TV cook Nigella Lawson’s ‘two-stage’ toast buttering technique spreads breakfast controversy

The British food writer revealed her distinct way of enjoying her morning toast – although dieticians advise 'less is best' when it comes to saturated fats

British TV cook and food writer, Nigella Lawson, has revealed her 'two-stage buttering approach' to toast. EPA

Thought you knew how to butter a slice of toast? Think again.

British cook and food writer Nigella Lawson has revealed that she has a not one, but two-step approach to enjoying hot, buttered toast for breakfast.

What’s more, her indulgent process is a far cry from simply adding a scrape of butter to your bread while running out the door because you’re late for work.

"I favour the two-stage buttering approach," says the TV star, 60, in her new BBC Two show, Nigella's Cook, Eat, Repeat. "Stage one is, the minute this (toast) came out of the toaster all lovely and hot, I spread it with butter so that the butter has melted down into it and it'll give it a fabulous crumpety bite.

“For stage two, I need a little more butter, and it will stay in some golden patches on the surface. It's unsalted butter, which I always prefer to use, but what I need to do is sprinkle some sea salt flakes over.”

However, stage two’s “little more butter” raised eyebrows in the comments section, with one person saying: “Shudder to think what she considers a lot of butter.”

There was also support, with another commentator saying: “I just tried Nigella's toast recipe. It is awesome! The texture and flavour is truly luscious. She is a brilliant chef.”

“Using small amounts of butter every now and then shouldn’t be a problem for most people, but one should know that there are far healthier fats for our heart,” advises Nadine Aoun, clinical dietician at Medcare Women and Children Hospital. “It is better to replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats. For example, one can use avocados or olive oil. It’s not the butter alone that causes heart problems; it’s the whole dietary pattern that counts.

“The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of saturated fat you eat to less than 7 per cent of your total daily calories.”

The British TV personality published her first cookery book, How To Eat, in 1998, following up with her bestseller, How to be a Domestic Goddess the same year. Her latest BBC Two show is an accompaniment to her book Cook, Eat, Repeat: Ingredients, Recipes and Stories.

Lawson divided fans in September when she shared a recipe for spaghetti with Marmite, which combined pasta with the yeast extract spread, along with butter and parmesan.

“So many of you know and love this already, and the rest of you are probably horrified by it,” she admitted on Twitter.

"It is wonderful. The ultimate comfort food. A delicious lunch treat," one fan of the recipe commented, while an Italian critic wrote: "This is the real ultimate discomfort food."

As you might expect of a self-confessed foodie, Lawson has been kept busy during lockdown.

"I was carb-loading for Britain," she told the Sydney Morning Herald of her quarantine approach to food.

Adding of her approach to her daily diet: “I don’t ban myself from eating. If I want chocolate, I’ll eat chocolate. If I want cake, I’ll eat cake – I don’t need the whole cake.”