Nigella Lawson

About

Nigella is simply a culinary goddess. Since publishing her first cookery book, How to Eat, in 1998, Nigella has been teaching us about the pleasures of the table. The success of her first book led to the acclaimed Channel 4 series Nigella Bites and placed her among Britain’s most admired celebrity chefs. In 1998, Lawson brought out her first cook book, How to Eat, which sold 300,000 copies and became a bestseller. She went on to write her second book in 2000, How to be a Domestic Goddess, winning her the British Book Award for Author of the Year.

Nigella Lawson studied medieval and modern languages at Oxford, Nigella embarked on a career in publishing. She went on to become deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times and then pursued a successful freelance career, writing for a range of magazines and newspapers, including the culinary magazines Gourmet and Bon Appetit in the US, Australian Delicious, and the food column for Vogue.

Career

In 1999, she began to host her own cooking show series on Channel 4, Nigella Bites, which was accompanied by another bestselling cook book. The Nigella Bites series won Lawson a Guild of Food Writers Award. The series was later broadcast on American television on channels E! and Style Network.

In November 2003, Lawson oversaw the menu and preparations for a lunch hosted by Tony Blair at Downing Street for George W. Bush and his wife during their state visit to the UK. Laura Bush is said to be a fan of Lawson’s recipes and once included one of her soups as the starter for the 2002 presidential Christmas dinner.

In the UK in 2005, Lawson started to host a daytime television chat show on ITV1 called Nigella, on which celebrity guests joined her in a studio kitchen.

Nigella is also the bestselling author of Nigella Express: Good Food Fast, Feast: Food to Celebrate Life, Forever Summer, Nigella Bites, How to Be a Domestic Goddess, and How to Eat, which have sold in excess of 5 million copies worldwide. Her 2005 book Feast: Food to Celebrate Life inspired Nigella Feasts, which debuted on Food Network in fall 2006. Her second Food Network series, Nigella Express, launched in fall 2007 in conjunction with the release of her book, Nigella Express. American audiences also know Nigella as host of Forever Summer with Nigella, her popular cooking/lifestyle series that aired on style, and Nigella Bites, which aired on E! Entertainment Television and style.

Lawson has adopted a casual approach to cooking, stating, “I think cooking should be about fun and family. … I think part of my appeal is that my approach to cooking is really relaxed and not rigid. There are no rules in my kitchen”.

Nigella Lawson is possibly the most famous of all celebrity chefs and her name is practically a brand in itself.