Nigella Lawson removes the word ‘slut’ from dessert because it has taken on a ‘coarser’ meaning

‘I feel that the word has taken on a coarser, more cruel connotation, and I’m not happy with that’

Nigella Lawson has renamed a raspberry and Chardonnay dessert that was previously called “S*** Red Raspberries in Chardonnay Jelly”, as the connotation of the word “s***” has became “more cruel” over the years, she has said.

The celebrity food writer replaced the offending word with “ruby” to describe the colour of the fruit, but said it is “the same dessert of dreams”. The recipe first appeared in her 2002 book, Forever Summer.

Lawson posted a link to the recipe on her Twitter account, which prompted fans to ask why she chose to rename the dessert.

One person asked: “Wonderful recipe (as always!) but it makes me wonder what has happened to this country when we can’t even call that recipe by its hilarious original name.

“What has happened to our free speech, humour and a sense of fun? I love your turn of phrase Nigella!”

Lawson replied: “I feel that the word has taken on a coarser, more cruel connotation, and I’m not happy with that.”

Earlier this month, Lawson changed the name of another dish to remove the word “s***”. Her version of the Italian spaghetti dish, pasta alla puttanesca, was formerly known as “S***’s Spaghetti”.

But on 10 August, she tweeted: “New name; same gorgeous store-cupboard standby: Slattern’s Spaghetti – aka Pasta alla Puttanesca - is Recipe Of The Day.”

She explained in the description of the dish on her website: “Although you will often see its Italian name explained as meaning ‘w****’s pasta’ in English, the general consensus seems to be, however, that this is the sort of dish cooked by slatterns who don’t go to market to get their ingredients fresh, but are happy to use stuff out of cans and jars.

“I recently had a Twitter conversation with one Jim Hewitt about the new name for this, and I gratefully end with this fabulous message of his: ‘On those days when my mum couldn’t be bothered to brush her hair and cooked dinner using whatever was in the cupboard she would say: ‘Hush. I’m slatterning!’ This is perfect for a slatterning day’.”