Nigella, Come For A Meal

I don't often find myself tuning in to listen to Woman's Hour, for no particular reason, but I did recently. I think maybe I caught a tweet or two saying that Nigella would be on, alongside Diana Henry, Bee Wilson and Cara Nicoletti all chatting about food and feminism - it sounded fun. They'd be discussing if we all should just 'ditch the guilt' and just enjoy the 'many pleasures that food and cooking offers'. So it had to be worth tuning in. Woman's Hour began in 1946 and dear old Fanny was a regular contributor back in the 60's and 70's - she would have been a fantastic addition to the line-up of today I think! I wonder if those shows were much different to today?

The BBC produced a handy booklet in 1966, encouraging listeners to cook, eat and make others happy. They asked 12 Woman's Hour contributors to design a menu each. It's all a bit Come Dine With Me, except they called it Come For A Meal. You get the idea. Each menu was for a different occasion, and surprise surprise there was even a Vegetarian Dinner. If you fancied Tomato Soup followed by Stuffed Marrow and Lemon Sorbet you were sorted! A Vegetarian Dream. Fanny of course had much grander ideas...

Fanny's menu was for those times, that we can all relate to, when you have four guests staying the whole weekend, and you need to plan an entire menu for six from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. Fanny provides her ideal menu to 'sustain them', "someone has to" she says with a knowingly resentful glance to the radio listeners. You really get the impression these guests are not welcome at all. Best of all Fanny says, you should be able to make all this 'without help' which must've been such a boon for the ordinary housewife listener. Perhaps the domestic is away for the weekend, or worse still your very favourite assistants have the weekend off? Eeeew! Surely not...

Each dish of course is presented with it's very fancy French name, and features a mix of cold dishes ready to 'dish up' as well as others ready to pop into the oven or steamer to 'take care of themselves'. You don't want to neglect your guests while nourishing them. Easy peasy. Your weekend guests will be simply thrilled with Scallops with Cheese Sauce, Jacket Potatoes with a 'difference', Pork and Cider parcels, Ice Cream with Citrus Fruits, Pate Pie, Chicken with Cheese Fondue Sauce, and an untranslatable French Flan, a recurring favourite, which Fanny calls Tarte Fleurette.

So, flash forward to 2015, Nigella is busy cooking Poached Salmon, Avocado, Watercress and Pumpkin Seed Salad, from her new Simply Nigella book. Different ingredients, but perhaps the same sentiment? Nigella urges us to eat good, wholesome, real food. "Cooking is an act of love, whether that's expressed to yourself or others". So whether its 1946, 1966 or 2015, the Woman's Hour message is the same, relish cooking and revel in entertaining. Fanny's additional and unique message was still to fancy it all up in French, naturellement.

I was fortunate enough to meet Nigella at her "An Evening With..." with my friend Karen in Edinburgh not long after her Woman's Hour appearance, squeeeeel. It was a joy to hear her being interviewed and talk about her love of all things food. I can't imagine Fanny releasing a simply stripped back book like this, but both 'home cooks' are linked through their passion for cooking, eating and sharing with readers, listeners and viewers alike. Fanny was all frills, Nigella, well, was Simply Nigella. Next time Nigella, come for a meal, I'll pop the radio on and we can flick through Fanny's books...