London - Even Nigella Lawson admits you’d be more likely to spot her latex gloves at a TV crime scene than in a kitchen.
But in fact they are her secret weapon for fuss-free food preparation.
She uses her “CSI gloves” – named after the TV show Crime Scene Investigation, in which they are worn by forensic officers – to prepare messy dishes or those that might irritate the skin or eyes.
But experts say they were not “entirely practical” for preparing food.
The 55-year-old snapped a pair on twice during Monday night’s episode of Simply Nigella on BBC2 while preparing an Asian-flavoured rib recipe containing chilli.
She wore them to remove cooked meat from the bone and later, after the dish had been chilled, to scrape off fat, explaining: “Lift out the hard layer of fat. I glove up for this and it is a job I adore.”
She also used them in an earlier episode to prepare sticky breakfast bars.
In her book Nigella Kitchen: Recipes From The Heart Of The Home, Lawson explained her love of the gloves, writing: “I like to keep a packet of disposable gloves (referred to in these pages as CSI gloves) by my washing-up paraphernalia. You can wear these before prodding hot joints of meat or dismembering roast chicken as well as shredding cold meat.
“I wear them for peeling blanched tomatoes, and while I chop these, too, as the gloves stop my hands getting sore from the acid. And they’re a must for any beetroot preparation.
“Once you start using them, you’d be surprised how often you find them invaluable.”
But Lucy Jackman, of the British Dietetic Association, said: “Gloves might not be entirely practical in the kitchen.
“It might be beneficial to reduce mess or avoid getting hot sauce on your hands, but you could just use other implements like a knife and fork. If you are cutting slippery food, you might be more likely to cut yourself.”
One viewer tweeted: “I love Nigella, but when a recipe calls for two pairs of latex gloves I think it has gone beyond faffy.”
Daily Mail