Nigella Lawson grabs happiness by the meatballs
I used to watch Nigella’s shows regularly and I almost never really paid attention to the recipes, finding them in her books later on. Instead, I hung on with bated breath to every word she would lusciously say. I’ll never forget her talking about the forgotten bits of sad vegetables “languishing” in the refrigerator. Only she could make wilted vegetables halfway to rotten-dom seem as poetic as a Shakespearean tragedy. Half of the joy of watching her came from how you could sense from across the seas into that tiny telly just how much pleasure she took in cooking and, above all, relishing the food. She was the Domestic Goddess, cooking for her family and closest friends, indulging in leftovers in her pajamas… beautiful and radiant chopping things with careless abandon. So long as the flavors were vibrant, the julienne didn’t matter.
Little did people know there was trouble in paradise. There is nothing as painful as finding out that forever and ever is over. And even more difficult, when everything is so unfortunately public. I can speak from experience when I say I know how difficult that must have all been. During that similar tumultuous time in my own life I found solace in food, cooking for myself and for others, their joy bringing me joy. I can only imagine that she did the same, because after some absence from the public eye, she resurfaced with her latest book and show – Simply Nigella – emerging with a sense of balance and serenity.
“Part of the balance of life lies in understanding that different days require different ways of eating,” she says in her book. When I asked her what kind of dish she would drown her sorrows in, she quickly corrected me. “I don’t really think it’s about drowning your sorrows in food, I think it’s about really taking the most of every moment and there is great pleasure in life. You may be exhausted, you may have had a long day at work, you may have had terrible traffic, but nevertheless you get home and you start cooking for the better.” A testament to how food can nourish both body and soul. Who hasn’t felt better after a good meal?
“For example, if I know that I’ve got some wonderful spaghetti like the Contadina spaghetti or even the penne, which is made from this wonderful durum wheat, now that gives you that wonderful bouncy bite, the smoothness and the flavor, what I learned when I was in Italy was that the spaghetti was not just some vehicle to put sauce on but was just as important. So I’m afraid to say as we all know that comfort food has to be carbs.”
I couldn’t agree more. When I’m presented with a stunning bowl of lovingly homemade spaghetti bolognese I just want to dive right in there and envelop myself in all that slow-cooked goodness. Each bite and chew bringing such immediate satisfaction.
‘Part of the balance of life lies in understanding that different days require different ways of eating,’ Nigella Lawson says in her book. ‘I don’t really think it’s about drowning your sorrows in food, I think it’s about really taking the most of every moment and there is great pleasure in life.’
That being said, it’s so fitting that Nigella is the face of Del Monte Philippines’ latest brand — Contadina. The product line consists of an array of Mediterranean cuisine essentials like olive oils, canned tomatoes, pasta and pasta sauce. I’m always frustrated at the lack of flavor of the tomatoes here and using good-quality tinned tomatoes has always been a staple in my kitchen. “The tomatoes
come from California, the sun was made there to ripen tomatoes,” says Nigella about the product. “Tomatoes need to blossom. You want the tomatoes to have the right intensity of flavor, that are very meaty and have exactly the right balance between sweetness and acidity.” She knows what good tomatoes taste like as she lived in Italy for a year in her youth and developed a passion for all things Italian. “What was revolutionary for me was they didn’t go in for those huge lots of fancy tricks and different ingredients. It was about simplicity. And the simplicity was based on having utter respect for the ingredients and basically letting the ingredients speak for themselves.”
Let’s be honest, in this day and age of molecular gastronomy, simplicity is often elusive. I’ve found myself in a restaurant staring down at a dish that just had one too many accoutrements and thinking to myself, “Why didn’t they just grill that poor beautiful fish and serve it with some lemon?” Her BBC show, Simply Nigella, ruffled a few feathers on Twitter, people poking fun at the simplicity of her recipes, that there was nothing all that new or revolutionary about them. “I think what it is, is that people feel often that cooking is more complicated than it needs to be,” she explains. “I mean, I love chefs and they’re brilliant, but chefs are all about being new and using impressive technique. I have no knife techniques, I’m a home cook, I have no training, so for me it’s about simplicity and flavor. It’s not about being able to carve a radish into a chrysanthemum.”
This I find is true; we can’t eat technique and not every meal needs to be groundbreaking, but it should always be pleasurable. And what gives Nigella the most pleasure to cook? “One of the things I really love doing is meatballs. I find that there is something so great about you rolling them… It’s like full participation in the joy of cooking.” And that joy radiates from within, her charm, her aura and that flawless skin makes me think we should all definitely follow suit and grab happiness by the meatballs.