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In conversation with Nigella What do you ask a domestic food goddess who has been at the top of her game for decades? Melissa Blease does all the work for us
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since records began... and it was announced that the Strictly Come Dancing Halloween special was cancelled. But just when we were beginning to think that it really wasn’t worth getting out of bed, Nigella Lawson’s latest book Cook, Eat, Repeat floated into view, offering a beacon of light in the midst of all the gloom.
s the UK’s pandemic crisis reached a ‘critical stage’ on 29 October 2020, Boris Johnson introduced lockdown two. Across the country, redundancies were reported to be at their highest level since 2009, October had officially been declared the wettest in Britain
As October rolled into an equally gloomy November, December and on, the nation took Nigella’s hand as she guided us through an array of accessible, inspirational recipes from appelflappen to winter trifle by way of fried chicken sandwiches, crab mac ’n’ cheese, Norwegian pork ribs, no-knead bread, Basque burnt cheesecake and much, much more. The mighty, 330-plus page tome offered succour, sustenance and sensuality, not only uplifting our spirits but offering a fresh perspective on the very meaning of food for thought in sections with tantalisingly tasty titles including ‘What is a Recipe?’, ‘A Loving Defence of Brown Food’, ‘Much Depends on Dinner...’ and the divine section simply titled ‘Pleasure’. This winter, Nigella is finally able to head to the West Country as part of her Cook, Eat, Repeat mini-tour. But we were hungry to catch up with her beforehand, and the pleasure was all ours... Lockdown: how was it for Nigella? I’m so aware that I’m incredibly fortunate; I had a roof over my head, a bit of outdoor space, food on my table, and work that I could do safely at home. I’m also very lucky that I enjoy solitude, so even though I spent several months alone, I didn’t ever feel lonely. Of course it was hard not to be able to hug my children, but so many people really suffered, either with their health, facing their own illness and death (or that of those they love) and struggling to make ends meet, or risking their wellbeing by having to go to work. So, overall, I’m just inordinately grateful.
I don’t feel there is a distinction to be made between memoir and recipe book... I like to blend the two forms from the get-go
Cook, Eat, Repeat: the process An essential part of writing a book, for me, is spent not writing it! I don’t really know how many months I spent letting this one 18 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE
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SEPTEMBER 2021
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NO¯ 202
