CELEBRITY  WITH  AMANDA  KELLER  

 

NIGELLA  LAWSON   Amanda goes carpooling with culinary Queen, Nigella Lawson and prepares her special ‘Eggs On The Run’ dish as a special treat. Both Nigella and Amanda are busy mums with little time to spare so in order to make every second count, Amanda has honed the art of cooking eggs under the bonnet of her car when she is doing the school run and thought she’d demonstrate her skills to Nigella while chatting to her about her life, new book and her role on MasterChef Australia.

 

 

ABOUT  NIGELLA  LAWSON  • Nigella Lucy Lawson (born 6 January 1960) is an English journalist, broadcaster, television

personality, gourmet, and food writer. • Lawson first started work as a book reviewer and restaurant critic • She later became the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times in 1986. • She then became a freelance journalist and wrote for a number of newspapers and

magazines. • She conceived the idea of writing a cookbook after she observed a dinner party host in tears

because of an unset crème caramel. • Though Lawson has enjoyed a successful career in cookery, she is not a trained chef, and

does not like being referred to as a "celebrity chef". • Throughout Lawson's television programs, she emphasizes that she cooks for her own

pleasure, for enjoyment, and that she finds cooking therapeutic. When deciding upon which recipes to feature in her books, she takes the view of the eater, stating, "If it's something I don't want to carry on eating once I'm full, then I don't want the recipe ... I have to feel that I want to cook the thing again".

• Lawson met journalist John Diamond in 1986, when they were both writing for The Sunday Times. They married in Venice in 1992 and have a daughter, Cosima and a son, Bruno. Diamond was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1997 and died in March 2001, aged 47. One of his last messages to Lawson was, "How proud I am of you and what you have become. The great thing about us is that we have made us who we are."

• It was revealed by leaked Whitehall documents in 2003 that Lawson declined an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II in 2001. As the daughter of a life peer, Lawson is entitled to the courtesy style of "The Honourable", and is thus named The Hon. Nigella Lawson; however, she does not use this courtesy style.

• Nigella is a guest judge on MasterChef Australia, 2016. BOOKS & TV

• She brought out her first cookery book in 1998. How to Eat sold 300,000 copies and became a best-seller.

• Her second book was brought out in 2000. How to Be a Domestic Goddess won her the British Book Award for Author of the Year.

• She hosted her own cooking show series, Nigella Bites, in 1994 on Channel 4. This was accompanied by her next book; Nigella Bites, which won Lawson a Guild of Food Writers Award.

• Nigella Bites, ran from 1999 to 2001 on Channel 4, followed by a Christmas special in 2001. The first series of Nigella Bites averaged 1.9 million viewers, and won her the Television Broadcast of the Year at the Guild of Food Writers Awards and the Best Television Food Show at the World Food Media Awards in 2001

• She hosted the Food Network's Nigella Feasts in the United States in 2006, followed by a three-part BBC Two series, Nigella's Christmas Kitchen, in the UK, which led to the commissioning of Nigella Express on BBC Two in 2007.

• Her own cookware range, Living Kitchen, has a value of £7 million. • To date, she has sold more than 3 million cookery books worldwide.

 

 

• Lawson has stated that she believes cooking is "a metaphor for life", in the sense that "When you cook, you need structure [...] but just as importantly you need to be able to loosen up and go with the flow [...] you must not strive for perfection but, rather, acknowledge your mistakes and work out how you can rectify them". She has described cooking as "a way of strengthening oneself", in the sense that "being able to sustain oneself is the skill of the survivor".

• Lawson's fifth book, Feast: Food that Celebrates Life, released in 2004, made sales worth £3 million.

• Her third food-based television series, called Nigella Feasts, debuted on the USA's Food Network in Autumn 2006 for a 13-week run. Time magazine wrote a favorable review of the show; "the real appeal of Feasts ... is her unfussy, wry, practical approach to entertaining and quality comfort food. ... between the luscious camera shots and Lawson's sensual enjoyment of eating, Feasts will leave you wishing for an invite".

• Her influence as a food commentator was also demonstrated in late 2006, when after she had lauded goose fat as being an essential ingredient for Christmas, sales percentages of the product increased significantly in the UK.

• Her influence with the public was again demonstrated when sales of Riesling wine increased by 30% in the UK after she had incorporated it into her Coq au Riesling recipe on Nigella Express.

• In December 2007 she appeared on BBC's The Graham Norton Show and revealed that she had once eaten 30 pickled eggs for a £1,000 bet, saying "How stupid to challenge me! I made them all put their money on the table in front of me. The next day I had scrambled eggs for breakfast."

• The accompanying book to Nigella Express became another best-seller in the UK. It was outselling television chef Jamie Oliver by 100,000 copies, according to Waterstone's.

• The book was number one for a period on Amazon UK's bestselling books, and was ninth on their overall list of Christmas bestsellers in any category.

• In autumn 2015 Lawson began "Simply Nigella", a BBC 2 show which plans to show viewers how to cook a range of dishes that are simple to cook and similar to what viewers make themselves. Lawson features comfort food and dishes that are quick to prepare. She features food that makes viewers feel better while they cook it and also when they eat it.

ABOUT  THE  BOOK    ‘Part of the balance of life lies in understanding that different days require different ways of eating…' Whatever the occasion, food – in the making and the eating – should always be pleasurable. Simply Nigella taps into the rhythms of our cooking lives, with recipes that are uncomplicated, relaxed and yet always satisfying. From quick and calm suppers (Miso Salmon, Cauliflower & Cashew Nut Curry) to stress-free ideas when catering for a crowd (Chicken Traybake with Bitter Orange & Fennel), or the instant joy of bowlfood for cosy nights on the sofa (Thai Noodles with Cinnamon and Prawns), here is food guaranteed to make everyone feel good.

 

 

Whether you need to create some breathing space at the end of a long week (Asian-Flavoured Short Ribs), indulge in a sweet treat (Lemon Pavlova, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pots) or wake up to a strength-giving breakfast (Toasty Olive Oil Granola), Nigella's new cookbook is filled with recipes destined to become firm favourites. Simply Nigella is the perfect antidote to our busy lives: a calm and glad celebration of food to soothe and uplift. (Source: Random House.com.au)

WEBLINKS    Website: http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/nigella-lawson/simply-nigella-9780701189358.aspx