I really enjoyed Nigella Lawson’s recent comments about how some people use diets to justify their eating disorders – go here to read my post about it. Nigella is from the old-school when it comes to eating, dieting and enjoyment of food, which is to say… sure, eat your salads, enjoy your quinoa, but don’t miss out on the pleasures of a nice piece of chocolate or a good glass of wine too. Nigella’s whole world is food and the enjoyment of food – if you ever watch her cooking show, her relationship to food is almost pornographic. So, obviously, she brings food to bed with her all the time. Nigella eats in bed with such regularity that she keeps a fully stocked condiment bar by her bedside, pretty much. Including soy sauce, salt, Tabasco, and chili sauce.
Who says it’s faux pas to eat in bed? Not Nigella Lawson! During an “Ideas at the House” conversation with Annabel Crabb at the Sydney Opera House, , the 56-year-old celebrity chef proudly copped to eating in bed—a lot. She snacks in the sheets so often, in fact, that her nightstand is stocked with culinary necessities.
“I do keep, by the side of my bed, because my bedroom is not on the same floor as the kitchen, so by the side of my bed, I have learnt to keep a little collection of condiments,” she said, immediately getting a laugh from the audience. “It’s not meant to be funny,” she snapped back quickly, sounding a little defensive. “It’s very helpful.”
Hmm… Well, in any case, the cookbook author and TV host keeps English mustard in her bedside table (obviously) and always has salt close by. Annabel, the interviewer, noted that spilled salt would be “a bit crunchy” in the bed. “Yeah, I know,” Nigella quipped. “[But] that can be lived with. Unsalted food is worse.”
Nigella also keeps a chili sauce, soy sauce, another hot sauce and Tabasco in her nightstand, “although I don’t always know whether Tabasco’s the right sauce,” she lamented.
But, while Nigella is proud of the practicality of her bedside staples, she realizes her eating habits can be a bit backwards. “The ridiculous thing is that one of my great luxuries is that I like very expensive and gorgeous bed linen,” she said, “and then I ruin it by dumping soy sauce all over it.”
I don’t go that far, but I’m not above eating in bed either. If I’m up late, watching TV or reading, I might go for some chocolate or something salty, like peanuts. But it sounds like Nigella has a little mini-kitchen running out of her bedroom. And soy sauce in bed? Tabasco in bed? Girl, what are you eating in bed?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I somehow don’t believe she does that.
neither do I, strangely enough.
i dont either
i do believe she thinks that makes her relatable and cool as opposed to gross which is what i think
I wish she hadn’t added cheek fillers. It’s ruined her gorgeous face.
Am I the only one who’s finding Nigella increasingly contrived? Her whole ”Sure I’m gorgeous, ultra-posh and absolutely loaded, but at the end of the day I’m just like you – look, I don’t bother to measure ingredients and I even eat in bed!” schtick is getting old. I might have bought it 10 years ago, but after all the insights into the more tawdry aspects of her personal life, I’m finding it an increasingly hard sell.
And on another note, what has she done to her beautiful face? A few months ago I was defending her against someone who said she’d had way too much work done, but now I see that they were right and I was wrong!
Widowed at a relatively young age. Raising kids. Divorcing an abusive husband. Weight issues. I don’t find her that contrived. She is like many women.
Sure. But her public persona in her books and TV programmes is that of the ‘domestic goddess’ with the dream lifestyle – gorgeous home just round the corner from artisan bakeries and delis; terribly chic friends who pop around for dinner and witty chat; professional make-up and expensive clothes which perfectly showcase her voluptous body; all those fab recipes rustled up in her perfect (mock up) kitchen. But to counter all that we have Nigella as the ‘ordinary’ woman who eats tuna in bed and uses left-over water from the kettle.
I’m not talking about the ‘real Nigella’ – whom none of us know – but of the Nigella persona she’s been selling us for a good 15 years now. To me, it’s starting to get a bit tarnished.
I don’t know why you would imagine she’s ‘just like us’ when her father was famously Chancellor of the Exchequor for most of Thatcher’s tenure.
Nothing ‘just like us’ about any member of that cabinet.
And soon after that her brother achieved a level of fame as an editor of a broadsheet whilst his wife was gallivanting around the world as Diana, Princess of Wales’s BFF.
Nigella’s mother was also famously a heiress with proper money as opposed to pretend one like the Hiltons, again un-hidden.
Nigella isn’t swanning around in diamonds, but my goodness you can see the Boho, trustafarian silver spoon from miles away.
All that artisanal, domestic goddess marlarkey started with wealthy trustafarian who were the only types who could afford the very expensive ingredients and or t time to source and cook them from scratch.
Nigella’s appeal has always been that she is relatively normal given her extraordinary circumstances and life. That doesn’t mean that she’s ‘one of us’. I guess a similar example is Prince William trying and failing to be ‘normal’ given his extraordinary circumstances whereas Nigella *has* succeeded in being normal in her extraordinary situation.
Heh. The way you describe her makes her sound like the UK version of Goop. Or at least what Goop is trying to do.
She comes across as being more genuine and less eager to please than Kate Winslet, for example. I think she does eat in bed. I think she eats everywhere and doesn’t apologise for it. But if I ate like that, I’d be sluggish all the time. Most of her recipes don’t appeal to me. Too heavy.
That just sounds gross to me. Doesn’t the convenience get negated by constantly having to change the bedding? I only eat in bed when I’m extremely ill. Well except that time on my birthday, when my husband brought me breakfast in bed on a tray, but even then I put a towel on my lap to be extra safe!
“Doesn’t the convenience get negated by constantly having to change the bedding?”
Not when you’ve got staff to do that. But of course, that would spoil the ‘just like us’ image Nigella is trying to portray.
I agree, my first thought was that it’s such a slobby habit. Back when I was young and single I had my share of frozen pizza in bed while watching movies but now the thought of eating anything in bed is revolting to me. That’s what couches are for! 🙂
I had a whole different thought based on the headline. First thing to come to mind is “girl what kinky stuff are you doing in bed?” Alas, the real story is not nearly as interesting.
My first thought was, “I hope somebody doesnt mistake the tabasco for lube during a moment of passion”. My second thought was “maybe thats the point?”
Hang on, in order to eat in bed surely she would have to visit her kitchen first to get said food, so why would she need condiments by her bedside when she could easily collect them from the kitchen also!? I’ve never bought her shtick and the whole food porn stuff, and I ain’t buying this either.
I was thinking the same thing. Why couldn’t you just put soy sauce on it in the kitchen? It doesn’t make sense.
Oh no no no… eating in bed, no… the crumbs, the food that might fall in.. it’s just not hygienic to me, it’s rather gross. Sorry! I know some people love to do it, but I am not one of those.. it revolts my nerves as much as someone picking their nose over the stove.
Picking their nose over the stove? Ughhhh.
I used to keep salt and pepper on my bedside table. I get it.
Ha-ha! I always keep a shaker of salt next to my bed. I love this woman for admitting this. And if I knew how to cook like her I’m sure I’d have soy sauce, Tabasco and Sriracha (sp?) as well.
I can’t stand crumbs in bed. Can’t! The sheets must be smooth. Even if there’s a ball of lint I can’t sleep. It bothers me. something abut textures or grit… *shudders*.
FMORC knows this well.
So, ofcourse no eating is allowed in bed. Also no tv so there’s no need to eat infront of a tv.
@FLORC, I confess to wondering if FMORC is your significant other? Your anagram is a mystery, but I would be delighted to know if this is the case. You can tell I have many super important things to do today! And, I have been known to eat marmalade toast in bed, while sipping my morning coffee, and catching up with my Celebitchy pals, I make no apology for that, though one would never describe me as even vaguely resembling a Domestic Goddess.
I don’t know I guess I’m weird but eating in bed seems gross. The crumbs left behind can bring ants and God knows what else crawling into your bed. Why would you want that lol?
Gees, if that is her idea of adding “spice” to her bedroom, I think she has the wrong idea. LOL
And Botox. Lots and lots of Botox, right?
To be fair to her, the kitchen probably isn’t even in the same postal code as her bedroom, so I understand this. When I have more money than God I’m going to put two kitchens in my house, a day kitchen where meals are prepared and a night kitchen, ensuite to the master bedroom, where I keep the booze and snack foods. I will be fancy, though, so I will consider caviar a snack food, and the refrigerator will be SILENT.