The Venice Goddess

 We've seen 'Nigella At The Table', we've 'Cooked, Eaten and Repeated' and we've tried 'Simply Nigella', so what's next from the Domestic Goddess?  

Nigella's recent decision to quit London for Venice, could hold the key to her future TV shows. The creator of the fish finger bhorta and the owner of the lips that caressed a mashed avocado on lightly buttered toast, could now be rustling up a soda bread pizza or a tempting pork and fennel gnocchi grill.

Nigella is hoping to rent an apartment in the city of canals and the vaporetto, living and working there alone for a year post pandemic. No one knows yet whether a film crew will record her every sigh, gasp or slurp, but what is certain, is she will be cooking. The Goddess is quoted as saying, ''I long to be in Venice just for that wonderful wandering about and having a different feeling. The market in Venice is so wonderful''. Nigella's passion for 'La Serenissima' is long lived. She and her first husband, John Diamond, married there in 1992, so a chance to return to the city of her first love has proved irresistible.

I can only speculate on any plans for a new TV cooking show based around her love of Italian food, but there is no doubt she will be skipping over the Rialto Bridge to the food market to gather those succulent tomatoes and freshly picked courgette flowers. Expect Nigella to linger over those Italian phrases, to flirt with the gondoliers and wiggle her hips at the market porters - nothing new there then. However, I hope for something original from our Venice Goddess on the recipe front. Italian food has moved on from the pasta and pizza dishes that we see Jamie Oliver churn out each week on his TV shows. If Nigella gives us the food of Northern Italy, particularly the specialist Venetian recipes passed down over generations, then it will be worthwhile joining her in the city she will call home.

As for a title for our new Nigella show -  why not try, 'Nigella Viaggio Gastronomico' or 'Nigella - Amore di Venezia' or 'Mangia Italiano con Nigella'.  Whatever it is, there's no doubt the opening shots will feature her elegantly lounging on a gondola.