GSCE needed for Nigella’s recipes

Nigella Lawson’s recipes are harder to follow than Jamie Oliver’s, experts say.

Literacry experts looked at how easy it was to follow celebrity chef’s cookery books.

They found the chatty writing style of Nigella Lawson and Delia Smith makes their recipes harder to understand than books by male celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay.

Nigel Slater’s recipes are written in the easiest language, a study by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills’ Get On campaign found.

The literacy experts analysed five of Slater’s recipes and all had a “readability” of entry level three or below. This level is broadly equivalent to the standard of English expected in an 11-year-old.

By contrast, analysis of Delia and Nigella’s recipes show some of them use language broadly equivalent to level one English – roughly the standard of a GCSE.

The literacy experts analysed a minimum of five recipes each in… Read the full story