NOVEMBER 1 2007
AMERICANWAY 75
ILLUSTRATIONSBYCALEBBENNETT
Itmust be
globalization.
BritishTV chefNi-
gellaLawson, with
her lavishlyfilmed
cooking shows, has
alreadymadeher
markonAmericanTV cookery. Half
the shows on today’s FoodNetwork
are indebted toher
NigellaBites
,
whatwith their glossy sheen, lov-
ing ingredient close-ups, and closing
shots of the chef chowingdownwith
gigglingguests. But nowLawson’s in-
fluence is spreading inanother direc-
tion. Thepublishers of her newbook,
NigellaExpress: 130Recipes for
GoodFood, Fast
(Hyperion, $35),
say that it “is her solution to eating
wellwhen time is short,” that the
mealswithinare “quick toprepare
and easy to follow,” and that you “can
conjure themupafter aday in the
officeor onabusyweekend.” That
sounds anawful lot like theapproach
thatmadeU.S. TV chef Rachael Ray
famous. ¶Whichhas us thinking that
although these two couldn’t seem
moredifferent—Ray is an every-
woman fromupstateNewYorkwho
grewup in the restaurant business,
whileLawson is a former literary edi-
tor connected toBritisharistocracy
—maybe they’remore similar than
wefirst imagined.
Towit:
Cooking
Couple
Nigella Lawson
Personal Look
TheKitchenYou
Can’tHave
AnnoyingQuirk
Inefficient Knife
TellingRecipe
Long, flowing currentlyblack hair.
Simple tops and lots of jeans. Proudly
displays her curves.
Long, flowingalways black hair. Simple
tops (sometimes indenim) and lots of
black skirts. Proudlydisplays her curves.
Bright greenandorange, retro-chic, tiled
decor. Excellentworkingantique stove
that you’dbe lucky tofind inany condi-
tion, much less functional, on eBay.
Softly lit, modern, andgigantic. Has the
world’s largest pantry—walk inand
sit down.
Is she a chef or a traffic cop?Enough
with the overexaggeratedhand talking
already.
Yes, she’sBritish. But, Nigella, we call it
cilantro, not coriander.
TheSantoku, aJapanese knife used
for thin slicing, is her tool of choice.
Ray uses it for everything, including
choppingherbs, ahorrible task for this
knife’s flat blade.
Hermezzaluna’s curvedblade is great
for choppingherbs, butwhohas amez-
zaluna?Everyone, on the other hand,
has scissors, whichLawsonuses to snip
just about everything. The trouble is,
scissors have the unfortunate tendency
to rustwhen youwash them.
Makes pasta carbonarawith rigatoni
insteadofwith the traditional spaghet-
ti. Otherwise, there’s a standardallot-
ment of pancetta, wine, eggs, cheese,
andparsley. Shemakes you feel better
by excluding cream.
Makes spaghetti carbonarawith lots
of pancetta (about twice the amount
called for inRay’s recipe), wine, eggs
(alsodoubled), and cheese. Shemakes
you feel better by includingagood
dollopof cream.
Rachael Ray
NigellaLawsonandRachael
Ray:Separatedatbirth?
