FROM THE EDITOR

Since moving house, I’ve found myself spending more and more evenings cooking. It’s quite strange because my new kitchen is minuscule, but nevertheless, I’ve found myself trying increasingly complicated recipes on Sundays. There have been varying degrees of success, but after listening to Nigella Lawson speak about food and life during her whirlwind New Zealand visit, she’s confirmed that’s all part of the journey. It’s good to have some disasters!

I’ve always been a bit intimidated by the kitchen, but Nigella says that could partly be reality TV’s fault. It’s at odds with her approach to cooking, which is showing people that it’s not a competition and, in fact, can be quite easy once you start giving it a go.

In person, the celebrity chef is gorgeous – tiny, self-deprecating and has incredible, luminous skin.

She adores New Zealand, cited Peter Gordon as one of her greatest influences and softened as she spoke of her love for her grandmother. She laughed as she told us she once told her young kids, “I didn’t always know if I wanted children, but I knew I wanted grandchildren, so you were the necessary conduits!”

It was a wonderful evening – my only complaint was that it finished too late for me to try anything more complicated than toast for dinner. A Nigella recipe will be top of the list tomorrow.

Enjoy your week!