Sharing The Love

Bake Off champ Nadiya Hussain on the food she makes at home and passing on her passion for cooking…

 

- Tess Lamacraft

Nadiya Hussain’s rousing victory speech when she was crowned winner of The Great British Bake Off in 2015 is unforgettable. ‘I’m never gonna say, “I don’t think I can,”’ she said. ‘I can and I will!’

They are certainly words she’s lived by. Since lifting the trophy (and leaving former judge Mary Berry teary-eyed with emotion), the mum-of-three has hardly drawn breath. As well as famously being asked to bake a cake for the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations, she’s written six books and presented numerous TV series, including The Chronicles of Nadiya and Nadiya’s British Food Adventure.

Now she’s back to share some special recipes in a new BBC2 eight-part series, Nadiya’s Family Favourites. Far from insisting on fancy techniques, Nadiya uses her trademark warmth to show us how to rustle up hassle-free food for family occasions – be it cooking on hectic school nights or catering for weekend get-togethers.

‘Everyone has busy lives and cooking can feel time-consuming, or monotonous or expensive, but it doesn’t have to be that way,’ insists Nadiya, proving her point with mouthwatering creations such as spatchcock spicy chicken with ghee potatoes and baked pear and marzipan crumble.

‘I’ll be cooking meals my family love to eat and when I say they’re not hard, they’re really not hard!’

Here, Nadiya, 33, tells us more about her new show…