Nigella stirs up trouble over Ramsay’s rage
‘There’s enough unkindness’
HE is the firebrand chef notorious for his foul-mouthed rants, while she prefers the calm and sultry approach.
And now Nigella Lawson has taken a thinly veiled swipe at Gordon Ramsay for his ‘shouty’ shows, saying she would never sink to that level.
Calling many reality cooking show chefs and judges ‘rude’, she said she preferred being in ‘kind’ programmes.
Speaking on an American chat show, Miss Lawson, 58, said: ‘I wouldn’t want to be in one of those shouty things that make people feel bad about themselves because I think there’s enough unkindness and rudeness in the world now. Why would I want to contribute?’
She cited her role on Australia’s MasterChef, saying it was much friendlier than the American version, which features Ramsay.
The self-proclaimed home cook added: ‘I don’t think cooking is a competitive sport and yet I enjoy being a judge on MasterChef Australia, but I also think MasterChef Australia is different from the MasterChef here [America] and the one in England.
‘It is much kinder and much more supportive. But I do feel I am judging people cooking things so much more complicated than I would attempt, but it’s interesting.’
Miss Lawson guest stars on this week’s MasterChef Australia, in what has been dubbed Nigella Week. Ramsay, from Johnstone, Renfrewshire, is due to appear on the programme next week, with judge Matt Preston saying yesterday he is ‘one of the worst cooks’ contestants have to deal with.
The Scot has earned his £44million fortune off the back of his foulmouthed cooking shows, including Hell’s Kitchen and Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.
But Miss Lawson said the secret to contestants impressing her in the kitchen is to keep dishes simple and focus on flavour.
She explained: ‘A lot of them too early on try to dazzle with technique, and you have to say, “Just taste your food. Just make sure it tastes good and just really make sure that you choose something quite simple and do it well”.’