17-09-2016
Londoner Nigella Lawson, born in 1960, is one of the most famous people to promote gastronomy in Britain. Her most popular TV programmes include: "Nigella Bites", "Nigella Feasts", "Nigella Kitchen". Her first book "How to Eat: Pleasures and Principles of Good Food" (1998) sold 300 thousand copies. In the past, she spent a long time in Italy. Her latest visit a few days ago, promoting her book "Simply Nigella"
Nigella Lawson is back in Italy with a new book on the pleasure of food, with simple, relaxed yet always satisfying recipes. A serene and cheerful celebration of food that’s comforting and makes you «feel good, whatever the occasion». “Simply Nigella” – in the bookshops in Italy as of yesterday, 15th September – is a hymn to calmness, to the pleasure of cooking and the enthusiasm that characterise the famous British journalist and TV presenter.
Seven sections with unusual names (“Quick and calm”, “Bowlfood”, “Dine”, “Breathe”, “Sides”, “Sweet” “Beginnings”) include 125 recipes paired with craveable images and delicate colours, an unusual interpretation of comfort food, wrapped in the sweet and calm voice that has made her one of the most beloved and famous people in the culinary scene.
We had the chance and luck to meet her. She’s a beautiful and fascinating woman, with profound eyes, a mellow voice and porcelain skin: she charmed us immediately. We spoke in English but she knows Italian well since she spent a long time in Italy, in Florence, where at 19 she discovered flavours that later became the foundations of her menus and her very successful cooking programmes.
A classic yet essential question: how did you become passionate about cooking? I wasn’t born with this passion. In fact I ate little as a child! I think it all began during university, when I ended up cooking for my roommates. Yet it’s in Italy, in Florence, that my connection with food started. It was there that I discovered Italian delicacies, I was inspired and learnt the recipes that I later used in my 3 years at university. In Italy I learnt that the simplest the food, the better, and this is a very important lesson that I now try to teach others.
You’re considered a champion of accessible cuisine. What would you recommend to someone who’s approaching your philosophy for the first time? I’m passionate about talking about food with others. I try to do so with my books and my TV programmes because I believe that I’m a communicator before being a cook. To those who approach cooking for the first time, my recommendation is first of all to do it for yourself. Get acquainted with the kitchen and avoid panicking if something goes wrong. Many people who are not used to cooking make the mistake of starting by inviting many people for dinner: it’s like trying to compete in the Formula 1 without having a driving licence yet… You first need to learn to drive on simpler roads!
"Simply Nigella", Nigella Lawson’s latest book, available as of 15th September in Italian too
Nigella Lawson praises Cesare Battisti’s Ossobuco e risotto at Ratanà. The British chef has 800 thousand followers on Instagram
Which of our Italian chefs do you know and like? Are there other Italian restaurants you’d like to try? Since I don’t live in Italy I can only read of your great chefs without meeting them in person. I tried the food made by Cesare Battisti, the chef at Ratanà, and found it really incredible: there’s the best you can find in food, simple dishes, nothing too complicated, but extraordinarily good. I loved the way he wisely combines such authentic flavours. I’ll certainly visit him again. Also in Milan, Filippo La Mantia is one of my favourites. In Venice instead I liked restaurant Le Antiche Carampane very much and Il Latini in Florence. I’d like to move back to Italy for a few years, because after all the places we love the best are those that have a sentimental value for us.
Reviews, recommendations and trends from Italy, signed by all the authors of Identità Golose
by
From Bassano del Grappa in Veneto, after a Master in Food & Wine Communication, she joins the staff of Identità Golose in the summer of 2016. She loves Bob Dylan and delicious food