I must confess here that I’m one of those bah humbug types who is probably going to be visited by Jacob Marley in chains one of these day. Christmas to me is mega-fuss, greedy children (mine mainly), overwrought days of forced shopping, and too much of everything. Having said that, I’m inclined to do things like make my own pickles and sourdough bread, and love the idea of decorating a tree with home made decorations, together with my three generous singing children (same ones as above). Tradition and festivity, I love. Chaos, fuss and overspending, I don’t. Call me inconsistent. I won’t deny it. I get the feeling that Nigella Lawson is the same.
Though her latest book is big, beautiful, and expensive, it’s also one of those wonderful heirlooms that you could keep and refer to year after year. Like all of Nigella’s books, it’s as lovely to read as it is to work from. She is one of the most literary of all chefs (she once judged the Booker Prize), and it is certainly possible to just sit down and read this through as if it were a lighthearted, Christmassy novel. Each recipe is full of reminiscences, quirky and well written prose, and a kind of accessibility that makes you feel like she’s whispering in your ear:
After a pomegranate, the lychee feels the most seasonally celebratory of fruits, and it didn’t seem fair to leave it out of the Christmas canon, just because of its unfestive pallor. Plus, I stumbled across the most beautiful bottle, in the form of a French crème de lychee…that begged to bought [sic]. I couldn’t resist, and I love this lychee martini it was born to make. (5)
Article comments
1 - Bronx Briner Gal
Definitely try the turkey recipe. This wowed my guests last year and I'm probably going to cook it again this year.