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Elizabeth David's Christmas
“A glorious way to celebrate Christmas.”― New York Times
Throughout her distinguished career, Elizabeth David wrote and collected many articles about Christmas food. She put together a file of these articles, recipes, and notes, and even wrote an introduction, intending to publish them as a book. It never appeared, and after her death in 1992, her literary executor Jill Norman found the box with all this material. She put the pieces together as Elizabeth intended, and we now have her “Christmas” edited for the American reader, ready to guide us through this daunting festive season with good food and high spirits―and our humor intact.
Beautifully written, this edition contains around 150 recipes together with other writings that over the years Ms. David found interesting and helpful. Feeding friends and family for Christmas can be stressful, and this book is intended to help busy cooks plan ahead and enjoy Christmas as much as their guests. The classics are all turkey (of course), but also goose; stuffings; sauces; mince pies; and Christmas puddings. For the armchair cook, the text also provides information as well as here are the actual traditions of Christmases past, as well as descriptions of the yuletide in other countries. In other words, a feast for mind, chef, and table.
Throughout her distinguished career, Elizabeth David wrote and collected many articles about Christmas food. She put together a file of these articles, recipes, and notes, and even wrote an introduction, intending to publish them as a book. It never appeared, and after her death in 1992, her literary executor Jill Norman found the box with all this material. She put the pieces together as Elizabeth intended, and we now have her “Christmas” edited for the American reader, ready to guide us through this daunting festive season with good food and high spirits―and our humor intact.
Beautifully written, this edition contains around 150 recipes together with other writings that over the years Ms. David found interesting and helpful. Feeding friends and family for Christmas can be stressful, and this book is intended to help busy cooks plan ahead and enjoy Christmas as much as their guests. The classics are all turkey (of course), but also goose; stuffings; sauces; mince pies; and Christmas puddings. For the armchair cook, the text also provides information as well as here are the actual traditions of Christmases past, as well as descriptions of the yuletide in other countries. In other words, a feast for mind, chef, and table.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
5 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth David
109 books102 followersBorn Elizabeth Gwynne, she was of mixed English and Irish ancestry, and came from a rather grand background, growing up in the 17th-century Sussex manor house, Wootton Manor. Her parents were Rupert Gwynne, Conservative MP for Eastbourne, and the Hon. Stella Ridley, who came from a distinguished Northumberland family. They had three other daughters.
She studied Literature and History at the Sorbonne, living with a French family for two years, which led to her love of France and of food. At the age of 19, she was given her first cookery book, The Gentle Art of Cookery by Hilda Leyel, who wrote of her love with the food of the East. "If I had been given a standard Mrs Beeton instead of Mrs Leyel's wonderful recipes," she said, "I would probably never have learned to cook."
Gwynne had an adventurous early life, leaving home to become an actress. She left England in 1939, when she was twenty-five, and bought a boat with her married lover Charles Gibson-Cowan intending to travel around the Mediterranean. The onset of World War II interrupted this plan, and they had to flee the German occupation of France. They left Antibes for Corsica and then on to Italy where the boat was impounded; they arrived on the day Italy declared war on Britain. Eventually deported to Greece, living on the Greek island of Syros for a period, Gwynne learnt about Greek food and spent time with high bohemians such as the writer Lawrence Durrell. When the Germans invaded Greece they fled to Crete where they were rescued by the British and evacuated to Egypt, where she lived firstly in Alexandria and later in Cairo. There Gwynne started work for the Ministry of Information, split from Gibson-Cowan, and eventually took on a marriage of convenience, more or less as her aunt, Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, had done. This gave her a measure of respectability but Lieutenant-Colonel Tony David was a man whom she did not ultimately respect, and their relationship ended soon after an eight month posting in India. She had many lovers in ensuing years.
On her return to London in 1946, David began to write articles on cooking, and in 1949 the publisher John Lehmann offered her a £100 advance for Book of Mediterranean Food, the start of a dazzling writing career. David spent eight months researching Italian food in Venice, Tuscany and Capri. This resulted in Italian Food in 1954, with illustrations by Renato Guttuso, which was famously described by Evelyn Waugh in The Sunday Times as one of the two books which had given him the most pleasure that year.
Many of the ingredients were unknown in England when the books were first published, as shortages and rationing continued for many years after the end of the war, and David had to suggest looking for olive oil in pharmacies where it was sold for treating earache. Within a decade, ingredients such as aubergines, saffron and pasta began to appear in shops, thanks in no small part to David's books. David gained fame, respect and high status and advised many chefs and companies. In November 1965, she opened her own shop devoted to cookery in Pimlico, London. She wrote articles for Vogue magazine, one of the first in the genre of food-travel.
In 1963, when she was 49, she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, possibly related to her heavy drinking. Although she recovered, it affected her sense of taste and her libido.
She studied Literature and History at the Sorbonne, living with a French family for two years, which led to her love of France and of food. At the age of 19, she was given her first cookery book, The Gentle Art of Cookery by Hilda Leyel, who wrote of her love with the food of the East. "If I had been given a standard Mrs Beeton instead of Mrs Leyel's wonderful recipes," she said, "I would probably never have learned to cook."
Gwynne had an adventurous early life, leaving home to become an actress. She left England in 1939, when she was twenty-five, and bought a boat with her married lover Charles Gibson-Cowan intending to travel around the Mediterranean. The onset of World War II interrupted this plan, and they had to flee the German occupation of France. They left Antibes for Corsica and then on to Italy where the boat was impounded; they arrived on the day Italy declared war on Britain. Eventually deported to Greece, living on the Greek island of Syros for a period, Gwynne learnt about Greek food and spent time with high bohemians such as the writer Lawrence Durrell. When the Germans invaded Greece they fled to Crete where they were rescued by the British and evacuated to Egypt, where she lived firstly in Alexandria and later in Cairo. There Gwynne started work for the Ministry of Information, split from Gibson-Cowan, and eventually took on a marriage of convenience, more or less as her aunt, Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, had done. This gave her a measure of respectability but Lieutenant-Colonel Tony David was a man whom she did not ultimately respect, and their relationship ended soon after an eight month posting in India. She had many lovers in ensuing years.
On her return to London in 1946, David began to write articles on cooking, and in 1949 the publisher John Lehmann offered her a £100 advance for Book of Mediterranean Food, the start of a dazzling writing career. David spent eight months researching Italian food in Venice, Tuscany and Capri. This resulted in Italian Food in 1954, with illustrations by Renato Guttuso, which was famously described by Evelyn Waugh in The Sunday Times as one of the two books which had given him the most pleasure that year.
Many of the ingredients were unknown in England when the books were first published, as shortages and rationing continued for many years after the end of the war, and David had to suggest looking for olive oil in pharmacies where it was sold for treating earache. Within a decade, ingredients such as aubergines, saffron and pasta began to appear in shops, thanks in no small part to David's books. David gained fame, respect and high status and advised many chefs and companies. In November 1965, she opened her own shop devoted to cookery in Pimlico, London. She wrote articles for Vogue magazine, one of the first in the genre of food-travel.
In 1963, when she was 49, she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, possibly related to her heavy drinking. Although she recovered, it affected her sense of taste and her libido.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 10, 2020
2020 bk 402: Immerse yourself in the world of the British Christmas with this volume. Christmas was not yet complete at the time of her death. This volume was so lovingly completed by her editor that it is hard to tell where David's work ends and Norman's picks up. A course on the types of foods, people's tastes, regional differences runs throughout this book that provides recipes for everything from the traditional pudding (which David quit cooking in her own kitchen) to salted goose. Brussel sprouts, pumpkin gratin, stuffed tomatoes, Jerusalem artichokes are among the varied vegetables offered up. David promotes the idea of "Don't kill the cook with overwork." She utilizes convenience, preparation and cooking ahead of the day and instead of relying on leftovers, prepare meals for Boxing Day and post Christmas ahead of time - those things that can keep. Well written, a peep into the lives of post-WWII British housewives whose family might be nostalgic for a world that was never quite as good as Dickens wrote it.
December 9, 2019
I saw this in the Christmas display at my public library and checked it out immediately. She's among my favorite food writers from the past. I'll read anything she wrote! She doesn't merely write of meals and the foods served/how to prepare the foods. She includes countless cultural references. In this book, for instance: there's the description of Christmas in a Norfolk village and a chapter on Christmas vegetables, with recipes. In the latter she includes a selection from a 1760 book (Mrs. Alice Smith's Art of Cookery).
Reading through this gem puts me in the spirit of an old-time Christmas with family and friends, recalling all the pecans picked up and shelled for the fruitcakes and pies, following mother into the woods to cut down a tree for our living room, the ambrosia Mother made and served in her best glass bowl...
Looking at the book one finds lovely green end papers, an excellent General Index as well as an Index of Recipe Titles.
Reading through this gem puts me in the spirit of an old-time Christmas with family and friends, recalling all the pecans picked up and shelled for the fruitcakes and pies, following mother into the woods to cut down a tree for our living room, the ambrosia Mother made and served in her best glass bowl...
Looking at the book one finds lovely green end papers, an excellent General Index as well as an Index of Recipe Titles.
December 15, 2014
This book comes into my life (out from the library looking for Christmas ideas) at the exact same time as, after a hot week of over 40 degree days, a rotten egg in the basket on my kitchen cookbook shelf exploded all over my treasured Elizabeth David book, English Bread and Yeast Cookery.
Not sure if I can save it. Smells so bad...
Keeping that in mind, please be aware that there may be more emotion in my five star rating due to the fact that I am currently in mourning. Possible the book is only four stars.
I love anything done by Elizabeth David. She is an old fashioned cook for the cook of today and yesterday. An English icon, a Mrs Beeton of the later 20th century. If you get the chance to check out any of her cookbooks, I recommend them.
Not sure if I can save it. Smells so bad...
Keeping that in mind, please be aware that there may be more emotion in my five star rating due to the fact that I am currently in mourning. Possible the book is only four stars.
I love anything done by Elizabeth David. She is an old fashioned cook for the cook of today and yesterday. An English icon, a Mrs Beeton of the later 20th century. If you get the chance to check out any of her cookbooks, I recommend them.
December 10, 2020
A bit too much about meat for my liking but that’s not her fault.
December 27, 2020
This was a lovely quick read over this Christmas. Apparently David had been working on putting together a Christmas book, but her editor was surprised to find that David had a full folder of material ready for the book after David had died. This book is the result of the editor putting together all the recipes that people had requested over the years, mingled with musings on the shortfalls of particular recipes and historical information about traditional British dishes.
I love conversational cookbooks and this book was so full of personality and specific to a time and place; it felt like time-traveling to sit with Elizabeth David as she bemoaned the trouble of making Christmas pudding for too many people. It’s British TO THE CORE - many of David’s Christmas food memories and traditions were unfamiliar to me, which resulted in the comforting but exciting feeling of exploring someone else’s special nostalgia.
It’s also full of David’s opinions, and we get a strong sense of her priorities as a cook and as a person. Anything that’s too much trouble is not worth doing, especially when feeding a house full of guests or passers-by. Her refreshing take on the holidays is just wanting the luxury of solitude, eating smoked salmon and freshly baked bread with a crisp glass of white wine.
Recommended to anyone who loves food writing.
I love conversational cookbooks and this book was so full of personality and specific to a time and place; it felt like time-traveling to sit with Elizabeth David as she bemoaned the trouble of making Christmas pudding for too many people. It’s British TO THE CORE - many of David’s Christmas food memories and traditions were unfamiliar to me, which resulted in the comforting but exciting feeling of exploring someone else’s special nostalgia.
It’s also full of David’s opinions, and we get a strong sense of her priorities as a cook and as a person. Anything that’s too much trouble is not worth doing, especially when feeding a house full of guests or passers-by. Her refreshing take on the holidays is just wanting the luxury of solitude, eating smoked salmon and freshly baked bread with a crisp glass of white wine.
Recommended to anyone who loves food writing.
January 13, 2018
In the midst of Christmas excess, Elizabeth David's call for less really strikes home. She asks us to shed the need for kitchen servitude and and enjoy the simpler pleasures of the winter season.
If you senses are jaded by turkey and mince pies, you will appreciate the simplicity of cold meats, a glass of wine and seasonal fruit savoured and enjoyed together or alone.
If you senses are jaded by turkey and mince pies, you will appreciate the simplicity of cold meats, a glass of wine and seasonal fruit savoured and enjoyed together or alone.
October 26, 2012
I got this for myself for Christmas. It is fascinating, I will probably read it every Christmas.
September 25, 2017
You don't necessarily read David's books for the recipes, but rather her glorious writing about food, and her own memories tied to food; in this case the holiday of Christmas. I copied a few of the recipes with sauces, and the chapter on "frumety," (a grained gruel,) but for the most part I wouldn't be preparing jellied ox tongue or game birds or spiced quince, bread sauce (even she hates this one,) lengthy descriptions on how to make plum pudding (which she also doesn't like,) and many things you would probably find on an old-fashioned British table. She used several historical or fiction writer quotes about Christmas, and I saved those, as well. Something fun to post on Facebook in a few months.
December 16, 2019
Eh, boring.
March 20, 2017
It's always a pleasure to read Elizabeth David, although reading this book while dining alone at a Cracker Barrel was a sad moment. I've dogeared many a recipe and hope to remember her wonderful approach to a quiet Christmas: champagne, good bread, and smoked salmon.
September 5, 2015
The description says it all really.
It's not written in the same way as her earlier books as it was compiled after her death.
It's a lovely read, and as always, highly usable.
I can't say I've ever seen this in a bookshop. My copy is a large print edition withdrawn from my library.
If there is a problem with it is that it was compiled from a collection gathered over perhaps two decades. That and the fact she came from a fairly well off background. The combination means that some of what she writes about would perhaps not suit modern tastes, or perhaps finances.
My parents-in-law were ' comfortably off ' ,middle class, and the Christmas board for the immediate family of around ten would reflect much of that which is depicted in ED's book.
My wife's uncle lived in Bray and they would Xmas dinner at the Waterside and on Boxing Day the Waterside would deliver canapés and finger sandwiches for a revolving open house of around thirty, vintage champagne in crates from Harrods.
But the norm for my family, and friends families with reasonable incomes, wouldn't normally stretch to turkey, goose, whole hams, cold joints of beef, cold sides of salmon etc. just for the Christmas period. Two or three maybe.
So as I said, it's a lovely read, but it's a bit Pickwick Papers, unlike most of her other books which offered recipes affordable by all.
It's not written in the same way as her earlier books as it was compiled after her death.
It's a lovely read, and as always, highly usable.
I can't say I've ever seen this in a bookshop. My copy is a large print edition withdrawn from my library.
If there is a problem with it is that it was compiled from a collection gathered over perhaps two decades. That and the fact she came from a fairly well off background. The combination means that some of what she writes about would perhaps not suit modern tastes, or perhaps finances.
My parents-in-law were ' comfortably off ' ,middle class, and the Christmas board for the immediate family of around ten would reflect much of that which is depicted in ED's book.
My wife's uncle lived in Bray and they would Xmas dinner at the Waterside and on Boxing Day the Waterside would deliver canapés and finger sandwiches for a revolving open house of around thirty, vintage champagne in crates from Harrods.
But the norm for my family, and friends families with reasonable incomes, wouldn't normally stretch to turkey, goose, whole hams, cold joints of beef, cold sides of salmon etc. just for the Christmas period. Two or three maybe.
So as I said, it's a lovely read, but it's a bit Pickwick Papers, unlike most of her other books which offered recipes affordable by all.
December 24, 2008
"If we were to bushwack our way back to the true source of modern American food culture, we would find that it is not Julia Child, but Elizabeth David. (Her) recipes are all charm. . . ."
– The New Yorker
"Elizabeth David's Christmas is based on a box of essays, recipes, and writings David collected over the years for a Christmas book she never found time to compile. In 2003, her editor and literary executor, Jill Norman, first published this project in Great Britain to wide acclaim. David was a contributor to numerous publications in England and the United States from 1949 to '64 and is credited by culinary heavyweights like Julia Child and Alice Waters with being one of the few bright lights in those dark ages of cooking. She writes with charming feistiness. Her kitchen skills and general food understanding is readily apparent on every page. In a section devoted to traditional Christmas dishes, she scoffs at the idea of closely following 200-year-old recipes because methods and equipment have changed so dramatically. Later, she quotes Phileas Gilbert, one of Escoffier's collaborators: "Cookery is as old as the world, but it must also remain, always, as modern as fashion.""
– Foreword Magazine
– The New Yorker
"Elizabeth David's Christmas is based on a box of essays, recipes, and writings David collected over the years for a Christmas book she never found time to compile. In 2003, her editor and literary executor, Jill Norman, first published this project in Great Britain to wide acclaim. David was a contributor to numerous publications in England and the United States from 1949 to '64 and is credited by culinary heavyweights like Julia Child and Alice Waters with being one of the few bright lights in those dark ages of cooking. She writes with charming feistiness. Her kitchen skills and general food understanding is readily apparent on every page. In a section devoted to traditional Christmas dishes, she scoffs at the idea of closely following 200-year-old recipes because methods and equipment have changed so dramatically. Later, she quotes Phileas Gilbert, one of Escoffier's collaborators: "Cookery is as old as the world, but it must also remain, always, as modern as fashion.""
– Foreword Magazine
Read
May 6, 2013"Para Navidad", the final brief piece, a gentle, unhurried description of an October moment in the south-eastern corner of Spain is more than enough to make a book of classic short stories worthwhile. That "Para Navidad" comes at the close of a Christmas cookery book cobbled together posthumously is a testament to the power and artistry of Elizabeth David's writing. All of her books contain these gems of pure, human, simple joy at being alive, in the sun, with good friends and simple food - and, sometimes, simple friends and good food.
I can't help but feel that David is of a lost time, a time I almost remember, the time when Europe was refinding itself after the War, and finding that, Gosh! it was a really beautiful, fascinating, infinitely varied place.
And food!
I can't help but feel that David is of a lost time, a time I almost remember, the time when Europe was refinding itself after the War, and finding that, Gosh! it was a really beautiful, fascinating, infinitely varied place.
And food!
July 14, 2011
If you ever wanted to know where your Christmas traditions come from (and you're English), this is a great book. It includes lots of classic holiday traditions and recipes, along with the recipes and people they came from - often going back to the 1700s and sometimes farther. Most of these recipes are pretty time-consuming to make, but some of the drinks and deserts and starters would fit more modern tables (and timetables). An interesting read, if you like culinary history. If not, don't bother.
March 30, 2009
Classic Eliz David, very charming and well written.
Read
September 22, 2017Recommended by Mom. Food book.
Not bad, but not of the food sounded good at all.
Not bad, but not of the food sounded good at all.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews