The queen of decadent, indulgent food, one of Nigella Lawson's defining characteristics is the way she audibly expresses delight in what she eats.

So when Mix host Mel Homer asked Lawson what she thought of Doritos' latest plan to launch a "quiet" corn chip because "women don't like to crunch too loudly in public", the celebrity cook was, not surprisingly, most unimpressed.

"Oh, please don't get me started," she told Homer.

"I don't know who's in charge of their marketing or their strategy but it is risible. I mean, it's mad."

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While it's not an area of food she said she usually has much to do with, she was clearly incredulous to the idea: "It's like being tone deaf actually to do that now, isn't it?" she asked Homer, who likened the stunt to stationary brand Bic's "lady pens", "for our little, tiny lady hands to write with."

Lawson is currently in New Zealand for An Evening with Nigella Lawson in Auckland tonight and Christchurch tomorrow night.