I’m a big fan of Nigella’s approach to cooking. Unlike the scientific, mad-scientist brand that someone like Heston Blumenthal has created for himself (which I also love, by the way), Nigella’s approach to food is a comfort. She makes cooking feel achievable by putting the focus on the primal and intuitive feelings of food. But, just because I have the recipes for her amazing food, doesn’t mean I can cook like her.
I see many artists talk about how copying other artists is not an ‘authentic’ way to produce ‘art’. How mimicry is a bad thing. How they should be able to ‘come up with their own work’ or ‘be original’. But, even the greatest artists (and cooks) must begin somewhere. It seems that style emerges through mimicry, not by avoiding it. Even if I buy Nigella’s cookbooks, and use them everyday, the dish I make will never be like hers, and that’s OK.