The secret ingredient for TV chef Nigella Lawson’s cookbooks was cocaine, a former aide testified in London Tuesday.
Former personal assistant Francesca Grillo, who is on trial along with her sister accused of ripping off Lawson and millionaire ex-hubby Charles Saatchi, said the Food Network star was usually high as a souffle when she cranked out her best-selling recipe books.
“Especially when she was writing a new book, or her last book, she said she needed to work through the night because she was so busy and I think she needed help to stay up all night,” Grillo testified.
“And then she had a runny nose for a long period which appeared to me quite strange because it was even in the summer.”
Grillo wasn’t asked to name any specific recipes Lawson might have penned while high.
The TV chef is responsible for odd, mind-bending concoctions such as chocolate and beetroot cake, Coca-Cola ham and butter scotch fruit fondue.
Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo are on trial for allegedly using a Saatchi credit card to shower themselves with expensive gifts at the expense of Lawson and her art-collector ex-husband.
The defendants claim Lawson — a judge on ABC’s “The Taste” — gave them permission to run amok with the plastic, in exchange for their silence about Nigella’s drug use.
Francesa Grillo testified that one of Lawson’s kids once found what appeared to be a bag of cocaine hidden in a hollow book at the chef’s home.
“She [the child] said ‘Look what I found in [the] book!’ ’ ” Grillo said.
“It was a small plastic bag with white powder. I made up something.”
The stunning discovery, though, according to Grillo, wasn’t enough to prompt a confrontation with Lawson.
“I didn’t speak to Nigella,” she said. “I didn’t think it was my place. I felt close to her but I didn’t think it was a nice subject.”
The UK’s domestic diva had to testify two weeks ago and admit she’s dabbled in cocaine and pot. But she denied being an out-of-control addict who needed to buy her assistants’ silence.
Grillo claims she witnessed evidence of Nigella’s cocaine use from 1999 to this past June.
The cocaine use got so bad and frequent, Lawson allegedly wouldn’t bother to even clear the blow from her face after a snorting session, according to Grillo.
“At the beginning of 2012 there were a few upsets where she came down and she had white powder inside her nostril,” Grillo testified.
“Once, I said to her, ‘Nigella, you have something on your nose,’ but she just brushed it off and said it was make-up.”
She added: “It was too white for make-up.”
Grillo testified that she often discovered rolled-up bills — with white residue on them — in Lawson’s handbags, a guest room and kitchen.
“Every time I went through her handbag there was some notes,” Grillo said. “It was very frequent.”
The former assistant said she was often asked by Lawson to go through her personal effects to looking for misplaced items,
“‘You’re good at finding things,’ ” Lawson would say, according to the witness.
Lawson frequently misplaced “keys, her phone, her mustard,” Grillo testified.
“She likes to carry a tube of English mustard,” the witness said. “I know it sounds weird but that’s what it is.”