The much-heralded announcement of Nigella Lawson as the newest judge on The Great British Bake Off has sent me happily down the path of discovering the the chef's bestselling cookbooks. I'm enjoying something of a Nigella renaissance, you could say.
My first port of call was her book Simply Nigella: Feel Good Food, released in 2015, in which I discovered her signature matcha latte recipe, which was a huge hit alongside her adoption of avocado toast.
Yep, turns out whilst smashed avo and matcha might be all the rage now, Nigella was already adopting this low-caffeine alternative over one of the best coffee machines over a decade ago with the help of one of her all-time kitchen essentials: a handheld milk frother.
And luckily, Nigella even named the specific one she swears by in Feel Good Food and it's the unbelievably affordable Areolatte handheld frother, coming in at just £10 via John Lewis. Here's why she's sworn by it for years.
This steam-free frother is 'designed to maximise air distribution for extremely frothy milk' and is well loved on John Lewis and on Amazon.
At the beginning of said recipe Nigella confesses that she first thought matcha, and matcha lattes, were a 'ridiculous fad'. But in the recipe to the drink, which she says is so filling that its like a full meal, she details how she was converted to the green tea powder thanks to its antioxidant rich properties.
She also details how it is the 'perfect tea for a non-coffee drinker who wants something with froth and get-up-and-go'. And she achieves the former with her small, handheld and extremely portable milk frother.
Nigella actually uses her Aerolatte frother twice in the recipe to whip up her matcha latte. First she combines her matcha powder with hot water in order to make a paste by using the frother in a mug. She then uses the frother on hot milk and combines the two.
And her finishing flourish is a 'pack of stencils' (like these from Amazon for £3.99) one of which she pops on top and applies matcha powder over, like you would with chocolate powder over a mocha.
Nigella's matcha method is stunningly simple, but there are a lot of matcha fans here at Ideal Home, most prominently our Digital Editor Rebecca Knight, who has taken extra steps in their green tea journey. Rebecca even tried out a new world-first dedicated matcha maker as per her Matcha Latte Magic Whisk review.
In a fashion strikingly similar to Hotel Chocolat's Velvetiser, the Magic Whisk can eliminate lumps and froth your matcha to perfection, made easier with the help of Dualit in terms of engineering. It's a lot pricier than Nigella's handheld frother at £99 via Bird and Blend, but it does come with a host of exclusively five-star reviews.
Our Digital Editor was completely won over by this all-in-one matcha maker after trying it.
If you prefer a more traditional approach to matcha then this whisk set is the perfect investment to make.
If you're more of a Blank Street matcha lover then this flavoured selection box from Bird and Blend will go down a treat. I gifted one to my friend recently and she loved it.
Have you tried matcha before? Will Nigella's affordable milk frother persuade you to give it a go?
