Nigella Lawson found ‘companionship’ with her Twitter followers during the pandemic

The chef says it’s ‘so moving’ to be a part of many people’s lives through her recipes

Nigella Lawson appears on May issue of Good Housekeeping (Good Housekeeping UK/ Matt Holyoak )

Nigella Lawson has reflected on the “sense of companionship” she found on Twitter during the pandemic.

The celebrity chef began using her profile to answer recipe queries and give cooking advice as Covid-19 restrictions came into place in 2020, closing restaurants and forcing many to cook at home more frequently.

“It all started when the pandemic hit; I was getting a lot of panicked messages on Twitter from people who weren’t used to cooking, so I started giving advice in the way I would if a friend phoned for help,” Lawson told Good Housekeeping magazine, of which she is the May cover star.

She said the platform, on which she boasts almost three million followers, provided a respite during a time when social distancing measures were in place.

“Everyone kept saying, ‘Oh, it’s so nice that you’re doing that’, but the truth is, it was a mutual thing. It still is,” she explained.

“It gives me a sense of companionship and connection to others, which is really important to me.”

Lawson, who has authored more than a dozen cookbooks since her debut title How to Eat in 1998, told the magazine she is often awake in the early hours responding to queries about dishes.

Her most asked-about recipe is for her famous Malteser cake which gets its malted milk flavour from the inclusion of Horlicks.

“They’ll say things such as, ‘I’ve made it for every birthday since my child was eight – and they’re now 18!’ It’s so moving to be a part of someone’s life in that way,” she said.

While pandemic-related restrictions have now lifted, Lawson is still very active on Twitter and regularly responds to tweets from followers.

Earlier this week one user asked for her advice on what they should serve as a starter for dinner guests who don’t eat pork, milk or gluten, to which Lawson suggested her watermelon, feta and black olive salad.

The chef also recently waded into a Twitter debate on the best “simple sandwich” sharing that her favourite combination has just three ingredients, butter, marmite and lettuce.