Nigella Lawson, Britain’s famous TV personality, author of 10 cookbooks, queen of food porn and lover of all things delicious, is in town — but you probably know that by now, since her posts about “the joys of sisig” and the “sublime sinigang” have already gone viral among Filipinos.
Did the Domestic Goddess come all the way to the Philippines just to eat? Kinda.
Nigella arrived in the country sometime last week and enjoyed a calorific weekend peppered with menudo, sinigang, palabok, sisig, puto, tocino del cielo, leche flan and four kinds of adobo.
She also went to a weekend market to check out the country’s produce. She plans to take home local cooking ingredients like pandan essence, coconut sugar and even sachets of sinigang mix.
“I have eaten more than any human being should be able to eat but it’s one of my gifts,” said the sultry home cook (not chef!), who practically uses poetry when talking about food.
In addition to her food adventures, Nigella was here to introduce Contadina, a new line of premium Mediterranean cuisine ingredients from Del Monte.
In a smashing green dress, Nigella charmed the media and her fans in the Contadina launch at the Enderun Tent, where some of her recipes were also served. She also cooked with local personalities Daphne Oseña, Stephanie Zubiri-Crespi and JP Anglo.
Here’s what we learned from her.
“It’s always nice to be reminded that cooking is a living entity. Doing a recipe your own way is what makes it live and real.”
Personal touches and creative twists in cooking are important for Nigella. She discourages cooks from following every step of her recipes. “Know the rules and know when to break them,” she said.
“For my cooking, I have no secret ingredients.”
Unlike food snobs, Nigella shamelessly uses items like Nutella, Guinness beer and Coca-Cola on her recipes. No secrets. No complications. The most important thing for her is to choose the freshest and finest ingredients that can make a dish more flavorful. Her top three cooking ingredients are olive oil, pasta and lemon. Recently, she fell in love with calamansi, a local citrusy fruit similar to lemon but much smaller.
“Being a home cook is something to be proud of.”
Nigella said that the dishes we cook at home are the dishes closest to our hearts. Don’t ever say that you’re just a home cook, Nigella emphasized. The culinary icon herself is not a chef. She is not even a trained cook. “My qualification is as an eater,” she said.
“Just because you’re short on time, it doesn’t mean that you have to be short in flavor.”
Ah, classic Nigella! Her uncomplicated approach to food helped create her own brand of homely indulgence. You can go to her recipes when you find yourself needing to prepare a quick dinner for guests who unexpectedly show up at your home. As she always says on her shows and books, “maximum flavor, minimum effort.”
“People always talk about the health benefits of certain foods, but the benefits of cooking itself are never really mentioned.”
Nigella thinks that cooking is a calming activity. She said that it’s “good for the soul.” She talks about food and cooking with so much passion and enthusiasm. This kitchen queen clearly loves what she does.
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