Stop Smiling magazine’s interview with Nigela Lawson is available online.

She describes herself as “clumsy” in the kitchen. Often deprecating, Lawson is quick to point out that — despite the monikers bestowed upon her — she isn’t a trained chef. “I’m a writer — and what I want is for people to get lost in the narrative [of my cooking]. When it comes to food, I’m not just interested in the formula. I like the story behind it. What’s challenging is you’re using words to describe an experience that has nothing to do with words.”

Call it a blessing or a curse. But to her credit, Lawson has done quite a job verbalizing otherwise indescribable sensations. For example, she uses terms like “green and fragrant ointment” to describe cilantro chutney while scoffing at the “flat, sludgy lentils” her mother once favored.

Often accused of being highfalutin, she has been quoted as saying she doesn’t shop at supermarkets (she fears where things come from) and was rumored to have lost a radio gig appealing to everyday folk after saying she had her shopping done for her. To be fair, she never claimed to be lowbrow. For her, it’s “flowing, vicious yolks” on soft-boiled eggs — or bust.

“I’ve never regarded my career as life or death,” Lawson said as our interview concluded. And she has no intention of doing so now. If it’s Julia Child you want, check out the reruns and leave Lawson to concoct (and greedily sample) a meaty ragout.