Take comfort

Chef Nadiya Hussain on being a Muslim on TV, and the joy of comfort food

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Nadiya says she had grown used to the cycle of TV chef work

NADIYA HUSSAIN says she dreams of cooking on TV into old age - but that longevity in the industry isn’t afforded to everyone.

“I would like to have seen myself where Mary Berry is at 90 years old, still cooking on television, I would have loved that for myself,” says the 41-year-old, “But that’s a dream that I can’t live up to because I'm not white.”

The British-Bangladeshi chef, author and TV presenter, who won the Great British Bake Off in 2015 and was catapulted to fame, spent 10 years making cooking shows for the BBC, but the shows weren't recommissioned last year - a decision she says “shocked” her.

The mum-of-three notes that it's “really hard to pick a few” Muslim female chefs on TV.

“Because we don't have longevity. I can’t even find another Muslim woman to equate myself to, or stand shoulder-toshoulder with. It’s hard not to feel like a token, because it’s almost like we're allowed a certain amount of space, until that space no longer exists for us - when the box has been ticked.”

The TV chef and cookery author has released her 10th cookbook, Nadiya’s Quick Comforts - celebrating the food she makes so often at home, that’s fast to make and designed to be enjoyed slowly.