Nigella Lawson and the New York Times

[SobaAddict70]

eeek!

"Pity that the methionine it contains makes your p** smell."

er, thanks, Andy...I think...

[stellabella]

When I read Nigella, I get the impression she loves her friends and loves being with them more than she loves cooking. Her cooking instructions seem to be about how to cook well enough to make your friends happy to be at your home and how to spend more time with your friends than in your kitchen.

years ago i was in a doctor's office waiting room flipping through a women's weekly when i read a little article about how martha stewart is single-handedly destroying the "art" of entertaining friends at home by insisting that it must always be artFUL.

in my little town, during the summer months especially, my husband and i are always eating meals with our neighbors, whether in our kitchen or theirs [we don't even have a dining room--we just have a 24-ft long kitchen--HA--that's one of the bonuses of living in the KUNTRY].   or on the deck.  did i mention my screened-in deck?  oh, but back to the article--the author of said article insists that we have to get over our phobiae of entertaining, our fear that everything has to be perfect and elaborate and from-scratch in order for it to be friend-worthy.  the essential purpose of all our entertaining is being with our friends.  my hub & i, sometimes we go to lots of trouble--sometimes we just stoke the weber grill.

this thread started out as praise for nigella lawson's article and has devolved into more nigella-bashing, and i have noticed, from a carefully controlled scientific observation of the posts to this thread, that the men are doing more bashing than the women, that there's something too gorgeous and "posh" and media-hyped about her to ever take her seriously.

today at my little summer job scooping ice cream and making snocones, one little boy asked me what the grape flavor tasted like.  "Why, grape," I replied, "It's true to it's name, as are all the other flavors."

his friend said, smugly, "Yeah, all except the Tiger Blood and Bug Juice--they don't taste like the real thing!"

I curled my brow in this way i have--it slays kids, every time--and said, smoothly, a hint of chill in my voice,

"And how would you KNOW?"

[jaybee]

Amanada Hesser is boring to me and the food she writes about is rarely interesting.  I think the Times MAg. food section has suffered since Molly O'neil left it.

[Jinmyo]

jaybee, reading the same post twice is less boring than reading the adventureless adventures of Amanda and Tad.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Stellabella - I don't think this thread has evolved into Nigella bashing. If you reread my post, I differentiated between why she is popular (naughty posh) and how effective she is (harmless as Simon says, neither adds nor detracts.) I would say the same thing about lots of TV food personalities including Martha Stewart, Delia Smith or Nigel Slater. And I don't read Amanda Hesser either. Neither of them writes about food at a level that piques my interest.

[thefoodhunter]

In the interest of male and female parity and to avoid simply bashing one Tv chef/personality or another I think it would be fun to submit lists of sexiest TV chef/personality of each gender.

Sexiest male Ainsley Harriot.

Sexiest female Nigella Lawson.

Ahh, I feel like I'm in high school again!!!

[Gavin Jones]

Sexiest male Ainsley Harriot.

Sexiest female Nigella Lawson.

Let us hope they never reproduce.

[Simon Majumdar]

You would get a fat child who put the cause of black people back a hundred and fifty years

[B Edulis]

At the risk of his overhearing, I've gotta say that Anthony Bordain is up there on my list. His face ranges from broodingly handsome to nerdishly goofball, and his attitude from haughty and arrogant to self-effacing and humble. And I like the way he walks.....

[Simon Majumdar]

I have to say, from my one brief encounter that Mr Bourdain's obvious butchness was slightly offset by his insistence on wearing a gingham frock.  

Still each to his own.

[Andy Lynes]

Bourdain in a gingham frock? Now you're talking.

[Simon Majumdar]

You are SO right Andy.  It did kinda work in Corporal klinger kind of way.

Not many people can carry off that Six foot Tall wirey Noo Yorker cross dressing look, but he did it with some aplomb.

Perhaps his next move should be as the new Rupaul.  Then Andy, he could be both your mummy and your daddy.

S

[bourdain]

I thought I looked fat in that dress. Note to self: Avoid stripes.

[Liza]

I've heard that they shoot Nigella's show 5 times. Each show. 5 times. Then edit. Aieeee!

[Jinmyo]

Liza, would they would do a bit more shooting and editing on FNTV.

[Jinmyo]

Tony B, why not start a thread on some topic that interests you? I can se you're a bit interested in eGullet. If you want to have some real fun here, this is how to do it.

[Andy Lynes]

Jinmyo, I think one post about gingham was enough, we dont want to start a whole thread on "chefs in dresses".  

Hey, I just thought of an idea for a magazine!

[Lesley C]

I want to see Tony B. naked with a blender.

[stellabella]

Stellabella - I don't think this thread has evolved into Nigella bashing. .

plotnicki--

actually i disagree--i can't even remember who started this thread, but whoever it was, s/he said, Hey, a nice little piece from Miss Naughty Posh or whatever it is you call her

and sure enough, not YOU, but others chimed in to say, Ech, she's just another ding-dong with huge tatties.

not that i'm chastizing--this is egullet, after all

but at times many of you seem like a schoolyard of unruly schoolboys in dire need of a spanking, and i'm just the one to deliver it

[Sandra Levine]

You'd better stop before you turn them all on.

[Simon Majumdar]

Stella

Or may I call you "mistress whiplash?"

A) I am now, even more looking forward to meeting you as I am a very naughty boy.

I never said Nigella was just a ding dong with big tatties.  I merely said she was a harmless person with big tatties.  There is a big difference.  Apart from the tatties, of course.

S

[Steve Plotnicki]

Stellabella - Actually I disagree with you. There have been two themes to this thread. One is how competent she is and one that says she is boring and doesn't add anything to the art of cooking and that if it wasn't for her good looks and figure, along with the way it is portrayed on TV and in print she would be a nobody. I mean when is the last time the New York Times ran sultry pictures of someone who wrote an article for the food section?

It reminds of a story told in Geoffrey Stokes's book Star Making Machinery which is about the rock group Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen. The story goes that as part of trying to widen the groups audience, their PR person got the Commander himself a guest TV appearance on the detective show Angie Dickenson used to star on. So when the Commander is in makeup right before his cameo the director comes into him and says, "whatever you do, when you're on camera don't stare at her breasts." Of course when he gets on camera the Commander can't manage to follow the instructions because it's both been called to his attention but even moreso, Angie is always dressed in a way to accentuate her breasts.

So that we all notice the same about Nigella is no fault of ours. And if that isn't where they didn't want everyone focusing, and if they didn't want her to emit an air of superiority and aloofness, she wouldn't be playing peekaboo with the viewers in her grey cashmere sweater set from N. Peal.

[stellabella]

Or may I call you "mistress whiplash?"

cross your fingers that i can get my gear through security and then through customs next month

[Jinmyo]

I like tatties and neeps with butter and lots of fresh black pepper, roasted rabbit with a wine jus, and a watercress and mustard green salad.

[Blue Heron]

"it is only the French who affect disdain for the boullion cube; the Italians, no slouches in the cucina, after all, are unapologetic about using dadi and so am I"

Nigella won me over in this article when I read that she uses the bouillon cube, as do the Italians.  I also use bouillon paste several times a week in one thing or another, many times in lieu of salt, and the Swiss use it nearly every day, and they are no slouches, either.  stellabella, you are right on with your comments about her, too.  I think one of the reasons her cooking style appeals to stellabella, me and others, especially in this article, are that we are most likely part of her target audience, and those that don't like her style, well... aren't.   However, I draw the line at using canned peas, though, but anything else goes.