Feast: Food That Celebrates Life [Import] [Paperback]

Nigella Lawson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Chatto and Windus; New Ed edition (September 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0701180331
• ISBN-13: 978-0701180331
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 1.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,763,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good answers for "oh geez, what am I going to feed them?", November 5, 2004

By 

Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Feast: Food to Celebrate Life (Hardcover)

Nigella Lawson seems to be the kind of cookbook author who causes people to respond to *her* more than her recipes. I suppose some of that is inevitable, as she has the sort of sultry girl-next-door looks that make us ordinary women contemplate a pact with the devil. But the book is, after all, about the recipes and menu guidance she provides. And I think she does a very good job at that, indeed.

This isn't simply a "holiday recipes" book; Lawson takes the "feast" theme to heart, and gives recipes for all sorts of occasions in which you're apt to be called to the kitchen. Sure, that includes Thanksgiving and Christmas (which she lumps together), as well as Valentine's day and Rosh Hashanah. But it also includes "a Georgian feast" (whose menu includes green beans in herbed yogurt, walnut crescents, and a chicken stuffed with basmati, garlic, and sour cherries), several feasts for making with/for children (the Halloween recipes include a "slime soup" -- actually a pea and cheese soup), and even a set of dishes to cook for funerals and grieving friends. Not to mention feasts for oneself, such as things to cook at midnight.

As you may have gathered, these recipes are organized by the nature of the event, which could get tedious if you wanted to look for all the soup recipes. But isn't that the point?

The recipes -- let's get to the meat of the matter, so to speak. While I don't think I'm going to change all my traditional dishes, I'm guaranteed to be inspired by some of her suggestions. I certainly am looking forward to using up my Thanksgiving turkey leftovers in her "North American Salad" (wild rice, dried cranberries, cooked turkey, cranberry sauce, pecans and parsley). The "easy holiday trifle" -- which uses dried apricots, cardamom, and a panettone -- is likely to be my contribution to the Christmas buffet. And I'm planning to make the "stilton rarebit with walnut and bibb lettuce salad" this weekend. Hmm, maybe I'll do it _now_.

I own a lot of cookbooks that seem to have only one or two good recipes. This one clearly doesn't suffer from that affliction.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Take note if you're making the chocolate orange cake, July 22, 2005

By 

Ingrid George (Midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Feast: Food to Celebrate Life (Hardcover)

There is a mistake in the body of the recipe that may lead you to believe the cake contains butter. Supposedly, it does not, and this was a mistake on the part of the American publisher. I want future purchasers to know this so you won't have to spend an agonizing afternoon like I just did, second-guessing a recipe (and guessing wrong that butter does belong in the cake) the day before I planned to serve this cake at a party. (It's gluten free, great for your celiac friends.)

Now that I've got THAT off my chest ... I love this book! It made Christmas dinner a hit (the Brussels sprout recipe is divine!), and it is beautiful to look at and a pleasure to read, as are all of Nigella's books. Just mark that butter thing on the chocolate orange cake, and you'll be fine.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Feast" is a "Feast," in every way., October 20, 2004

By 

Randall Koll (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Feast: Food to Celebrate Life (Hardcover)

I can say, without embarrassment, that it took Nigella Lawson to get me to cook. Through her words, wisdom, and her book "Forever Summer" - with it's abundance of lamb, mint, and lemon - Nigella not only introduced me to the ease of cooking, but also to the mystery of spices and spice mixtures such as Sumac and Zatar. And perhaps, more importantly, Nigella and "Forever Summer" provided me with a healthy portion of reliable recipes to cook, eat, and enjoy with friends. "Feast," is like part two of my culinary education.

"Feast" is full of recipes for good food, cookable food, the kind of food you want to eat. The kind of food you want on your table when you celebrate, entertain family and friends, or when it's just dinner for two or even one. True to Lawson's style, nothing is to fussy or labor intensive. Whatever labor you put in you get back ten-fold in the results.

While Lawson does occasionally borrow from her earlier books like "How To Eat" and "Nigella Bites," it's only to offer up a different version of the dish, and it's often even better. And, it's refreshing that when Nigella uses a recipe found in another cookbook, she gives credit to the chef and the book. Then of course she twists and tweaks the recipe: making it even better.

"Feast" is my fall 2004 cooking bible.