Why I’ll be watching Bake Off: What Nigella is teaching me about faith and joy

The Great British Bake Off is back on the telly with one very exciting addition: Nigella Lawson has entered the tent. Taking over from Prue Leith as GBBO’s newest judge, alongside Paul Hollywood, she is now one to impress as contestants labour over their signature bakes, technical challenges and showstoppers each week, all hoping to win Star Baker and avoid going home.

So now that Bake Off is well underway, what’s the verdict on Nigella? Simply put, she’s a hit. According to several reviews, as well as countless fans and impersonators (more on that later), she’s exactly what the doctor ordered for a nation that has seemingly forgotten how to enjoy itself.

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Nigella has always evoked a sense of decadence. Her cookery programmes have featured her stalking down to the kitchen after hours to have a clandestine snack. Creating indulgent dishes full of flavour, made for entertaining or sharing with friends and family, is her oeuvre. She also has a particular way of expressing herself – stringing together the most deliciously descriptive sentences – often (and apparently unwittingly) full of innuendo. I was convinced that these were scripted, but on Bake Off, where reactions happen spontaneously, in the moment, they just trip off her tongue, often to the furtive glances and smirks of people in the tent.

There is also the small matter of eating. Her first book, published in 1998, was the much-lauded and highly readable How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food, full of practical recipes as well as well-written prose. The back of the book even suggested: “You will need two copies: one for the kitchen, one for the bedside table.”

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She reminds us that we are human, that we have real appetites and senses and passions. 

Perhaps it is this combination that makes Nigella Lawson so relatable. She reminds us that we are human, that we have real appetites and senses and passions. Food is a passion, and she isn’t shy about showing it. Her manner of tasting contestants’ culinary creations isn’t a tentative nibble or a small professional bite. It is a whole spoonful, fully eaten and fully enjoyed. Much like those midnight mouthfuls straight from the fridge.

“I don’t have many skills, but eating is one of them,” she said during the first episode. This has inspired a raft of recent impersonations and fan art, which Nigella seems to be liking. The vast majority of these are, in their way, paying homage to a woman who is clearly enjoying herself – and who somehow gives the rest of us permission to do so as well.

During COVID, I was so nostalgic for get-togethers with friends and family that I watched Nigella’s 2017 series At My Table (available on BBC iPlayer) in an attempt to soothe myself. As she described her love of celebrating and making memories with people around her table, I longed to do the same.

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But COVID has had an unexpectedly long tail. One aspect of this is that we forgot how to enjoy ourselves, even when the pandemic was clearly over. Unaware of either our continued vigilance or collective amnesia, it has taken us a long time to relax sufficiently and return fully to normal. But this year, I have been actively prioritising meeting up in person rather than online. And I’m much more willing to strike up conversations with people I meet out and about, and make new friends. In fact, I am craving that sort of ‘real-life’ connection again.

Nigella has also spoken about her Jewish heritage and how her late mother’s cooking influenced her love of food. While the Christian faith is deeply rooted in Judaism, I can’t help but notice that we get overly caught up in emphasising the self-denial part, while forgetting to also enjoy ourselves. But if we aren’t reminded how important pleasure is, we miss a key aspect of God’s nature and the enjoyment he has for us. This season on Bake Off, Nigella is helping me remember.

The Great British Bake Off is on Channel 4 on Tuesday nights at 8pm. You can also catch up on episodes at Channel 4 online.