Nigella Lawson has embraced leftfield ingredients in her BBC2 show Cook, Eat, Repeat, with a curry made from old banana skins among the first recipes the chef showcased.
And the latest episode, which airs on BBC2 on Monday evenings, proved no exception, as Nigella, 60, drenched a cheesecake in a sauce made from extra strong liquorice pellets, after opening up her own ‘liquorice toolbox’.
Many viewers tuning into episode three were left aghast as a delicious-looking ‘Basque burnt cheesecake’ was doused in the unusual sauce made from boiled down Italian liquorice.
Earlier, Nigella had opened up a swish-looking liquorice box, in which she keeps different kinds of the snack from across Europe, including a ‘corrosively salty’ Swedish sweet.
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Nigella Lawson’s ongoing pursuit of ever more interesting ingredients in her BBC2 show left liquorice haters aghast after she created a cheesecake sauce from extra strong pellets of the salty snack – which she fished out of a posh-looking ‘liquorice toolbox’
After unearthing the savoury Italian sweets from her liquorice box, she set about boiling them up until they dissolved…
The extra strong liquorice pellets were then simmered down into a thick sauce before being poured on the Basque burnt cheesecake
While many viewers loved the unique marriage of a creamy dessert and a salty sauce, others branded it a ‘crime’ against cheesecake
Black liquorice is made with extract from root of the Glycyrrhiza glabra plant that gives the candy its sweet and often salty flavour.
While many loved the unique combination of a creamy cheesecake with a dark, salty topping, others found it simply beyond the culinary pale.
@_LucasMichael_ raged: ‘This episode is a hate crime. Liquorice needs going in room 101’
@Charcharlily2 disagreed, writing: ‘OMG! I love cheesecake and liquorice is my favourite ever thing! I have NEVER thought of putting them together.’
@karen_renton wrote: ‘Why would you ruin a perfectly good cheesecake by flavouring it with liquorice? That stuff is the food of the devil.’
This morning, Waitrose reported searches overnight for liquorice had shot up thanks to the ‘Nigella effect’.
The supermarket said it had seen 29 per cent more searches for the salty confectionary since the show aired.
Other viewers were simply flabbergasted to find out that Nigella owned a liquorice toolbox.
@Janeymode penned: ‘Only Nigella could have a liquorice box filled with liquorice from around the world…I have a bag of Pontefract cakes from Home Bargains in the door of the car…I feel so inadequate now #nigella’
@SuzeBHarrison added: ‘Actually choked on my tea when #nigella got her ‘liquorice box’ out . Pahaha. Not even a euphemism. This woman is everything’
Elsewhere during the show, Nigella also shared her ‘go-to’ celebration cake – an indulgent layered chocolate and peanut butter cake, and a dish of vegetables and spiced bulgur wheat.
Last week, the cook left viewers baffled by sharing her preferred method for buttering toast.
The celebrity chef, 60, explained she employs a ‘two-stage’ approach to buttering toast – adding one layer when the slice is fresh out of the toaster and another when the toast has cooled slightly.
The moment tickled fans at home, with one joking ‘at least it’s nice and easy’ and another joking she might tell them how to ‘make a Pot Noodle’.
Last week, Nigella left viewers baffled by sharing her preferred method for buttering toast
The celebrity chef, 60, explained she employs a ‘two-stage’ approach to buttering toast – adding one layer when the slice is fresh out of the toaster and another when the toast has cooled slightly. Pictured, demonstrating the ‘second stage’ of her approach to buttering
The moment tickled fans at home, with one joking ‘at least it’s nice and easy’ and another joking she might tell them how to ‘make a Pot Noodle’ next week
Nigella demonstrated how to butter toast in the introduction to her recipe for an ‘old-fashioned sandwich loaf’.
Sitting in the garden with her own slice of buttered toast, Nigella explained: ‘I favour the two-stage buttering approach and so far, only stage one has taken place.
‘That is to say, the moment this came out of the toaster and was lovely and hot, I spread it with butter, so the butter has melted down into it and it’ll give it a fabulous, crumpety bite.’
Picking up her knife and spreading more butter, she continued: ‘Stage two now, ready for it, I need a little more butter and it will stay in some golden patches on the surface.
Nigella demonstrated how to butter toast in the introduction to her recipe for an ‘old-fashioned sandwich loaf’. Pictured, sitting in the garden with her bread and butter
Viewers thanked the TV chef for giving them recipes that are ‘easy’ to do at home
‘It is unsalted butter, which I always prefer to use, but what I need to do is sprinkle some seasalt flakes over. This is the platonic ideal of toast.’
Viewers were quick t comment on the technique, with one tweeting: ‘I’m sorry @Nigella_Lawson but you’ve lost the plot mate! Teaching us to how butter toast?’
Another posted: ‘Least Nigella gives me nice and easy stuff to aspire to… last week fish fingers… this week double buttered toast #eatcookrepeat.’
A third wrote: ‘I’m really glad that @BBCTwo had #Nigella to tell us how to butter toast. Hopefully next week, we’ll find out how to make an @PotNoodle.’
Others jokingly praised Nigella for giving toast ‘the attention it deserves’
Nigella’s Eat, Cook, Repeat continues next week at 8pm on BBC Two