Nigella Lawson floored viewers of her brand new show Cook, Eat, Repeat after deciding to throw old banana skins into a curry.
The first episode of the journalist’s BBC cookery series aired last night and after dividing fans with her fish finger bhorta, she turned her attention to everyone’s favourite lockdown baking ingredient – the banana.
First up, Nigella transformed the fruit into a gloriously rich and gooey chocolate tahini pudding. But then, she opted to slice up the leftovers and throw them into a hearty main course.
Sharing her thought process, Nigella explained: ‘I admit, not totally visually appealing, but there’s something always so gratifying about using up every last scrap.
‘And all I do to get the banana skins ready for cooking is cover them in boiling water, add a bit of turmeric, a bit of salt and leave the water to cool.’
She continued: ‘It’s all about the texture and these always go so velvety and just swell and soften with the flavour of the curry sauce.’
Naturally, many viewers were taken aback by Nigella’s banana skin curry and let rip their thoughts on social media.
‘OK, Nigella, I’ll follow you to many places but Banana Skins is a step too far,’ wrote one.
Echoing a similar sentiment, another said: ‘C’mon Nigella, throw the banana skins away, NO-ONE is copying that, surely.’
After the show aired, Nigella held her hand on her heart and vowed that banana skin curry is actually delicious.
‘Thank you everyone for your lovely comments,’ she penned on Twitter. ‘I will reply to as many as possible tomorrow. For now, , let me just say 1) I hope I didn’t traumatise you too much with the banana skins (I promise you the curry is divine) and 2) I’m very grateful for your all-round gorgeousness xx.’ (sic)
Nigella isn’t the first TV chef to put banana skins to good use.
In April, Great British Bake Off’s Nadiya Hussain revealed that not only can we can eat the skin of a banana but also shared a crafty recipe which turns it into ‘pulled pork’.
The television chef joined Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard where she told audiences that it’s vital that we shift the way we think about food during the coronavirus pandemic.
‘I’ve been cooking banana peel forever, we always cook banana peel,’ she gushed. ‘I thought to myself, I have to share this!’
Nigella’s Cook, Eat, Repeat continues on Monday at 8pm on BBC Two.
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