India’s takeaway tip for ‘culinary idiots’: cheat!

NOW Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out To Help Out scheme has ended, Princess Diana’s bridesmaid, India Hicks, advocates eating in to help out.

The daughter of interior designer David Hicks and Lady Pamela Hicks, whose dinner party guests have included the likes of Sir Mick Jagger and her godfather, Prince Charles, says hosts shouldn’t bother toiling away in the kitchen but order takeaways. ‘For God’s sake, cheat,’ she declares. ‘I’m a culinary idiot. I can place an order for takeout and put it together on a huge wooden board.

‘I think good lighting, good conversation and good friends — that’s really what’s important. And during the pandemic, reaching out to local cooks or local restaurants is helping their business and helping your guests eat. It’s helping everybody!’