Customer Reviews

How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food

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I have a special shelf for cookbooks in my living room...right next to the kitchen, as should be. For some reason, "How to eat" by Nigella Lawson, has been lying around the floor in my bedroom, or on the sofa in the living room, or wherever else apart from the kitchen, for the last couple of years since I bought it. What I'm trying to say is that this book is not just a simple cookbook, but more a description of the pleasure of good eating, & of preparing good food for yourself & for people you love.

On the other hand, the actual recipes (at least the ones I've tried so far, which are quite a few) seem to work, even from the first time you try them. I mention this because I've heard & read all sorts of comments about whether N.Lawson's recipes work or not. Maybe this is because Nigella Lawson has become a celebrity in England--imagine: she writes well, cooks well, & to top all that, she's beautiful too! How can you beat that? This is why 2 camps seem to have emerged--a "pro-Nigella" camp & an "anti-Nigella" camp!! This is all ridiculous, of course. The point is that Nigella Lawson has written, at least in my opinion, one of the best cookbooks of recent years. Down to earth, with good & long-winded explanations, written in a direct, friendly style, with such love for good food that even reading the book makes you want to rush to the kitchen & start creating a feast. "How to eat" is about comfort-eating at its best, & for me at least, it serves as comfort-reading too...

I bought this book in the spring of 2000 and I have literally never put it down. Its spine is broken, its pages are dirty, and it is falling apart. It can take a lot love, strain, abuse and argument.

That said, when was the last time you had a really great teacher? This is probably the best and the most important cookbook that has been published in the last decade (the last big one, for me, was Sheila Lukins and Julie Rosso's New Basics). Nigella inspired me. Obviously, she knows how to make and serve superb food. But she can also write, in a voice that is straightforward, simple, and direct; and she makes you want to cook.

Her credo is directed toward those of us who eat well and also struggle in the kitchen at home: we are a generation of cooks who have been cowed in the kitched by "too much cheffiness," the endemic fussiness of restaurant food; and the subsequent intimidation we experience from professional chefs and food celebrities (clearly she wrote this before she became a superstar). Instead of trying to replicate restaurant food, she argues, we should consider the distinction between how we eat at home and how we eat when we go out. This book directs itself toward how we eat at home. And her answer is simple: make what you want to make, in the time that you're allowed to do it. Therefore, this book is organized by time and convenience, rather than by region or category. You get whole (albeit limited) menus, rather than exhaustive descriptions of one regional category or another.

I have probably cooked every recipe in this book and (like one of the previous reviewers) I have some of Nigella's recipes permanently under my belt--alas, in more ways than one. The parsley salad with red onion, capers, and lemon juice is a permanent fixture in my life now; so is her red wine onion gravy (for sausages and mash, even though I disobiently use chicken or turkey instead of pork). I make that @!%$ recipe for chickpea and pasta soup more than I can bear to admit, even to myself, because it's inexpensive and it works. Nigella even instigated enough courage in my soul to actually purchase and cook oxtails, and she was right: they are less trouble than you would expect, delicious (and cheap). I also completely understand her obsession with rhubarb . . . and linguine with clams . . . and ham cooked in cider . . . and creme caramel made with coconut creme instead of milk . . . and the pleasure of laying out nice things you bought at the store when you can't deal with imprisoning yourself in the kitchen.

In the meantime, you have her stories to keep you company--her family's celebrations and tragedies, the tribulations of raising small children, and the most beautiful drag queen in all of Florence.

What more could you ask? This book acts as a guide to the hidden culinary adventures possible in your own home. Familiar energizing ideas suddenly offer up new ones, and old neglected ones naggingly call your name until you get off your ass, go out and try something new

Four years later, I am not by any means finished with this book. It waits, open, spattered and torn, by the other cookbooks that I love to flip through but rarely use. It now forms part of the fabric of my life. Forget the hot shots and the style network . . . she an oracle of our modern age, where everything is available but we have no idea what to do with it.

Okay. So I had heard of Nigella Lawson and had been meaning to buy a cookbook or two of hers, especially Domestic Goddess. I finally got around to it, and decided to get this one as well, because I thought, frankly , that the price was right (it's cheaper on UK site, if you don't mind making the conversions from grams to ounces - not brain surgery)and it might have a couple of good recipes.
Well, I was surprised at how much I really love this cookbook. It is like a cooking bible. I have over 100 cookbooks, so I do not say this in jest. I love the way that the book is organized and sectioned off, from dishes for solo or duo diners, to dishes that are lowfat and food that can be cooked with children. It is really cleverly designed. The recipes range from elaborate dishes, to the roast asparagus that I prepared the day that I got the book. She writes in a very chatty style which is like having a mom or sister or friend in the kitchen with you, sharing her secrets. This cookbook is awesome. You have to get it!!!

I bought this book for its low-fat section (or "Temple Food", as the author calls it) and its warm, conversational tone. I've ended up cooking from all parts of it, whether I'm whipping together something after work for myself or a posh "impressing my friends" meal for six on a Saturday night. Although I've been a life-long fan of 'good food', this is the best book I've used for taking 'real life' - whether it's kids, work, diet or special occasions - into consideration. It's like cooking with a friend in the kitchen, and for a Londoner like me (where kitchens are too small to accomodate more than one person) that's a fine recommendation!

In direct contrast to books that make you feel like there's only one way to cook, this one puts you at ease with the concept of cooking, and converses you through the recipes. The tone is warm and accessible, as the author assumes the results of your efforts will be enjoyed in the company of friends, loved ones, small children and good conversation.

I'm already very comfortable in the kitchen and with improvisational recipes, but the book is so engaging and well-written, with just enough of a hip, British tone, that it makes the simple seem adventurous and the adventurous seem simple. It made me want to try every recipe.

With great sections on basics (like stock, roast chicken, sweet pastry dough, vinaigrette, etc.), making ahead and feeding kids, the book has tons of recipes and organizational "tips" that help seamlessly integrate the life-affirming and theraputic act of cooking good food with the essential role of mealtime as part of a good life well-lived.

I first came across Nigella through the Style Network's airing of "Nigella Bites." I became an immediate fan. It's rare to find such an entertaining, witty, likeable and beautiful woman on TV. My favorite bit is that the show ends by Nigella raiding the 'fridge. Reading her book is a bit like watching her show--like having a very cool friend come over and teach you how to whip up some good food. Nigella talks about how she encourages her kids to eat healthful, her diet, and her food philosophy--which seems to be a combination of quality (organic) mixed with pleasure. Her recipes are easy to make, and the results are wonderful. I've yet to come across a bad one. Nigella just may surpass Martha some day--as she's refreshingly real.

This book is what I consider the "Nigella Basics Training" - lots of recipes included here are basics, staples and/or 'mainstays' of cooking.

For those who only enjoy cookbooks that have lots of pictures, this book is not for you. I can go either way - the pictures are fun, but it's kind of like pictures of food at McDonalds - the 'real' end product often looks nothing like it, but tastes fine either way.

That said, this book is filled with valuable recipes and bundles them together into full meals. If you're looking for a single recipe, the index has them all, but I really like that she makes recommendations for dishes that go well together and have gone over well in her own cooking experience.

You'll likely find yourself reading the book leisurely, which is exactly the intent - take your time, enjoy the process, and have a great time in the kitchen!

(If you must have pix - "Nigella Bites" and "How to Be a Domestic Goddess" have plenty!)

I bought this several years ago - before the current Nigella "it girl" phase (which I find more than vaguely annoying), and this cookbook gets far more use than anything else I own. This remains true despite the fact that I a) don't eat a lot of red meat and b) don't go in for rich desserts - both of which abound in her books. However, her writing is so compelling, and her recipes are so clear and inevitably successful that cooking one of her recipes is more like a warm chat with an old friend than effortful kitchen work. The measurements are for the most part forgiving, her style relaxed, and the focus of the book truly is on "how to eat" - not "how to make high-style restaurant food".

Winners: spiced prunes with barbados cream; Anna's chickpea and pasta soup; beef braised in beer; cod with parma ham over lentils; pasta carbonara; cinnamon-hot rack of lamb... All of these I make on a regular basis, and they always turn out amazingly well.

Plus, it's a great read. What more could you want!

An excellent cookbook - but to use the word "cookbook" to describe it is almost an injustice because it is so much more. This is an exploration of food and the pleasures of both preparing food and eating it. This is more a novel with intricate plot twists than a boring cookbook with stodgy lists of recipes and ingredients. Indeed, the best thing about this book is the way you can pick it up and just read it - just like your favorite novel. The author is cheeky and delightful and my favorite part is her treatise on low fat cooking - how it is (at least for many people, me included) a reflection of vanity. The recipes are simple to follow and the writing that accompanies the recipes inspires confidence and joy as well as the compelling urge to prepare what she is writing about right then and there, no matter what time it is. The desserts are killer - the sticky chocolate pudding cake is easy to prepare and the results are fantastic - both gooey and rich and I am ashamed to say that I ate enough of it for at least three people. But in all honesty, I think that the author would approve of my gluttony. I tried the golden vegetable root stew and although apprehensive when first preparing it, I served it to my friends and it was a hit, it tasted exotic and complex. However, I was perplexed as to why she added zucchini to the recipe since the zucchini had turned to an urecognizable sickly yellow mush by the time the other vegetables were tender. But it did give the stew a nice (although unintended) thickness. The chocolate raspberry cake was also quite good although not nearly sweet enough for my tastes (but then again, I love cavity-inducing sweetness). An excellent book and I recommend it for anyone who loves to eat and also for people who don't because you will learn to love to eat once you are done reading it.

Nigella Lawson is a British food writer, raconteur, and gourmet who writes and comments on food with an unrivaled wit and wisdom. In How To Eat: The Pleasures And Principles Of Good Food we are treated to a compendium of delicious recipes that would please any palate and satisfy any appetite. From LiAnna's Chickpea and Pasta Soup, Baked Spiced Aromatic Plums, and Risotto-Inspired Rice Pudding, to Bakewell Tart with Fresh Raspberries, Grilled Pepper Salad, and Vegetable Curry in Vegetable Sauce, these are novel and delectable dining ideas laid out step-by-step from carefully layed out from ingredient list to final preparation.