Not Quite Nigella

Lorraine Elliott describes her cooking style as quirky, unusual, indulgent and experimental and is author of the popular food and travel blog called Not Quite Nigella. She is thankful to have what she calls ‘the best job in the world’ and eats and travels for a living thanks to other food lovers who follow her adventures.

CMW: What is the fascination with Nigella and when did it all begin?
NQN: I was always really interested in food. When I was young I thought it seemed a bit magical how you could create something out of regular sorts of ingredients, especially things like cakes. My mother didn't really like me cooking in her kitchen though so I didn't get the opportunity to cook much when younger but when I moved out I was able to try it then. Nigella Lawson’s books really helped in that regard, they were chatty, much like a mother or friend would be and I fell in love with cooking after that.

CMW: Its Sunday you have all day with no distractions, access to the world's best produce and your three best mates are coming over for dinner. What do you cook for them?
NQN: Most of my friends love trying unusual food so I'd probably put together a menu based on a theme which could be anything really. We like themes based on countries where we get dressed up in costume, eat the national food and then listen to music from that country. Although the last one we did was a $5 a head dinner party challenge where we had to make a three course dinner for the six of us for a total of $30. It was really a lot of fun seeing what we could come up with.

CMW: What would be your quintessential simplest meal you make at home?
NQN: Scrambled eggs! Made within 5 minutes and delicious too. I pull that out for dinner more times that I would care to admit-at least once a fortnight!

CMW: What would be your most complicated?
NQN: Probably a French pastry or cake of some part. They tend to get quite complicated with several parts to them and usually involve a bit of muttering or swearing ;)

CMW: Your most used fresh herb?
NQN: I love parsley, mint, basil and dill. Conversely I'm trying to like thyme in moderation.

CMW: Your most used dried spice?
NQN: Cinnamon and nutmeg (I'm crazy for nutmeg!) probably due to the amount of baking that I do.

CMW: How important is it to know where your produce comes from and what kind of farming, packing and transport it has gone through?
NQN: Definitely! It actually makes sense to ask these questions. Not only do you get a better product but it lessens the environmental impact of what you do. I recently spent some time in Tasmania with some producers seeing how it gets from the field to the store and what happens in between and it was absolutely fascinating.

CMW: Do you grown any of your own produce?
NQN: Some herbs but I have a black thumb-really! I have killed cactuses... I am on the Cactus FBI Most wanted list.

CMW What is up next for Not Quite Nigella?
NQN: I have a book coming out this year. It's published by Penguin and it will be a memoir but one with recipes too so I hope that goes well! It's always nerve wracking putting a bit of yourself out there and I hope people will like it :)

For more of Lorraine’s blog Not Quite Nigella head here;
http://www.notquitenigella.com