Sorry, Nigella – if people are coming to my house for dinner, it’s going to be a party

The cost of living may be high at the moment, but bringing people around a table to rub shoulders with each other and gossip all night is still very much on my agenda, writes celebrity chef Gizzi Erskine

My mother’s dinner parties always stayed true to that French way of eating (Gizzi Erskine)

In an interview with the Sunday Times this week Nigella Lawson revealed that she doesn’t really “do” dinner parties anymore. Instead, she said, she tends to opt for a more chilled-out soiree.

Gone are the elaborate entrees, replaced instead by a bowl of Twiglets (which Nigella says she serves in order to show them off to bemused American friends, who have never encountered the polarising treat before). She follows that up with a simple dinner – something that contains less meat to support her vegan friends.

The response to this revelation was a loud “you’ve changed!”, as readers claimed that the How To Cook host has turned her back on the thing that made us fall in love with her.