Two TV cookery shows (Sunday AM on BBC2)

In the last week of the IMDb message boards I thought I'd get a few bits of trivial nonsense off my chest.

Why do I find myself clenching my teeth when I watch Nigel Slater (whose food writing is very good), while I find Nigella Lawson funny and appealing? Both TV shows are slick, trendy, aspirational - dripping in life-style phoniness... so what's the difference?

Perhaps it's Slater's watch-with-mother tweeness, mixed with a hint of self-importance: he seems to lecture in a smugly benevolent way. Nigella's campery is humorous and wryly self-deprecating.

Any thoughts?


Call me Ishmael...