to think that Nigella has lost the plot?

[Lottapianos]

I love her - she is a terrific cook, she's completely gorgeous and has a real zest for life. Up until now I had always thought she was a bit bonkers in a campy fun sort of way. But I have just watched her cook chocolate fusilli with butterscotch sauce because 'sometimes you come in from work and just can't decide whether to have chocolate or pasta for dinner - so why not have both!'



I can handle a lot of wankery and pretentiousness and off the wall stuff around food but even I have my limits. In fact, this whole Nigellissima series has been mad - hardly any of the dishes had anything Italian about them. Will stick with her 'Kitchen' book which I adore and read for fun

[Alliwantisaroomsomewhere]

Marshmallowpies, I never really liked him. Now he irritates the living shit out of me and I have to change




channels.

[marshmallowpies]

Alliwant ha ha you have Nigel Slater spot on there! I used to like him but gone right off now. The bit where he plonked a bit of thyme he clearly wasn't going to eat on top of his slice of cake was total pretentiousness!

[fatlazymummy]

I've just googled grasshopper pie [have never heard of it]. It's not real cooking, is it? It just sounds like one of those concoctions you throw together when you're craving sweet stuff but only have a few random ingredients in.
Then feel very sick afterwards.

[PickledFanjoCat]

I couldnt eat her food for fear it will dripping in sex juices. Yucky.

[strictlovingmum]

Woman can't chop to save her life, her new book is not bad few no churn ice cream recipes which do actually work well and couple of pudding recipes, almond/choc cake and espresso pavlova absolutely beautiful, but that's about it.
I find her irritating and too up herself, DH(Italian) on the other hand loves watching her but not for her cooking in DH's words "none of that food is really Italian, my mother does not cook like that, or these ingredients we don't use in Italy".
Oh and DH just confirmed, nobody he knows back in Italy eats choc pasta with butterscotch sauce, unheard of.
Silly mare.

[Actuallylookingok]

I used to love the fridge scenes when she'd come down in her dressing gown and inhale a whole cake...wish i had the nerve to do that...but used to worry about whether she brushed her teeth again before returning to bed! (yes..I know it isn't real). I am a celebrity chef whore and have books from just about every one.... my disasters are many and I have a Nigella size bottom (pre diet) which DH loves!

[applecrumple]

Seriously surprised that no-one likes her Grasshopper Pie recipie - I & DH family love it! What's not to like anyway? Bourbon biscuits, cream, mint & choc!

Do agree that some of her comments are a bit out there - the episode before last she described something as looking like a "Manila envelope" very poetic!

[VenetiaLanyon]

I think she's fab, love her books, and have cooked lots of her delicious recipes....

BUT I think that she looks somehow a bit tired and forlorn in Nigellissima; like she knows what her public expects from her, and she gives it her best, but she's done it for a while now, and almost can't be bothered any more....

[squoosh]

Delia can probably kill someone stone dead with the merest of glances.

I find her steely calm a little unnerving.

[WilsonFrickett]

Well yeah Squoosh but if you think about it, during filming they're there to perform in front of the camera and to do that as quickly and smoothly as possible. If you have to wait for Nigella or Jamie or whoever to do all the prep work as well as the 'one we made earlier' it would take hours and hours to shoot one dish, which would push the filming schedules and then the costs sky-high.

Whispers: even Delia doesn't fill up her own wee tiny glass bowls of perfectly chopped ingredients...

[blueshoes]

She looks good but she does not look like herself lately. I wonder whether she has had some work done.

[TheOriginalSteamingNit]

I still use How To Eat a lot, and think it is engaging and intelligent. But Nigelissima is a bit fucking bonkers, IMO.

[HazeltheMcWitch]

That is indeed intersting, Wilson - thanks again!

[squoosh]

So depending on which celeb chef you're working for you'd be working like the clappers having to churn stuff out for every time they messed up.

[squoosh]

Now that's interesting. I saw 'home economist' on the credits and was picturing a broad hipped, middle aged woman called Mrs O'Brien showing Nigella how to make an apple crumble.

I only lasted one Home Economics lesson.

[WilsonFrickett]

Pressed post too soon - but it's unusual to have a food economist to 'test' recipes on a show because they're almost always based on an existing book now.

[WilsonFrickett]

I used to work in TV production Hazel

On a book, home ecs do all the testing and measuring and stuff, and sometimes they will also be credited on a show for that job, but it's unusual. Sometimes Home Ecs on shows are credited as food stylists too...

[HazeltheMcWitch]

Ah, thanks, WilsonFrickett ! Are you one, then, are you in the field?

[WilsonFrickett]

Home Ecs on cooking shows essentially do all of the cooking. So if there's say, a recipe in three parts, they'll need a few versions of the food at that point. Say, I don't know, making a pavlova. They'll need fruit uncut, food for the presenter to cut on camera, then a batch of pre-cut fruit which the home ec will do. Then they'll have separated eggs, eggs that the presenter will separate, eggs that the presenter will whisk, ready whisked eggs, etc etc.

Food often goes funny under heat and light, presenters make mistakes, there's problems with sound and cameras, etc - so the home ec will make sure there's a steady stream of food at the right stage, iyswim.

[janelikesjam]

I remember, many moons ago, when she was a journalist, a good one as far as I remember. Isn't she sick of cooking now? Its been done, done, done. We don't need any more chefs or cookery programmes! My advice: get a new career Ms Lawson....

I did a muesil recipe of hers once - it was incredibly delicious and nutritious. But her cookbook recipes can look a bit OTT to me - too dairy or complicated or weird or basic. Chocolate pasta - give me a break!

I don't have anything personal for or against her - though a tad jealous of her "fabulous" life ...

[bamboostalks]

Really horrible to mention her kids. What if one of them googles and stumbles across that? Not necessary. They look very nice to me anyway.

[HazeltheMcWitch]

Ahem, not that sure, but I assume that they work out the quantities of recipes, and finesse the recipes, testing etc for books. And then on the show? Dunno, act like a sous chef?

[ButternutSquish]

No, Pierpressure, she definately said she 'couldn't be asked' to do something or the other. I remember thinking at the time it was a very un-Nigella thing to say and that maybe she was being 'down wif de kidz' or the like.

I just didn't like the concept of a cooking show which wasn't about cooking. Buying anti-pasti and putting it on a plate is not cooking IMHO

[squoosh]

What does a home economist do on a cookery show exactly? I was wondering this last night. Do they road test the recipes to see if any tweakings need to be made?

[HazeltheMcWitch]

I dont get all this hate. Or 'shade' as my niece would say. Why when discussing whether she has become a parody, do we need to slag off her kids/weight/figure/ageing??

One of the (many) things I love about Nigella is her honesty: she's clear that it is NOT her fridge, isn't her house. She has always lauded the team behind her, incl. nanny, housekeeper, home economist and food stylist (latter 2 obvs for the professional side).

I also love her intelligence, and they way she feels no need to play it down.