Nigella Lawson on what really happened in that viral ‘microwave’ video

Beloved cook and food writer Nigella Lawson on why she doesn’t believe in guilty pleasures, and what really happened when she made that notorious ‘microwave’ mispronunciation gaffe.

Along with Cher and Madonna, you’re one of the few people in the world who don’t require a surname to be recognised. Is it surreal to think about the scope of your fame?

Well, that’s only because I’ve got a stupid name. I mean, I didn’t even need a surname when I was at nursery school. I find [the fame] a sort of very frightening, weird compliment. But I never think of it like that because the thing about food is you’re always connecting with people. It isn’t like being a film star; it’s much more intimate.

“I like every aspect of food – not just eating and cooking.” (Picture: Supplied)

You’ve described mealtimes in your childhood as “a horror” before. How did you change that relationship with food and transform it into something that brings you so much joy?

I feel that possibly what I was objecting to is the fact that when you’re a child, you don’t have control over what you’re eating. Things have changed a bit in the 350 years since I was a child. I was brought up in the old-fashioned way where you had to finish everything on your plate, even when it was cold and congealed.

I like every aspect of food – not just eating and cooking, but also thinking about what I’d like to cook. So the more absorbed in the process I was, the more [I grew] to love and enjoy it.

The Nigella we see on screen is always immaculately presented, but you’ve said before that when you’re at home that’s not the case.

I’ve been working at home since I was 28, so I’m used to [being] in baggy trousers and a T-shirt. And as much as possible, with cooking or writing, you need to be comfortable. I wouldn’t think to put make-up on [during] a normal day, and in lockdown the temptation to stay in what are essentially pyjamas is just too difficult to resist.

I suppose in preparation for being in the world properly soon I’m going to have to put on clothes that fit. I haven’t worn a proper pair of shoes for over a year.

“I think food has been an enormous source of solace to people during lockdown.” (Picture: Network Ten)

This year’s MasterChef Australia looks a little different in a COVID world – how did you find the experience given it was filmed remotely?

I couldn’t eat the food! I said to them, “What kind of cruel format is this?” Me, of all people [laughs]! On MasterChef, everyone often builds on food they grew up eating, so there’s something very personal and truthful about the cooking.

I think food has been an enormous source of solace to people during lockdown, not just because of the eating, but also because cooking is a good way of creating control of your environment when so much is out of control.

Do you have any Aussie food favourites?

I am a bit of a traitor to my own country because I have Vegemite rather than Marmite on my toast. I adore it.

“I am a bit of a traitor to my own country because I have Vegemite rather than Marmite on my toast. I adore it.” (Picture: Supplied)

When you can’t be bothered cooking, are there any embarrassing guilty-pleasure foods you turn to – frozen pizza, chicken nuggets?

That’s not really my thing. Not out of any snobbishness, it’s just there’s so much wonderful food you can eat that doesn’t involve cooking. Bread and cheese is always fabulous. I can get a tub of taramasalata and be very happy dipping blue corn chips into it.

Towards the end of last year I got myself a deep-fryer and after a while I thought I’d better put it away because [you can fry] pretty much everything. I don’t really have a sense of being embarrassed about anything I like. I think the thing about eating and the pleasure you get from it… for me, it seems pointless to minimise that pleasure.

A video of you mispronouncing “microwave” recently went viral. Was it intentional?

That’s what we call it at home as a joke! I thought everyone watching the program would be going bananas about the amount of butter I had in my eggs, not my pronunciation.

Nigella Lawson features in this Sunday’s Stellar.

While you tend to keep your political views private, there have been times when you’ve alluded to something – like the Bitter Orange Tart recipe you posted on former US President Donald Trump’s last day in office.

Do you deliberately light a match and then walk away?

No, no. I’m just quite a spontaneous person. [I’ll post if] I think something is funny – or sometimes it’s coincidence and sometimes a little human touch. But mostly I like to keep everything to the food, because my Twitter feed on the whole is such a warm, comforting community.

And when you stray out of that, you get people who have seen a tweet from somewhere else, and [you] get all the noise and brouhaha and meanness and anger. I don’t want to be a part of that. [The food industry] exists within the [wider] world and to pretend it doesn’t is wrong. But people also need a safe and friendly face.

Nigella Lawson heads up Superstars Week on MasterChef Australia at 7.30pm on Monday, April 26, on Network 10.