Maggie Darling's cookery blog turns up heat on Nigella Lawson

AS THE daughter of a former Chancellor, Nigella Lawson declared herself a domestic Goddess. Now the wife of a another former Chancellor has become her latest culinary challenger.

• Maggie Darling with husband Alistair at Downing Street. Photograph: Getty

A new food blog that is a testament to cookery skills honed in a Downing Street kitchen could force Lawson to move over for Maggie Darling, wife of Alistair, in the domestic goddess stakes.

The blog, 'Maggie's Kitchen Menus', showcases the sort of food that was served up in the No 11 kitchen when the Darlings were in residence and the then Chancellor's wife earned a reputation as the most hospitable hostess in Downing Street.

Styled as "Scottish home cooked food with menus for family and friends", the blog also gives an entertaining glimpse of the domestic life of a political wife, who jealously guarded her own privacy while her husband was in charge of the nation's finances.

Her musings may be a little under-done when compared with the full-bodied assault on the tastebuds associated with Lawson's television series and books, but her blog has a whimsical charm of its own that reflects Darling's love of food and throwing dinner parties.

It was her love of entertaining that made Darling the self-appointed Downing Street social secretary when Labour was in power. Invitations to her well-lubricated parties in No 11 were much sought after by politicians and journalists and they were also appreciated by those on London's charity scene.

Another popular move was Darling's insistence on reinstating the No 11 Christmas party for the children of Westminster. Her tribute to Scottish cuisine opens with the famous quotation "Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you what you are" - a phrase first coined by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, the French politician and gastronome.

On that basis, perhaps Maggie's Kitchen Menus offers an insight into the character of a wife and mother, whose low media profile is in contrast to the fame enjoyed by Lawson, the daughter of the Tory grandee Nigel Lawson.

The Darling family's love of the Outer Hebrides, where they holiday, is reflected in her discussions of crab and lobster as well as her favourite black pudding.

"It has to be the Stornoway stuff," she says. "No other kind is so mealy or lacks the globules of something hideous that you find in others."

A quiet sense of humour is evident in her recipe for teriyaki salmon, which has been posted under the heading ‘Salmon Enchanted Evening' - her fondness for puns perhaps being a legacy from her days as a newspaper journalist on some well-known Scottish titles.

Her two children, Anna and Calum, may be grown up now, but she retains an enthusiasm for children's literature, adorning the blog with the refrain "Come along inside… we'll see if tea and buns can make the world a better place" from Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows.

At the same time it is the "wise words" of AA Milne's Winnie the Pooh that she feels best sum up her feelings about food. As Pooh said: "It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like ‘What about lunch?'"

Her recipes for spicy lamb, roast beef, kedgeree and porchetta are accompanied by an appetite for nostalgia as she laments the passing of a "lost ritual" - the Scottish high tea.

Her reminiscing also includes schoolgirl memories of "Mackies the Bakers" and its formidable manager, Miss Thomson - "her girth testament to the legendary Scots sweet tooth" bestriding "a back shop packed to the gunwhales with wooden trays of dainties - macaroons and strawberry tarts, big blowsy meringues and chocolate eclairs, snowballs and my own favourite, iced fly cemeteries."

Her epicurean journey is washed down with plenty of fine wines and cocktails, although there was uncharacteristic alcoholic restraint at a recent brunch she organised before the Edinburgh International Festival fireworks display.

"The mojitos and margaritas were junked in favour of breakfast," Darling reports. "And the men could come too, we agreed, if only to stack the dishwasher."

It is a blog that shows a different side of the Darling family from the one associated with a serious-minded Chancellor grappling with the economic crisis.

And there is little indication of the steely nature that saw her mount a famously foul-mouthed attack on Gordon Brown's allies when she felt they were briefing against her husband.

"Socially, she's a very pleasant person and more outgoing than him," said one dinner guest, who has enjoyed the Darlings' hospitality.

"The food was absolutely delicious. It was an absolutely gorgeous casserole. As you might expect, she's very keen on getting the wine out. She's great fun."

Maggie Darling's blog can be found at http://maggieskitchen menus.blogspot.com/