It has been 20 years since the chef charmed the public with her kitchen skills, but she never expected her book How to Eat to be such a hit.
She wrote the book, she said, as a tribute to her mother Vanessa Salmon and sister Thomasina whom she nurtured through battles with cancer.
"I really wrote it for myself, to remember them, to pour out all of the grief, I think," she said.
"I could never, ever have imagined the response, and to be honest I don't think I could've written it if I'd imagined what the response would be. It would've been utterly paralysing.
"I wrote this as someone who cooks at home for other home cooks. I don't have any particular skills and I don't like anyone to read it thinking I do. I don't want people to expect too much because I'm not an expert, and I don't know the technicalities of cooking. I just deal with the flavour, which is why it worked I think."
Ms Lawson, who is used to the trappings of fame, said she was still very protective of her own children and their privacy.
"They don't want attention, it's not their thing and they didn't choose this life," she explained.
"In many ways I don't feel like I chose it either, but I guess that's what happens if you go on TV."
She also reflected on her life growing up as the daughter of Nigel Lawson, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer.
"I was 14 when my father went into politics and I don't have the same political opinions as my father.
"When I was younger, people with all different views of the world mixed and got along and respected and enjoyed one another's company. Now we don't seem to do that. I'm afraid we live in a world now where differences of opinion aren't tolerated, which is a great shame.”
