Nigella Lawson
Encyclopedia
Nigella Lucy Lawson is an English food writer
, journalist
and broadcaster. Lawson is the daughter of Nigel Lawson
, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer
, and Vanessa Salmon, whose family owned the J. Lyons and Co.
empire. After graduating from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University
, Lawson started work as a book reviewer and restaurant critic, later becoming the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times
in 1986. She then embarked upon a career as a freelance journalist, writing for a number of newspapers and magazines. In 1998, Lawson brought out her first cook book, How to Eat, which sold 300,000 copies and became a bestseller. She went on to write her second book in 2000, How to be a Domestic Goddess, winning her the British Book Award
for Author of the Year.
In 1999, she began to host her own cooking show series on Channel 4
, Nigella Bites, which was accompanied with another bestselling cook book. The Nigella Bites series won Lawson a Guild of Food Writers Award; however her 2005 ITV
daytime chat show was met with a negative critical reaction and was cancelled after attracting low ratings. Lawson 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 United Kingdom. This led to the commissioning of Nigella Express on BBC Two in 2007. Her own cookware range, Living Kitchen, has a value of £
7 million, and she has sold more than 3 million cook books worldwide.
Renowned for her flirtatious manner of presenting, Lawson has been called the "queen of food porn
". She is neither a trained chef nor cook, and has assumed a distinctly relaxed approach to her cooking.
, a former Conservative
MP, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer
in Margaret Thatcher
's cabinet, and Vanessa Salmon (1936–1985), a socialite
, "celebrated beauty" and heiress
to the J. Lyons & Co. fortune. Her family kept homes in Kensington
and Chelsea
, and were noted for their luxurious life-style. In the 1960s, Peregrine Worsthorne
wrote that Vanessa and her daughters looked "as if they had stepped straight out of a Visconti film set". Lawson's parents divorced in 1980. They both remarried; her father in 1980 to a House of Commons researcher, Therese Maclear (to whom he was married until 2008,) and her mother, in the early 1980s, to philosopher, Sir A.J. Ayer (they remained married until her mother's death). With Lawson's father being a prominent politician, some of the things she found most frustrating were the many judgements and pre-conceptions made about her. There was a time when Lawson did not get on with her father, mostly during her parents' divorce, and she became friendly with her mother only when she reached adulthood. Being unhappy as a child has been attributed, by Lawson, partly to the problematic relationship she had with her mother.
Lawson's school years were difficult; she had to move schools nine times between the ages of 9 and 18, spending some of her childhood in the Welsh town of Higher Kinnerton
. "I was just difficult, disruptive, good at school work, but rude, I suspect, and too highly-strung", Lawson reflected. Her father originally chose not to believe the reports of her disruptive behaviour and thought the school had the wrong person. Lawson reluctantly attended a private school in the Midlands
and later returned to London's Godolphin and Latymer School
sixth form where she began to show skill academically. She worked for many department stores in London, and went on to graduate from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
with a degree in mediæval and modern languages. She also lived in Florence
for a period.
Lawson's mother died of liver cancer
in Westminster
, London, aged 48, when Lawson was 25. Her full-blood siblings are her brother, Dominic
, former editor of The Sunday Telegraph, a sister, Horatia and sister Thomasina, who died of breast cancer
in 1993 during her early thirties; She has a half-brother Tom, and a half-sister Emily, her father's children by his second wife. Lawson is a cousin to both George Monbiot
and Fiona Shackleton
through the Salmons.
Taking part in the third series of the BBC
family-history documentary series, Who Do You Think You Are?, Lawson sought to uncover some of her family's ancestry. She traced her ancestors to Ashkenazi Jews
who originate from eastern Europe and Germany, leaving Lawson surprised not to have Iberian
-Sephardi ancestry in the family as she had believed. She also uncovered that her maternal great-great-great grandfather, Coenraad Sammes (later Coleman Joseph), had fled to England from Amsterdam
in 1830 to escape a prison sentence following a conviction for theft. It was his daughter, Hannah, who married Samuel Gluckstein, father-in-law and business partner of Barnett Salmon and father of Isidore and Montague Gluckstein, who together with Barnett founded J. Lyons and Co. in 1887.
. At 23, she commenced her journalism career after Charles Moore
had invited her to write for The Spectator
. Her initial work at the magazine consisted of writing book reviews, after which period she became a restaurant critic there in 1985. She became the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times
in 1986 at the age of 26. Lawson occasionally drifted into the public's eye, attracting unwanted publicity in 1989 when she admitted voting for Labour
in an election as opposed to her father's Conservative Party, and then criticised Margaret Thatcher in print. Regarding her political relationship with her father, Lawson has stated, "My father would never expect me to agree with him about anything in particular. And, to be honest, we never talk about politics much."
After her stint at The Sunday Times, Lawson embarked upon a freelance writing career, realizing that "I was on the wrong ladder. I didn't want to be an executive, being paid to worry rather than think". In the United Kingdom, she wrote for The Daily Telegraph
, the Evening Standard
, The Observer
and The Times Literary Supplement
, and penned a food column for Vogue
and a makeup column for The Times Magazine, as well as working with Gourmet
and Bon Appétit
in the United States. After just two weeks working on Talk Radio in 1995, Lawson was sacked after she had stated her shopping was done for her, which was deemed incompatible with the radio station's desired "common touch".
Lawson then wrote How to be a Domestic Goddess in 2000, which focused primarily on baking and also became a bestseller. The Times
wrote, regarding the book and Lawson's approach to its writing, "How To Be a Domestic Goddess ... is defined by its intimate, companionable approach. She is not issuing matronly instructions like Delia
; she is merely making sisterly suggestions". Lawson rejected feminist criticism of her book, and stated, "Some people did take the domestic goddess title literally rather than ironically. It was about the pleasures of feeling like one rather than actually being one". The book sold 180,000 copies in four months, and won Lawson the title of Author of the Year at the British Book Awards
in 2001, fending off competition from authors such as J. K. Rowling
. One commentator suggested she won the award only because her husband was about to die of cancer. Lawson retorted, "I am not against pity, but I have no desire to be tragic". How to Eat and How to be a Domestic Goddess were published in America in 2000 and 2001. As a result of the book's success, The Observer took on Lawson as a social affairs columnist.
Lawson next hosted her own cooking show television series, Nigella Bites, which ran from 1999 to 2001 on Channel 4
, followed by a Christmas special in 2001. Victor Lewis-Smith
, a critic notorious for his biting criticism, commended Lawson for being "formidably charismatic". 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. The show yielded an accompanying bestselling recipe book, also called Nigella Bites, for which Waterstone's
book stores reported UK sales of over 300,000. The book won a W H Smith Award
for Lifestyle Book of the Year.
The Nigella Bites series, which was filmed in her home in west London, was later broadcast on American television on channels E!
and Style Network
. Lawson said of the US release, "In the UK, my viewers have responded to the fact I'm trying to reduce, not add to, their burden and I'm looking forward to making that connection with Style viewers across the US". Overall, Lawson was well received in the United States. Those who did criticise her often suggested she was too flirtatious; a commentator from The New York Times
said, "Lawson's sexy roundness mixed with her speed-demon technique makes cooking dinner with Nigella look like a prelude to an orgy". The book of Nigella Bites became the second bestselling cook book of Christmas 2002 in America. The series was followed by Forever Summer with Nigella in 2002 on Channel 4, the concept being, "that you cook to make you still feel as though you're on holiday". Also in 2002, she began to write a fortnightly cooking articles for The New York Times, and brought out a profitable line of kitchenware, called the Living Kitchen range, which is sold by numerous retailers. Her range's value has continued to grow, starting at an estimated £2 million in 2003, and increasing to £7 million in 2007.
at Downing Street
for George W. Bush
and his wife during their state visit to the UK. Laura Bush
is said to be a fan of Lawson's recipes and once included one of her soups as the starter for the 2002 presidential Christmas dinner. Lawson's fifth book, Feast Food that Celebrates Life, released in 2004, made sales worth £3 million. In a positive review, London's Evening Standard
wrote that the book "works both as a practical manual and an engrossing read. ... Nobody else writes so openly about the emotional significance of food". Lawson appeared frequently on American television in 2004, conducting cookery slots on talk shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show
.
In the UK in 2005, Lawson started to host a daytime television chat show on ITV1
called Nigella, on which celebrity guests joined her in a studio kitchen. The first episode debuted with a disappointing 800,000 viewers. The show was met with a largely negative critical reaction, and after losing 40 percent of its viewers in the first week, the show was cancelled. Lawson later commented in an interview with Radio Times
that on her first show, she was almost too frightened to come out of her dressing room. Lawson further stated that having to pretend to be interested in the lives of the celebrities on her show became too much of an effort. She also discovered, "I can't ever be a presenter, and won't do scripts".
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". Since the American broadcasting, Lawson signed a £2.5 million deal for the series to be shown in ten other countries across the world.
Lawson was next signed to BBC Two
to host a three-part cookery show entitled Nigella's Christmas Kitchen, which began on 6 December 2006 and aired weekly. The first two episodes secured the second highest ratings of the week for BBC Two, with the first episode debuting with a strong 3.5 million. The final episode went on to become the top show on BBC Two the week that it was aired. Nigella's Christmas Kitchen won Lawson a second World Food Media Award in 2007. 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. Waitrose
and Tesco
both stated that goose fat sales had more than doubled, as well as Asda
's goose fat sales increasing by 65 percent from the previous week. Similarly, after she advised using prune
s in a recipe on Nigella's Christmas Kitchen, Waitrose had increased sales of 30 percent year on year.
wine increased by 30 percent in the UK after she had incorporated it into her Coq au Riesling recipe on Nigella Express. Later on a separate occasion, a similar trend was seen in the sales figures of the liqueur
Advocaat
after Lawson had endorsed it on the show.
The television series of Nigella Express was subject to criticism from the Daily Mail
when it emerged that a bus Lawson was seen travelling on during the programme had been hired and filled with extras. The producers responded by saying, "This series is a factual entertainment cooking show, not an observational documentary and it is perfectly normal procedure". There was further controversy when it was revealed that the kitchens in which Lawson was seen cooking were in two separate locations; one in her home and the other in a London television studio. Lawson also came under criticism when viewers complained that she had gained weight since the debut episode of the series. Critics criticised the series for containing what they described as "scenes of gluttony not seen since the golden age of the Cookie Monster
" and commenting that her "largesse may have left her just that little bit larger." The Guardian however, noted, "the food matches her appearance — flawless, polished and sexy". The rights to Nigella Express have been sold to the Food Network in America, and to Discovery Asia. The series was nominated at the 35th Daytime Emmy Awards
in the United States for Outstanding Lifestyle Program, and Lawson herself for the Outstanding Lifestyle Host.
The accompanying book to Nigella Express was released in the UK in September 2007, America in November 2007, and later in Australia in 2008. Sharing the same name as the television series, the book became another bestseller in the UK, and was outselling another television chef, Jamie Oliver
, by 100,000 copies according to Waterstone's. It was reported that over 490,000 copies had been sold by mid-December in the UK. Furthermore, 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. Paul Levy from The Guardian wrote that the tone of the recipes was "just right. One of the appealing things about Nigella's brief introductions to each of them is that she thinks not just as cook, but as eater, and tells you whether they're messy, sticky or fussy". Lawson is now estimated to have sold more than 3 million books worldwide. Her Christmas book was released in October 2008 and the television show in December of the same year. An American edition of the book "Nigella Christmas" with a different cover photograph was released in November 2009 with an accompanying book tour of several US cities and a special on the USA's Food Network.
Lawson has adopted a casual approach to cooking, stating, "I think cooking should be about fun and family. ... I think part of my appeal is that my approach to cooking is really relaxed and not rigid. There are no rules in my kitchen". One editor, highlighting the technical simplicity of Lawson's recipes, noted that "her dishes require none of the elaborate preparation called for by most TV chefs".
Lawson has become renowned for her flirtatious manner of presenting, although she argues, "It’s not meant to be flirtatious. ... I don’t have the talent to adopt a different persona. It's intimate, not flirtatious". The perceived overt sexuality of her presentation style has led to Lawson's being called the "queen of food porn
". Many commentators have alluded to Lawson's attractiveness, and she was once named as one of the world's most beautiful women. She has been referred to as "stunningly beautiful, warm, honest, likeable and amazingly normal", as well as being described as having "flawless skin, perfect white teeth, a voluptuous body, ample height and lots of lush, brown hair". The media has also noted Lawson's ability to engage with both male and female viewers; The Guardian wrote, "Men love her because they want to be with her. Women love her because they want to be her". The chef, Gary Rhodes
, spoke out against Lawson by suggesting that her viewers are attracted to her smile rather than the cooking itself. Despite often being labelled as a domestic goddess, she insists that she exhibits very few of the qualities associated with the title.
Lawson is also known for her vivid and adjective-filled food descriptions in both her books and television programmes, as one critic summarized, "her descriptions of food can be a tangle of adjectives." In a study conducted in 2007 on the readability of different recipes, the chatty and florid style of Lawson's recipes was judged to be confusing to readers with weak reading skills. Lawson has also expressed her surprise at how many reviews in the United States have mentioned her class and posh accent.
Comedians and commentators have taken to mocking Lawson's style of presentation, particularly in a regularly occurring impersonation of her in the BBC comedy series Dead Ringers
, because they perceive that she plays overtly upon her attractiveness and sexuality as a device to engage viewers of her cookery programmes. Impressions by Ronni Ancona
that further parodied Lawson's presenting style have also been featured on the BBC One impersonation sketch show, The Big Impression.
QC
until 1988, when he left her for novelist Kathy Lette
.
Lawson met journalist John Diamond
in 1986, when they were both writing for The Sunday Times. They married in Venice
in 1992, and had two children together, both born in Hammersmith
, London: Cosima Thomasina (born 1994) and Bruno Paul (born 1996). Diamond was diagnosed with throat cancer
in 1997, and died of the disease 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." His death occurred during the filming of Nigella Bites; "I took a fortnight off. But I'm not a great believer in breaks," Lawson explained, but she did suffer a bout of depression. After his death, Lawson kept all of the press clippings in what she called her "Morbidobox".
Lawson married art collector Charles Saatchi
in September 2003, having drawn disapproval when she moved in with him nine months after Diamond's death. Lawson had also come under criticism when it was suggested she started her relationship with Saatchi before Diamond's death. Saatchi is worth a reputed £100 million, while Lawson is worth £15 million as of 2007, £8 million of which came from book sales. It widely began circulating in the media in early 2008 that Lawson had been quoted as saying her two children should not inherit any of the fortune. She strongly denied these plans in a statement on her personal website, which read, "Of course I have no intention of leaving my children destitute and starving — rather, this is a story that came from a comment I made about my belief that you have to work in order to learn the value of money".
Although both of Lawson's parents are Jewish, Judaism
has played no significant part religiously in her life, but she believes that she has developed a somewhat "Jewish character". She was brought up without any religion and she considers herself an atheist. In one of her newspaper articles, she has shown a liberal attitude to sexuality ("most [women] simply have, somewhere, a fantasy about having sex, in a non-defining, non-exclusive way, with other women"). She has said that she often partakes in watching football
and is an avid supporter of Chelsea
.
Lawson is a supporter of the Lavender Trust which gives support to young women with breast cancer. She first became involved with the charity in 2002 when she baked some lavender cupcakes to be auctioned at a fundraising event, which sold for a significant amount of money. She subsequently featured the recipe in her book, Forever Summer with Nigella.
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
, Nigella is entitled to the courtesy title
of "The Honourable" and is thus styled The Hon. Nigella Lawson. However she does not use this courtesy title.
In December 2008, Lawson caused major controversy and was featured in various newspapers for publicly advocating wearing fur. Lawson also remarked that she would love to kill a bear and then wear it.
Lawson was featured as one of the three judges on the special battle of Iron Chef America, titled "The Super Chef Battle", which pitted White House Executive Chef Christeta Comerford and Iron Chef Bobby Flay against super chef Emeril Lagasse and Iron Chef Mario Batali, which was originally broadcast on January 3, 2010.
In January 2011, Lawson and her husband Charles Saatchi moved from Belgravia to Chelsea.
Food writing
Food writing is writing that focuses on the topic of food, both widely and narrowly defined.-Definition:Food writer Mark Kurlansky gives the scope of food writing when he observes: “Food is about agriculture, about ecology, about man’s relationship with nature, about the climate, about...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and broadcaster. Lawson is the daughter of Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...
, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
, and Vanessa Salmon, whose family owned the J. Lyons and Co.
J. Lyons and Co.
J. Lyons & Co. was a market-dominant British restaurant-chain, food-manufacturing, and hotel conglomerate founded in 1887 as a spin-off from the Salmon & Gluckstein tobacco company....
empire. After graduating from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Lady Margaret Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located at the end of Norham Gardens in north Oxford. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £34m....
, Lawson started work as a book reviewer and restaurant critic, later becoming the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
in 1986. She then embarked upon a career as a freelance journalist, writing for a number of newspapers and magazines. In 1998, Lawson brought out her first cook book, How to Eat, which sold 300,000 copies and became a bestseller. She went on to write her second book in 2000, How to be a Domestic Goddess, winning her the British Book Award
British Book Awards
The Galaxy National Book Awards are a series of British literary awards focused on the best UK writers and their works, as selected by an academy of members from the British book publishing industry...
for Author of the Year.
In 1999, she began to host her own cooking show series on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, Nigella Bites, which was accompanied with another bestselling cook book. The Nigella Bites series won Lawson a Guild of Food Writers Award; however her 2005 ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
daytime chat show was met with a negative critical reaction and was cancelled after attracting low ratings. Lawson hosted the Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
's Nigella Feasts in the United States in 2006 followed by a three-part BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
series, Nigella's Christmas Kitchen, in the United Kingdom. This led to the commissioning of Nigella Express on BBC Two in 2007. Her own cookware range, Living Kitchen, has a value of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
7 million, and she has sold more than 3 million cook books worldwide.
Renowned for her flirtatious manner of presenting, Lawson has been called the "queen of food porn
Food porn
Food porn is a glamourised spectacular visual presentation of cooking or eating in advertisements, infomercials, cooking shows or other visual media, foods boasting a high fat and calorie content, exotic dishes that arouse a desire to eat or the glorification of food as a substitute for sex...
". She is neither a trained chef nor cook, and has assumed a distinctly relaxed approach to her cooking.
Background
Her given name originally being thought up by her grandmother, Nigella Lawson is a daughter of Nigel LawsonNigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...
, a former Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
in Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's cabinet, and Vanessa Salmon (1936–1985), a socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
, "celebrated beauty" and heiress
Beneficiary
A beneficiary in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example: The beneficiary of a life insurance policy, is the person who receives the payment of the amount of insurance after the death of the insured...
to the J. Lyons & Co. fortune. Her family kept homes in Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
and Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, and were noted for their luxurious life-style. In the 1960s, Peregrine Worsthorne
Peregrine Worsthorne
Sir Peregrine Gerard Worsthorne is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster. He was educated at Stowe School, Peterhouse, Cambridge and Magdalen College, Oxford. Worsthorne spent the largest part of his career at the Telegraph newspaper titles, eventually becoming editor of The Sunday Telegraph...
wrote that Vanessa and her daughters looked "as if they had stepped straight out of a Visconti film set". Lawson's parents divorced in 1980. They both remarried; her father in 1980 to a House of Commons researcher, Therese Maclear (to whom he was married until 2008,) and her mother, in the early 1980s, to philosopher, Sir A.J. Ayer (they remained married until her mother's death). With Lawson's father being a prominent politician, some of the things she found most frustrating were the many judgements and pre-conceptions made about her. There was a time when Lawson did not get on with her father, mostly during her parents' divorce, and she became friendly with her mother only when she reached adulthood. Being unhappy as a child has been attributed, by Lawson, partly to the problematic relationship she had with her mother.
Lawson's school years were difficult; she had to move schools nine times between the ages of 9 and 18, spending some of her childhood in the Welsh town of Higher Kinnerton
Higher Kinnerton
Higher Kinnerton is a residential village in Flintshire in North Wales very close to the Wales-England border and Cheshire in England. Its sister village, Lower Kinnerton is actually in Cheshire in England.- Education :...
. "I was just difficult, disruptive, good at school work, but rude, I suspect, and too highly-strung", Lawson reflected. Her father originally chose not to believe the reports of her disruptive behaviour and thought the school had the wrong person. Lawson reluctantly attended a private school in the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
and later returned to London's Godolphin and Latymer School
Godolphin and Latymer School
The Godolphin and Latymer School is an independent school for 700 girls aged eleven to eighteen in London. Ms Margaret Rudland was the head mistress of the school for over 20 years before being succeeded by Ms Ruth Mercer.-History:...
sixth form where she began to show skill academically. She worked for many department stores in London, and went on to graduate from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Lady Margaret Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located at the end of Norham Gardens in north Oxford. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £34m....
with a degree in mediæval and modern languages. She also lived in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
for a period.
Lawson's mother died of liver cancer
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis .Compared to other cancers, HCC is quite a rare tumor in the United States...
in Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, London, aged 48, when Lawson was 25. Her full-blood siblings are her brother, Dominic
Dominic Lawson
Dominic Ralph Campden Lawson is a British journalist.-Background:Educated at Westminster School and then Christ Church, Oxford, he is the elder son of a former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lawson and socialite Vanessa Salmon, heir to the Lyons Corner House empire, who died of...
, former editor of The Sunday Telegraph, a sister, Horatia and sister Thomasina, who died of breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
in 1993 during her early thirties; She has a half-brother Tom, and a half-sister Emily, her father's children by his second wife. Lawson is a cousin to both George Monbiot
George Monbiot
George Joshua Richard Monbiot is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain and Bring on the...
and Fiona Shackleton
Fiona Shackleton
Fiona Shackleton, Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia LVO is an English solicitor, who has represented members of the British Royal Family and celebrities, including Sir Paul McCartney and The Duke of York...
through the Salmons.
Taking part in the third series of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
family-history documentary series, Who Do You Think You Are?, Lawson sought to uncover some of her family's ancestry. She traced her ancestors to Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
who originate from eastern Europe and Germany, leaving Lawson surprised not to have Iberian
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
-Sephardi ancestry in the family as she had believed. She also uncovered that her maternal great-great-great grandfather, Coenraad Sammes (later Coleman Joseph), had fled to England from Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in 1830 to escape a prison sentence following a conviction for theft. It was his daughter, Hannah, who married Samuel Gluckstein, father-in-law and business partner of Barnett Salmon and father of Isidore and Montague Gluckstein, who together with Barnett founded J. Lyons and Co. in 1887.
Early work
Lawson originally worked in publishing, first taking a job under publisher Naim AttallahNaim Attallah
Naim Attallah is a businessman and writer. He was born in the former British Mandate of Palestine in 1931 and is the publisher of Quartet Books and backer of the Literary Review and The Oldie....
. At 23, she commenced her journalism career after Charles Moore
Charles Moore (journalist)
Charles Hilary Moore is a British journalist and former editor of The Daily Telegraph.-Early life:He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge where he was awarded a BA in History and was a friend of Oliver Letwin.-Career:A former editor of The Spectator , the Sunday Telegraph and The...
had invited her to write for The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
. Her initial work at the magazine consisted of writing book reviews, after which period she became a restaurant critic there in 1985. She became the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
in 1986 at the age of 26. Lawson occasionally drifted into the public's eye, attracting unwanted publicity in 1989 when she admitted voting for Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in an election as opposed to her father's Conservative Party, and then criticised Margaret Thatcher in print. Regarding her political relationship with her father, Lawson has stated, "My father would never expect me to agree with him about anything in particular. And, to be honest, we never talk about politics much."
After her stint at The Sunday Times, Lawson embarked upon a freelance writing career, realizing that "I was on the wrong ladder. I didn't want to be an executive, being paid to worry rather than think". In the United Kingdom, she wrote for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
, The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
and The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
, and penned a food column for Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
and a makeup column for The Times Magazine, as well as working with Gourmet
Gourmet (magazine)
Gourmet magazine was a monthly publication of Condé Nast and the first U.S. magazine devoted to food and wine. Founded by Earle R. MacAusland and first published in 1941, Gourmet also covered "good living" on a wider scale....
and Bon Appétit
Bon Appétit
Bon Appétit describes itself as "a food and entertaining magazine" and is published monthly. Named after the French phrase for "Enjoy your meal", it was started by M. Frank Jones in Kansas City in 1956...
in the United States. After just two weeks working on Talk Radio in 1995, Lawson was sacked after she had stated her shopping was done for her, which was deemed incompatible with the radio station's desired "common touch".
1998–2002: Cook book writing and Nigella Bites
Lawson had an established sense of cooking from her childhood, having had a mother who enjoyed to cook. Lawson conceived the idea of writing a cook book after she observed a dinner party host in tears because of an unset crème caramel. How to Eat was subsequently written in 1998, featuring culinary tips on preparation and saving time. The book became a success and sold 300,000 copies in the UK; The Sunday Telegraph dubbed it "the most valuable culinary guide published this decade".Lawson then wrote How to be a Domestic Goddess in 2000, which focused primarily on baking and also became a bestseller. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
wrote, regarding the book and Lawson's approach to its writing, "How To Be a Domestic Goddess ... is defined by its intimate, companionable approach. She is not issuing matronly instructions like Delia
Delia Smith
Delia Smith CBE is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills. She is the UK's best-selling cookery author, with more than 21 million copies sold....
; she is merely making sisterly suggestions". Lawson rejected feminist criticism of her book, and stated, "Some people did take the domestic goddess title literally rather than ironically. It was about the pleasures of feeling like one rather than actually being one". The book sold 180,000 copies in four months, and won Lawson the title of Author of the Year at the British Book Awards
British Book Awards
The Galaxy National Book Awards are a series of British literary awards focused on the best UK writers and their works, as selected by an academy of members from the British book publishing industry...
in 2001, fending off competition from authors such as J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling
Joanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE , better known as J. K. Rowling, is the British author of the Harry Potter fantasy series...
. One commentator suggested she won the award only because her husband was about to die of cancer. Lawson retorted, "I am not against pity, but I have no desire to be tragic". How to Eat and How to be a Domestic Goddess were published in America in 2000 and 2001. As a result of the book's success, The Observer took on Lawson as a social affairs columnist.
Lawson next hosted her own cooking show television series, Nigella Bites, which ran from 1999 to 2001 on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, followed by a Christmas special in 2001. Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith is a British satirist, producer, critic and prankster. He is known for his sarcasm and biting criticism.-Radio and recordings:...
, a critic notorious for his biting criticism, commended Lawson for being "formidably charismatic". 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. The show yielded an accompanying bestselling recipe book, also called Nigella Bites, for which Waterstone's
Waterstone's
Waterstone's is a British book specialist established in 1982 by Tim Waterstone that employs around 4,500 staff throughout the United Kingdom and Europe....
book stores reported UK sales of over 300,000. The book won a W H Smith Award
W H Smith
WHSmith plc is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It is best known for its chain of high street, railway station, airport, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, and entertainment products...
for Lifestyle Book of the Year.
The Nigella Bites series, which was filmed in her home in west London, was later broadcast on American television on channels E!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
and Style Network
Style Network
The Style Network is an American cable television network based in Los Angeles.Owned by NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of General Electric and Comcast, its sister channels include E! Entertainment Television, USA Network, Syfy, G4, Golf Channel, and Versus, among others.-Network Overview:Style's...
. Lawson said of the US release, "In the UK, my viewers have responded to the fact I'm trying to reduce, not add to, their burden and I'm looking forward to making that connection with Style viewers across the US". Overall, Lawson was well received in the United States. Those who did criticise her often suggested she was too flirtatious; a commentator from The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said, "Lawson's sexy roundness mixed with her speed-demon technique makes cooking dinner with Nigella look like a prelude to an orgy". The book of Nigella Bites became the second bestselling cook book of Christmas 2002 in America. The series was followed by Forever Summer with Nigella in 2002 on Channel 4, the concept being, "that you cook to make you still feel as though you're on holiday". Also in 2002, she began to write a fortnightly cooking articles for The New York Times, and brought out a profitable line of kitchenware, called the Living Kitchen range, which is sold by numerous retailers. Her range's value has continued to grow, starting at an estimated £2 million in 2003, and increasing to £7 million in 2007.
2003–2006: Nigella Feasts and BBC contract
In November 2003, Lawson oversaw the menu and preparations for a lunch hosted by Tony BlairTony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
at Downing Street
Downing Street
Downing Street in London, England has for over two hundred years housed the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an...
for George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and his wife during their state visit to the UK. Laura Bush
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...
is said to be a fan of Lawson's recipes and once included one of her soups as the starter for the 2002 presidential Christmas dinner. Lawson's fifth book, Feast Food that Celebrates Life, released in 2004, made sales worth £3 million. In a positive review, London's Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
wrote that the book "works both as a practical manual and an engrossing read. ... Nobody else writes so openly about the emotional significance of food". Lawson appeared frequently on American television in 2004, conducting cookery slots on talk shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
.
In the UK in 2005, Lawson started to host a daytime television chat show on ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
called Nigella, on which celebrity guests joined her in a studio kitchen. The first episode debuted with a disappointing 800,000 viewers. The show was met with a largely negative critical reaction, and after losing 40 percent of its viewers in the first week, the show was cancelled. Lawson later commented in an interview with Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
that on her first show, she was almost too frightened to come out of her dressing room. Lawson further stated that having to pretend to be interested in the lives of the celebrities on her show became too much of an effort. She also discovered, "I can't ever be a presenter, and won't do scripts".
Her third food-based television series, called Nigella Feasts, debuted on the USA's Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
in Autumn 2006 for a 13-week run. Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
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". Since the American broadcasting, Lawson signed a £2.5 million deal for the series to be shown in ten other countries across the world.
Lawson was next signed to BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
to host a three-part cookery show entitled Nigella's Christmas Kitchen, which began on 6 December 2006 and aired weekly. The first two episodes secured the second highest ratings of the week for BBC Two, with the first episode debuting with a strong 3.5 million. The final episode went on to become the top show on BBC Two the week that it was aired. Nigella's Christmas Kitchen won Lawson a second World Food Media Award in 2007. Her influence as a food commentator was also demonstrated in late 2006, when after she had lauded goose
Goose
The word goose is the English name for a group of waterfowl, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
fat as being an essential ingredient for Christmas, sales percentages of the product increased significantly in the UK. Waitrose
Waitrose
Waitrose Limited is an upmarket chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the food division of the British retailer and worker co-operative the John Lewis Partnership. Its head office is in Bracknell, Berkshire, England...
and Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
both stated that goose fat sales had more than doubled, as well as Asda
Asda
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
's goose fat sales increasing by 65 percent from the previous week. Similarly, after she advised using prune
Prune
A prune is any of various plum cultivars, mostly Prunus domestica or European Plum, sold as fresh or dried fruit. The dried fruit is also referred to as a dried plum...
s in a recipe on Nigella's Christmas Kitchen, Waitrose had increased sales of 30 percent year on year.
2007–2009: Nigella Express and Nigella's Christmas
Nigella's Christmas Kitchen led to the commissioning of a 13-part cookery series entitled Nigella Express. The series began to air on BBC Two on 3 September 2007, suggesting ways of making simple and quick dishes. Lawson admitted the recipes were not "particularly healthy", although she added, "I wouldn't describe them as junk". The show became another ratings success and one of BBC Two's top-rated shows each week. The first episode debuted with 2.85 million viewers, a high percentage above the channel's slot average. The second episode's viewing figures rose to 3.3 million, and the series peaked at 3.4 million on 22 October 2007. Her influence with the public was again demonstrated when sales of RieslingRiesling
Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...
wine increased by 30 percent in the UK after she had incorporated it into her Coq au Riesling recipe on Nigella Express. Later on a separate occasion, a similar trend was seen in the sales figures of the liqueur
Liqueur
A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.The...
Advocaat
Advocaat
Advocaat is a rich and creamy liqueur made from eggs, sugar and brandy. It has a smooth, custard-like flavor and is similar to eggnog. In English-speaking countries it generally contains 15% alcohol , but in Continental Europe the typical alcohol content differs from country to country and is...
after Lawson had endorsed it on the show.
The television series of Nigella Express was subject to criticism from the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
when it emerged that a bus Lawson was seen travelling on during the programme had been hired and filled with extras. The producers responded by saying, "This series is a factual entertainment cooking show, not an observational documentary and it is perfectly normal procedure". There was further controversy when it was revealed that the kitchens in which Lawson was seen cooking were in two separate locations; one in her home and the other in a London television studio. Lawson also came under criticism when viewers complained that she had gained weight since the debut episode of the series. Critics criticised the series for containing what they described as "scenes of gluttony not seen since the golden age of the Cookie Monster
Cookie Monster
Cookie Monster is a Muppet on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is best known for his voracious appetite and his famous eating phrases: "Me want cookie!", "Me eat cookie!", and "Om nom nom nom" . He often eats anything and everything, including danishes, donuts, lettuce, apples,...
" and commenting that her "largesse may have left her just that little bit larger." The Guardian however, noted, "the food matches her appearance — flawless, polished and sexy". The rights to Nigella Express have been sold to the Food Network in America, and to Discovery Asia. The series was nominated at the 35th Daytime Emmy Awards
35th Daytime Emmy Awards
The 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards was held on Friday, June 20, 2008 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, and was televised in the United States on ABC. Creative Arts Emmy Awards were presented seven day earlier on June 13 at the Frederick P...
in the United States for Outstanding Lifestyle Program, and Lawson herself for the Outstanding Lifestyle Host.
The accompanying book to Nigella Express was released in the UK in September 2007, America in November 2007, and later in Australia in 2008. Sharing the same name as the television series, the book became another bestseller in the UK, and was outselling another television chef, Jamie Oliver
Jamie Oliver
James "Jamie" Trevor Oliver, MBE , sometimes known as The Naked Chef, is an English chef, restaurateur and media personality, known for his food-focused television shows, cookbooks and more recently his campaign against the use of processed foods in national schools...
, by 100,000 copies according to Waterstone's. It was reported that over 490,000 copies had been sold by mid-December in the UK. Furthermore, the book was number one for a period on Amazon UK's
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
bestselling books, and was ninth on their overall list of Christmas bestsellers in any category. Paul Levy from The Guardian wrote that the tone of the recipes was "just right. One of the appealing things about Nigella's brief introductions to each of them is that she thinks not just as cook, but as eater, and tells you whether they're messy, sticky or fussy". Lawson is now estimated to have sold more than 3 million books worldwide. Her Christmas book was released in October 2008 and the television show in December of the same year. An American edition of the book "Nigella Christmas" with a different cover photograph was released in November 2009 with an accompanying book tour of several US cities and a special on the USA's Food Network.
Presenting style and image
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". Furthermore, she does not see herself as a cook or an expert in her field. Throughout Lawson's television programmes, she emphasises 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 has adopted a casual approach to cooking, stating, "I think cooking should be about fun and family. ... I think part of my appeal is that my approach to cooking is really relaxed and not rigid. There are no rules in my kitchen". One editor, highlighting the technical simplicity of Lawson's recipes, noted that "her dishes require none of the elaborate preparation called for by most TV chefs".
Food porn
Food porn is a glamourised spectacular visual presentation of cooking or eating in advertisements, infomercials, cooking shows or other visual media, foods boasting a high fat and calorie content, exotic dishes that arouse a desire to eat or the glorification of food as a substitute for sex...
". Many commentators have alluded to Lawson's attractiveness, and she was once named as one of the world's most beautiful women. She has been referred to as "stunningly beautiful, warm, honest, likeable and amazingly normal", as well as being described as having "flawless skin, perfect white teeth, a voluptuous body, ample height and lots of lush, brown hair". The media has also noted Lawson's ability to engage with both male and female viewers; The Guardian wrote, "Men love her because they want to be with her. Women love her because they want to be her". The chef, Gary Rhodes
Gary Rhodes
Gary Rhodes OBE is an English restaurateur, cookery writer, and chef, known for his love of British cuisine and distinctive spiked hair style ....
, spoke out against Lawson by suggesting that her viewers are attracted to her smile rather than the cooking itself. Despite often being labelled as a domestic goddess, she insists that she exhibits very few of the qualities associated with the title.
Lawson is also known for her vivid and adjective-filled food descriptions in both her books and television programmes, as one critic summarized, "her descriptions of food can be a tangle of adjectives." In a study conducted in 2007 on the readability of different recipes, the chatty and florid style of Lawson's recipes was judged to be confusing to readers with weak reading skills. Lawson has also expressed her surprise at how many reviews in the United States have mentioned her class and posh accent.
Comedians and commentators have taken to mocking Lawson's style of presentation, particularly in a regularly occurring impersonation of her in the BBC comedy series Dead Ringers
Dead Ringers (comedy)
Dead Ringers is a UK radio and television comedy impressions broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and later BBC Two. The programme was devised by producer Bill Dare and developed with Jon Holmes, Andy Hurst and Simon Blackwell. It starred Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Phil Cornwell, Kevin Connelly and Mark Perry...
, because they perceive that she plays overtly upon her attractiveness and sexuality as a device to engage viewers of her cookery programmes. Impressions by Ronni Ancona
Ronni Ancona
Ronni Ancona is a Scottish actress, impressionist and author. Ancona won the Best TV Comedy Actress award at the 2003 British Comedy Awards for her work in Big Impression.- Career :...
that further parodied Lawson's presenting style have also been featured on the BBC One impersonation sketch show, The Big Impression.
Personal life
Lawson was in a relationship with human rights lawyer Geoffrey RobertsonGeoffrey Robertson
Geoffrey Ronald Robertson QC is an Australian-born human rights lawyer, academic, author and broadcaster. He holds dual Australian and British citizenship....
QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
until 1988, when he left her for novelist Kathy Lette
Kathy Lette
Kathy Lette is an Australian author who has written a number of bestselling books.Born in Sydney's southern suburbs, she first attracted attention in 1979 as the coauthor of Puberty Blues, a strongly autobiographical, proto-feminist teen novel about two 13-year-old southern suburbs girls...
.
Lawson met journalist John Diamond
John Diamond (journalist)
John Diamond was a British broadcaster and journalist.- Education and training :Diamond was the son of a biochemist and a fashion designer. He grew up in Upper Clapton and Woodford Green, he then attended the City of London School and trained as an English teacher at Trent Park College of...
in 1986, when they were both writing for The Sunday Times. They married in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
in 1992, and had two children together, both born in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, London: Cosima Thomasina (born 1994) and Bruno Paul (born 1996). Diamond was diagnosed with throat cancer
Esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...
in 1997, and died of the disease 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." His death occurred during the filming of Nigella Bites; "I took a fortnight off. But I'm not a great believer in breaks," Lawson explained, but she did suffer a bout of depression. After his death, Lawson kept all of the press clippings in what she called her "Morbidobox".
Lawson married art collector Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi is the co-founder with his brother Maurice of the global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and led that business - the world's largest advertising agency in the 1980s - until they were forced out in 1995. In the same year the Saatchi brothers formed a new agency called M&C...
in September 2003, having drawn disapproval when she moved in with him nine months after Diamond's death. Lawson had also come under criticism when it was suggested she started her relationship with Saatchi before Diamond's death. Saatchi is worth a reputed £100 million, while Lawson is worth £15 million as of 2007, £8 million of which came from book sales. It widely began circulating in the media in early 2008 that Lawson had been quoted as saying her two children should not inherit any of the fortune. She strongly denied these plans in a statement on her personal website, which read, "Of course I have no intention of leaving my children destitute and starving — rather, this is a story that came from a comment I made about my belief that you have to work in order to learn the value of money".
Although both of Lawson's parents are Jewish, Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
has played no significant part religiously in her life, but she believes that she has developed a somewhat "Jewish character". She was brought up without any religion and she considers herself an atheist. In one of her newspaper articles, she has shown a liberal attitude to sexuality ("most [women] simply have, somewhere, a fantasy about having sex, in a non-defining, non-exclusive way, with other women"). She has said that she often partakes in watching football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
and is an avid supporter of Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
.
Lawson is a supporter of the Lavender Trust which gives support to young women with breast cancer. She first became involved with the charity in 2002 when she baked some lavender cupcakes to be auctioned at a fundraising event, which sold for a significant amount of money. She subsequently featured the recipe in her book, Forever Summer with Nigella.
It was revealed by leaked Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
documents in 2003 that Lawson declined an OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
from Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
in 2001. As the daughter of a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
, Nigella is entitled to the courtesy title
Courtesy title
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer. These styles are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the relatives do not themselves hold substantive titles...
of "The Honourable" and is thus styled The Hon. Nigella Lawson. However she does not use this courtesy title.
In December 2008, Lawson caused major controversy and was featured in various newspapers for publicly advocating wearing fur. Lawson also remarked that she would love to kill a bear and then wear it.
Lawson was featured as one of the three judges on the special battle of Iron Chef America, titled "The Super Chef Battle", which pitted White House Executive Chef Christeta Comerford and Iron Chef Bobby Flay against super chef Emeril Lagasse and Iron Chef Mario Batali, which was originally broadcast on January 3, 2010.
In January 2011, Lawson and her husband Charles Saatchi moved from Belgravia to Chelsea.
Television credits
| Year | Programme | Episodes | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Nigella Bites | 5 episodes, Series 1 | 30 minutes |
| 2001 | Nigella Bites | 10 episodes, Series 2 | 30 minutes |
| 2001 | Nigella Bites Christmas Special | 1 episode | 60 minutes |
| 2002 | Forever Summer | 8 episodes | 30 minutes |
| 2005 | Nigella | 20 episodes | 60 minutes |
| 2006 | Nigella Feasts | 13 episodes | 30 minutes |
| 2006 | Nigella's Christmas Kitchen | 3 episodes, Series 1 | 30 minutes |
| 2007 | Nigella Express | 13 episodes | 30 minutes |
| 2008 | Nigella's Christmas Kitchen | 3 episodes, Series 2 | 30 minutes |
| 2009 | Top Chef (season 6) Top Chef (season 6) Top Chef: Las Vegas is the sixth season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in Las Vegas, Nevada, and concluded in Napa, California... |
1 episode | 42 minutes |
| 2010 | Iron Chef America: Super Chef Battle Iron Chef America Iron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the... |
1 episode | 120 minutes |
| 2010 | Nigella Kitchen | 13 episodes | 30 minutes |
| 2011 | MasterChef Australia Season 3 MasterChef Australia (season 3) The third season of MasterChef Australia premiered on Sunday, 1 May 2011 at 7:30 pm on Network Ten. Judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston returned from the previous series and were joined by Matt Moran. The third season was won by Kate Bracks who defeated Michael Weldon in the... |
1 episode | 60 minutes |
Awards
- 2000: British Book Award — Author of the Year for How to be a Domestic Goddess
- 2001: WH Smith Book Award — How To Be A Domestic Goddess shortlisted for Lifestyle Book of the Year
- 2001: Guild of Food Writers — Television Broadcast of the Year for Nigella Bites
- 2001: World Food Media Award — Gold Ladle Best Television Food Show for Nigella Bites
- 2002: WH Smith Book Awards — Lifestyle Book of the Year for Nigella Bites
- 2007: World Food Media Award — Gold Ladle Best Food And/Or Drink Television Show for Nigella's Christmas Kitchen
External links
- Official website
- Profile on bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
- Nigella Express official website
- Nigella's Christmas Kitchen official website
- Nigella Lawson on Who Do You Think You Are? at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
- Profile at Random House Australia