Customer Reviews

Elizabeth David's Christmas

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I like Elizabeth David; she is not fussy, she is friendly and funny; most importantly, Ms. David is really trying to help me find an easier way to entertain during holidays, by offering recipes that I can make ahead of time, so I can spend more time with family, not in the kitchen. She even talks about how long specific food in her recipes can wait around before going bad. I actually read this book like a novel and I may have only skipped over one or two recipes; it is a fun read.

Ms. David ads in wonderful history of many recipes, either personal history or historical. My favorite description was a 1708 description on how to prepare a goose and it included the quote "Take the fairest and fattest goose you can get ... then tye him up in paper and hang him up in chimney where they burn woode or coale, let him hang a fortnight or three weekes in that time he will be readye to boyle ..." - how wonderful! Ms. David has also included a wonderful history on Plum Pudding (Plumm Pottage) from a book published 1751 "The Art of Cooking Made Plain and Easy, 4th Edition" as well as other historical information, the recipe and tips as well as a description from a diary, of a New Year's Day meal, given by a squire in 1707 - how cool is that?

I have tried several recipes and they were interesting and delicious - although they sounded a bit strange when I first read them such as Leeks with Red Wine (page 104), Rice and Cucumber Salad (page 118), Marinated Carrots (page 103).

The most interesting chapters to me are:

Cold Meats: how great! A chapter on cooking meat specifically to enjoy at room temperature!

Sauces, Pickles and Chutneys: Cumberland sauce, Sweet-Sour Cherry Sauce for Cold Tongue, Sweet Sour Pears, Pumpkin and Tomato chutney = to put on your cold meats and bread! And have around to make snacks more interesting.

Winter Salads: Celery and Beetroot Salad, Orange Salad, Fennel Salad = super!

This fall I will try the Apple and Almond cake on page 166, when I have so many apples I won't know what to do with them ...

In the back of the book, before the index, on page 198 is "Notes for American Cooks" where there are translations like Gammon is cured but uncooked ham and Pig's trotters are obviously pig's feet - the language is lovely!

Buy this book and enjoy reading it as a novel and then try eating some of her recipes; you will be satisfied!

Elizabeth David is the perfect combination of writer and chef. I can't decide if I want to be her, creating the quintessential British dinner in a manor house somewhere in the heart of England; standing beside her, while she teaches me to make it, too; sitting at her table, feasting on the spoils; or just curled up in an armchair, reading her lovely stories, which are conversational and delightfully described.

Must-have!

Elizabeth David is always worth a read. I do not read her so much to get a recipe or instructions but to get her take on things. Her recipes are almost always accompanied with some personal commentary on the food and its place in her life. The Christmas book is a posthumous collection of writings that may have ended up in a book like this, but in this version not particularly cohesive or complete. More of a box of miscellaneous things one might have collected over the years and found valuable. She is the amateur we all want to be.

Definitely a good read, and though it was edited posthumously, it still seems true to the author's voice. Christmas customs in England are a bit different than the customs we have here in the U.S., and times have changed since the 20th century; but if you are having parties large or small at your house during the holidays, then you will appreciate the planning advice and menu ideas presented in this book. She certainly knew how to use up a turkey without wasting a bit of it.

To really enjoy this book you have to be a fan of Elizabeth David to really appreciate it. It's not a book for everyone - it's not a recipe book perse. Enjoy!