NIGELLA KEEPS IT SIMPLE
When it comes to Christmas for Nigella Lawson, her approach is typically indulgent – but served with a big side of fun.
The celebrity cook (58), who is visiting New Zealand in January, insists on lightening up the holiday feast at her London home with a unique touch – wigs!
“Cheap wigs,” she adds. “You wouldn’t want to be near a naked flame! I go Scandinavian blonde, obviously, but sometimes I do a pink bob.”
The big day at Nigella’s starts with a simple breakfast of her Christmas muffins – which she prepares the night before – before she and her children Cosima (24) and Bruno (22) get down to present opening.
Fairy lights everywhere are a must. “Unless I’m bathed in them and have turned my kitchen into a heavenly grotto, it’s not Christmas.”
The smell of the house is also important. “I have a very extravagant favourite, a Ralph Lauren candle called Holiday,” she says. “It smells of cinnamon, pine and crisp mornings – but it’s become very expensive, so I often make a homemade scent by putting some orange peel and cinnamon in warm water next to the radiator.”
Then, as you’d expect, the family piles in for a truly Nigella feast, starting with her Christmas martini, made with raspberry liqueur and crème de cacao blanc, before the main meal.
“I always have a ham, but if I’m having lots of people over I do a ham and a turkey. I’m very traditional, you know, so it’s Brussels sprouts, chestnuts, roast potatoes and roast parsnips – but remember that you’ve got the glorious sunshine at Christmas, and we have eternal darkness!”
Keeping the menu simple and short is the key to a successful meal, she says.
“I do think Christmas is a high-pressure time, not least because people take on too much and somehow think they are meant to turn their homes into Christmas-themed restaurants. I think many of us have had the experience of cooking so much food that we are exhausted and stressed out before people even arrive, and then are left with far too much food once they’ve left.
“Better to have a lot of a few things than a little of too many.”
There’s always a homage to Down Under on her table, with her version of a pavlova making an appearance, along with a lemon, which she dubs a “thing of beauty”, as well as a traditional Christmas pudding.
The secret, she reckons, isn’t so much about pre-cooking as pre-preparing. “A load of reheating isn’t always easy,” she says. “You can make the gravy ahead, and prep the sprouts and peel the potatoes the day before and leave them in cold water.”
As for gifts, Nigella has that covered in the kitchen too.
“I’m the condiment queen,” she says, laughing. “I make quick pickles that don’t involve hours of faffing. I give them as presents but keep plenty to eat with roast meats, cold cuts and cheese. My quickpickled beetroot with ginger is fabulously festive.”
She also has a tip for the guest list. “Always have someone at the Christmas meal that your family don’t know well enough to behave badly in front of!”