Nigella Lawson takes ‘offensive’ name out of her recipes as she renames some of her dishes

Nigella Lawson has renamed her divisive ’slut’ jelly dessert, explaining the original work has taken on a ’cruel connotation’ since she first published the recipe. Picture: Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson has renamed her divisive ’slut’ jelly dessert, explaining the original work has taken on a ’cruel connotation’ since she first published the recipe. Picture: Nigella Lawson

Published Aug 26, 2021

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British chef Nigella Lawson has renamed her divisive “slut” jelly dessert, explaining the original work has taken on a “cruel connotation” since she first published the recipe.

The television cook and author reshared the recipe which was once called “Slut Red Raspberries in Chardonnay Jelly” to social media and while her dessert received high praise, some said they preferred the original name.

Taking to her Twitter account, Lawson posted an image of the dessert with the caption: “#RecipeOfTheDay is a dream of a dessert, and so easy to make. If you’ve never tried homemade jelly before, now’s your chance: Ruby Red Raspberries in Chardonnay Jelly for the win!”

Fans immediately noticed the change in the recipe, which was first published in her cookbook Forever Summer, which was released in 2003. Whereas most followers merely identified the identity change, one specifically commented in a reply to her tweet that they would love its “hilarious authentic identity,” and questioned why she had felt the necessity to change it.

Responding, the celebrity cook said: “I feel that the word has taken on a coarser, more cruel connotation, and I’m not happy with that.”

Describing the change on her website, Lawson wrote: “The name has changed a bit in this recipe, but it’s the same dessert of dreams: wine-infused raspberries ooze a stained glass, bright red, their very own raspberries; soft, translucently pale coral. The set jellies in which they sit have a heady, floral scent that can make the grateful eater cry.”

It is not the first time Lawson has eliminated the phrase from one of her recipes. She has removed the word in question from a pasta dish in her recipe books that she once described as an “old fave of mine”.

Slut’s Spaghetti was rebranded “Slattern’s Spaghetti”, with the cook explaining the name change to her fans: “Although you will often see its Italian name explained as meaning ‘whore’s pasta’ in English, the general consensus seems to be, however, that this is the sort of dish cooked by slatterns who don’t go to the market to get their ingredients fresh, but are happy to use stuff out of cans and jars.”

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