Nigella Redux

I thought about naming this post- All You Wanted to Know About Nigella But Were Afraid to Ask.


So! Here are some facts on this culinary vixen:

1) Nigella is generously pear-shaped (see above). I always thought that implied the basement-to-balcony ratio was seriously imbalanced. One could make the claim that Nigella is amply endowed in both locations. Nevertheless, the various 'hiding' techniques are quite amusing

2) Nigella is part Jewish. She has traced her mother's side of the family, to Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors in the Netherlands and the Rhineland of Germany. That makes sense as her dark, somewhat exotic features look quite non-Brit (typically insipid and watered down)

3) Nigella's mother, Vanessa Salmon, was a socialite and heir to the Lyons Corner House empire (essentially a gourmet grocery store). She died of liver cancer when Nigella was 25

4) Nigella's sister Thomasina died of breast cancer when Nigella was 33

5) Nigella's husband, journalist John Diamond, died of throat cancer in 2001. Nigella was 41

6) Nigella is now married to Charles Saatchi, co-founder of the iconic Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency and world renowned art collector

This is not so much a fact, but it well might be- it's certainly part of the Nigella's allure:

Her style of presentation is often gently mocked by comedians and commentators who perceive that she plays overtly upon her attractiveness and sexuality as a device to engage viewers of her cookery programmes, despite Lawson's repeated denials that she does so

Ha!