diner Pancakes (served with maple syrup and crispy bacon) and Gingered and Minty Fruit Salad (a spicy twist to the classic fruit salad).
Known for her simple but sophisticated recipes, vivid food descriptions and intimate presenting style, Lawson has often been touted more for her beauty and sensual charisma than for her cooking. She has been a regular target for comedians who lampoon her suggestive personality, though Lawson claims she does not play up her looks or sensuality for the sake of ratings. When she glances at the camera she means it as intimate, not flirtatious, and when she licks her fingers or closes her eyes with pleasure when she tastes something, is promoting the pleasure in food, not an erotic display for effect. However sexy Lawson may come across on television, she is the perfect companion for her food.
Lawson teaches her viewers and readers about the pleasure to be found in food. The dishes she prepares are recipes she has made for herself, and in her television programs we see she, her family and friends enjoying her food. In fact, like most of us, Lawson sneaks down to the fridge in the middle of the night to steal a snack.
Here's what she has to say about the very sexy dessert Slut-Red Raspberries in Chardonnay Jelly: "This is heaven on the plate: the wine-soused raspberries take on a stained glass, lucent red, their very raspberriness enhanced; the soft, translucently pale coral just-set jelly in which they sit has a heady, floral fragrance that could make a grateful eater weep."
Find the recipe for Slut-Red Raspberries in Chardonnay Jelly here.
