Prominent TV chef and one of my favourites, Nigella Lawson, has recently come under fire over a rather provocative photograph taken for the cover of London magazine, Stylist, wherein the said culinary vixen was the guest editor. On the cover, the divine La Lawson is shown to have a copious amount of salted caramel, dripping over her immaculately shadowed eyelids and her lips, coquettishly parted with a look of ecstasy, enough to drive men all over the world crazy. Be it as it may, it is not unusual for Nigella to have a sexy and seductive approach to her cooking. In fact, that is the reason why we all love her! So why get all the scrutiny now, after all the years she's been on our television screens, eating her way through every dish with her signature wanton gusto?
Some say what she's doing is food porn. What, with each seductive glance at the camera and every finger lickin' good opportunity to play with her food while at the same time savouring the joy of eating, its does not come as a surprise to me that the British public has now changed its tune. They are all prudes. No offence, but it is true. And the sad thing is that these critics have gotten so caught up in all the sex that they have completely missed the point of the image. Food blogger Erica Rivera, author of the memoir Man Eater, sums it up perfectly, "This image evokes the intense sensations that people who love food experience. For me, cooking and eating are very sensual and tactile. Those who want to see something erotic in this image will find the eroticism. What I see is a powerful image of a gorgeous woman in a state of ecstasy. Why that's immediately slapped with the 'erotic' label is beyond me. If Lawson did a full-frontal shot that included her slathering the caramel on her breasts, then, yes, I'd call it erotic. This is just an image of a woman enjoying something she loves. What's offensive about that?"
My sentiments exactly. Personally, I think the cover is fabulous and very fitting. Editorially, it would not look out of place in the pages of Vogue Paris. She is a beautiful woman and she is just naturally sexy. Show me a woman (or a man, whatever.) who does not get some sense of nirvana when eating a nice piece of chocolate, and then I'll rest my case.
As far as pushing the envelope is concerned, is there anything wrong with pushing it at all? Whenever I watch UKTV Food and Nigella's show is not on, I feel as though these TV chefs prove to be as ironically bland and stale. Truth be told, as much as I respect the likes of Delia and Martha, I would much rather watch Nigella immodestly devour a chunk of a doubly decadent chocolate cake with her bare hands than sit through half an hour of clinical kitchen work. It's boring and it takes the fun and attraction out of cooking. It's bad enough that most people now have gotten so obsessed with weight and eating that the act always proves to be more of a chore to them, done out of necessity, and it is sad. Rachel Krammer Bussel of the Huffington Post comments, "You don't have to be a splosher or a glutton or a television chef to admit that, whether it's an explicitly sensual food like oysters or caramel or a burgers, a vegetable, a cheese, a chocolate mousse -- pick your favorite -- the experience of placing food on our tongues, of taking the time to taste and savor and appreciate what it offers not just our mouth, but our soul, is a powerful act. You can enjoy the meal version of a quickie or a Tantric session of extended, elaborate, sultry enjoyment. But you're denying an elemental part of yourself and human nature when you claim that the pleasure of food is divorced from its sensual side".
We need the likes of Nigella to remind us that even in the most mundane acts of life there is joy. There is a reason why it is called 'the culinary arts', and just like any other piece of artwork, food solicits appreciation and delight in its existence. Now whether or not she is deliberately pushing her sexuality up to new stratospheres is trivial. So what if she does? It makes for good TV, she's hot and it's not her fault she exudes sex appeal naturally. Whoever disagrees obviously is just not ballsy enough to admit that they would very much like to emulate La Lawson. Just admit it, you love it really.
Thoughts?
xoxo
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