The Kitchen Goddess

In a sense,nothing I do is essentially different,because you can only have one voice and one way of cooking. In many ways,this show is a development over all my other television series and books. What I wanted to do is maybe have more time to talk about why I chose that particular recipe,what it means to me,where it comes from in my life or in my travels.

How important is formal training to run a successful kitchen?

Not at all. If I can do it,other people can also do it. I don’t have any knife skills. I don’t have any dexterity. I am quite clumsy,but I feel that two things that help in cooking are a passion and a palette. You can’t learn those at school anyway.

This is the age of TV chefs,from Anthony Bourdain to Jamie Oliver. How do you see yourself?

Nigella Kitchen is a mixture of the old and the new. It’s just the way of continuing that conversation I have about food and the food I love. I want to make people catch that enthusiasm and realise how simple it is.

I started off by thinking I wanted to give home cooking a platform because everyone thought cooking was the prerogative of a professional chef. I suppose I am there to represent the passion of an amateur.

How do you react to the tag ‘Domestic Goddess’?

I am not at all a domestic goddess. I love cooking and I love being with people. So,in that sense,those things in the home are important to me. But I am not very good at many other elements of housework.

What are the main problems of our approach to cooking and food?

People are obsessed with calories these days. So,they notice every drop of cream or butter I put in a dish. But there’s a French saying,which is,“Everything in moderation,even moderation”.

Some critics suggest that viewers react more to your presentation style than your cooking.

I don’t pay attention to good reviews or bad. I just try not to read them because it’s corrupting. I have an intimate manner. I certainly don’t need to be coquettish. So it slightly puts me off when I read that about myself.

Is there a culinary challenge that you’re yet to take on?

I worked very hard last year with doing a book and a television programme,so I’m trying to take it a bit easy this year. In a way,that’s how I get my ideas because it’s ‘What should I cook when I am at home?’ and ‘How I am with the children?’ and so forth that give me ideas for the next project.