Despite a slew of TV appearances, cookbooks, world tours and more, Nigella Lawson insists she’s an indolent person at heart. Sue Smethurst sits down with the most recognisable face in home cookery to crack the secret to her seemingly effortless success.
Nigella Lawson sashays across the room in a flowing summery print dress and kisses me on both cheeks, clasping my gardenroughened hands in her own perfectly manicured ones.
“Would you like tea?” she asks while beckoning me to sit.
It may be the first time I’ve met the queen of British home cookery, but it feels like we’re old pals because Nigella has been a part of my – and millions of others’ – lives forever.
More mere kitchen mortals than you could count have attempted her famed chocolate Malteser cake, or triumphantly mastered her roast chicken. Over 10 million dog-eared copies of her iconic cookbooks sit on kitchen benches around the world. And we regularly welcome her into our homes on the countless television shows she fronts. The former journalist and book reviewer, who has built a $40 million empire on mastering the art of effortless charm, is now one of the most recognisable women in the world.
Surprisingly, the 59-year-old is more beautiful and disarmingly charming in real life than on screen. Her porcelain skin is luminous and her thick arched eyebrows have been shaped with impossible precision. The Nigella recipe is part Sophia Loren, part Jane Fonda’s Barbarella, with a surprising sprinkling of self-deprecating humour. The result is definitely more goddess than domestic.
“There’s no difference between who I am publicly and privately, but I’m quite lazy,” she says when I ask if there’s a secret flaw in all of this bowl-licking lusciousness. “I’ve always had a theory that lazy people work harder because you have to drive yourself to get things done.”
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
