Nigella Lawson reveals list of her favourite comfort foods

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Even Domestic Goddesses love fish finger sandwiches! Nigella Lawson reveals her top comfort food including plain bread and butter and the school dinner classic of steamed syrup sponge and custard

  • Nigella Lawson has revealed her seven favourite comfort foods on Twitter
  • Food writer, 60, said steamed syrup cake was her favourite nostalgic recipe 
  • Others on list included plain bread and butter, trifle and a fish finger sandwich 

By Bridie Pearson-jones For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Nigella Lawson has revealed her seven favourite comfort foods with her top sentimental dish a school dinner favourite of steamed syrup sponge and custard.

The food writer, 60, was responding to a social media trend where Twitter users revealed their top nostalgic dishes.

Plain bread and butter, trifle and a fish finger sandwich were also included in the London-born TV chef’s favourite treats.  

Food writer Jenny Linford started the trend after revealing she was cooking more comfort food in lockdown, with baked egg custard her number one choice.

Nigella Lawson has revealed her seven favourite comfort foods with her top sentimental dish a school dinner favourite of steamed syrup sponge and custard. She is pictured in London in May last year

Food writer Jenny Linford started the trend after revealing she was cooking more comfort food in lockdown, with baked egg custard her number one choice. Quote tweeting Jenny, Nigella added: ''Well, I take the view that all food is comfort food, but I get the point.

Food writer Jenny Linford started the trend after revealing she was cooking more comfort food in lockdown, with baked egg custard her number one choice. Quote tweeting Jenny, Nigella added: ”Well, I take the view that all food is comfort food, but I get the point.

Quote tweeting Jenny, Nigella added: ‘Well, I take the view that all food is comfort food, but I get the point.

Nigella’s favourite comfort foods 

1. Steamed syrup sponge and custard 

2. Colcannon (a traditional Irish dish of mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage)

3. Trifle 

4. My Mother’s Praised Chicken 

5. Lasagne 

6. Bread and butter 

7. Fish finger sandwich

‘My #7favouritecomfortfoods are: 1. Steamed syrup sponge and custard 2. Colcannon 3. Trifle 4. My Mother’s Praised Chicken 5. Lasagne 6. Bread and butter 7. Fish finger sandwich.’ 

Fans were shocked and impressed with the list of simple budget-friendly dishes, which included the traditional Irish dish of Colcannon which is mashed potatoes with cabbage or kale.

Responding to a fan who questioned how she came across the dish, Nigella, who is believed to be wroth around £20 million said: ‘I first ate Colcannon in Kerry, when I was 27 and on a driving tour of Ireland. And that’s left me many years since to eat it.’

Another fan praised her choice of carb-heavy food, writing:  ‘Fish finger sandwich, why does it taste so good?’

A third wrote: ‘The big question is; with hot steamed syrup pudding, is the custard hot or cold?’ 

In a recipe for steamed syrup sponge on her website, Nigella says: ‘You have to eat it up entirely while it’s warm (no hardship), as it will get heavy on cooling. 

‘And it needs to be balanced with custard or cream. There is also a good argument for vanilla ice cream.  

Fish fingers also appeared on Nigella's list, as she named it one of her favourite comfort foods to eat in lockdown. Stock image pictured

Fish fingers also appeared on Nigella’s list, as she named it one of her favourite comfort foods to eat in lockdown. Stock image pictured

Fans were shocked and impressed with the list of simple budget-friendly dishes, which included the traditional Irish dish of Colcannon which is mashed potatoes with cabbage or kale. Responding to a fan who questioned how she came across the dish, Nigella, who is believed to be wroth around £20 million said: 'I first ate Colcannon in Kerry, when I was 27 and on a driving tour of Ireland. And that's left me many years since to eat it.'

Fans were shocked and impressed with the list of simple budget-friendly dishes, which included the traditional Irish dish of Colcannon which is mashed potatoes with cabbage or kale. Responding to a fan who questioned how she came across the dish, Nigella, who is believed to be wroth around £20 million said: ‘I first ate Colcannon in Kerry, when I was 27 and on a driving tour of Ireland. And that’s left me many years since to eat it.’

Nigella’s steamed syrup sponge recipe 

The recipe, from How To Be A Domestic Goddess, is also featured on her website 

INGREDIENTS

Serves: 6-8 

FOR THE SYRUP BASE/TOPPING

  • 250 grams golden syrup
  • juice of other ½ lemon

 

 

FOR THE SPONGE

  • 175 grams very soft unsalted butter (plus more for greasing)
  • 175 grams self-raising flour
  • 175 grams caster sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • zest of 1 unwaxed lemon and juice of ½
  • 3 x 15ml tablespoons milk

 METHOD

You will need a 1¾ litre / quart pudding basin with lid, such as you might use to steam a Christmas pudding.

Put the kettle on, then put the butter, flour, sugar, eggs, lemon and milk in the food processor and whizz together, adding a little more milk if the mix is too thick (it should be a thick, pouring consistency).

Pour the boiling water into a large saucepan which has a lid (the water should come about half to two-thirds of the way up the side of the pudding basin when in) or into the base of a steamer. Put it on the heat. Meanwhile, butter the pudding basin, put the golden syrup in the bottom of it and stir in the lemon juice. Pour the sponge mixture on top of the syrup and put on the plastic lid, remembering to butter it first. 

Then put the pudding basin into the saucepan, put the lid on the saucepan, and that’s it. The pan should keep just boiling, with the lid on. The important thing is that it shouldn’t boil dry. Keep some water hot in the kettle to pour in when necessary. I know one is supposed to put the basin on a saucer in the pan, but the rattling noise it makes drives me mad, and the pudding doesn’t seem to suffer for being untriveted.

Let it cook for a minimum of 2 hours, more won’t matter. When it’s ready, remove (I don’t bother to make a handle out of string, but use two spatulas to lift it out of the boiling water) and let rest for a couple of minutes, no longer. Turn out with great aplomb onto a large plate with a sauce-saving lip.

Another meal on the list was  her mother’s praised chicken, which she says brings back memories of family.

The chicken is cooked with white wine, celery and carrots, and Nigella says it reminds her of her mother Vanessa Lawson and father Nigel – the former chancellor of the exchequer.

On her website she writes: ‘This may well be – indeed is – the smell, the taste, the dish that says “family” to me and my siblings, and brings our long-absent mother back to the kitchen and the table with us.’