Feast: Food that Celebrates Life

by Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson, Gourmet magazine's "It Girl," New York Times "Dining In" columnist, and bestselling cookbook author, is celebrating life--and you're invited. Feast, Nigella's most festive book yet, offers savory, spicy, and delicious recipes for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, Eid, New Year's, Passover, Easter gatherings, and any time you want to celebrate food and life. This book is filled with festive recipes, and in it, Nigella offers tips, tricks, and shortcuts that will ensure you dine with ease, style, and fun. Feast also includes some surprising gems, like Nigella's Chocolate Cake Hall of Fame, and her best cheeseburger. And like her other cookbooks, Feast is a cookbook that will be treasured all year long.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Foodie, Food and Drink

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Nigella Lawson is the daughter of former Conservative cabinet minister Nigel Lawson (now Lord Lawson) and the late Vanessa Salmon, socialite and heir to the Lyons Corner House empire, who died of liver cancer in 1985. Lawson attended Godolphin and Latymer School and Westminster School before graduating from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, with a degree in Medieval and Modern Languages.
Lawson wrote a restaurant column for the Spectator and a comment column for The Observer and became deputy literary editor of the Sunday Times in 1986. She became, among other things, a newspaper-reviewer on BBC1 Sunday-morning TV programme 'Breakfast with Frost'. She has also co-hosted, with David Aaronovitch, Channel 4 books discussion programme 'Booked' in the late 1990s, and was an occasional compere of BBC2's press review 'What the Papers Say', as well as appearing on BBC radio.
Following slots as a culinary sidekick on Nigel Slater's 'Real Food Show' on Channel 4, she has fronted three eponymous TV cookery series broadcast in the UK on the channel. She has had two series of 'Nigella Bites' in 1999-2001, plus a 2001 Christmas special, and 'Forever Summer with Nigella' in 2002, both of which yielded accompanying recipe books. Her style of presentation is often gently mocked by comedians and commentators, particularly in a regularly-occurring impersonation of her in the BBC television comedy series 'Dead Ringers', who perceive that she plays overtly upon her attractiveness and sexuality as a device to engage viewers of her cookery programmes, despite Lawson's repeated denials that she does so.
She was voted author of the year at the 2001 British Book Awards. More than 2 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide.

Reviews

[Cynthia Paschen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I own one Nigella Lawson book, called "Forever Summer."

I enjoyed "Feast" much more--it is much broader in its scope, and you get a better feel for just how funny Ms. Lawson is. She is a woman who has faced adversity, losing a husband and a sister to cancer. She loves food and is not afraid to admit standing in front of the fridge, eating something straight from the carton, juice dripping down her chin.

This book covers celebrations of all types and includes a chapter on Funeral Feasts. Fabulous.

I marked several recipes from this chunk of a book to try, but alas, it is due back at the library.
Here's one for later:

Muttar Paneer
1/2 C. Vegetable oil
1 8 ounce pkg. Paneer
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 inch fresh ginger
1 t. garam masala
1 t. tumeric
1 10 ounce packages frozen peas
1 t. tomato puree
1 cup vegetable stock

Put the oil into a large skillet--one big enough to take all the ingredients later--and while it's heating up, cut the paneer into 1/2 inch cubes. Tumble half of them into the hot oil, and fry until they are golden, removing to a double thickness of paper towel. Do the same with the remaining half. I have to warn you, the pan sputters a lot, so don't do this while wearing your best clothes.

Pour all but about 2 tablespoons of the oil out of the pan. Peel and halve the onion, peel the garlic cloves and ginger and slice them roughly. Put everything into a food processor and blitz to a course pulp. Fry gently in the oily pan for about 5 minutes with a sprinkling of salt. Stir in the garam masala and tumeric and cook another 2 or so minutes before adding the still frozen peas.

Dissolve the tomato puree in the vegetable stock and pour it over the contents of the pan. Stir again and turn the heat down to low, cover with aluminum foil--or a lid--and cook for 15 minutes, tasting to check that the peas are tender. You can cook muttar paneer up to this stage, then pause if you like, uncovering and reheating gently later with the diced, oil-crisped cheese, or proceed directly now.

In which case, take off the foil, and add the golden paneer cubes, warm them through and revel in the glorious Bollywood brightness of the dish.


That's just one of MANY delicious-sounding recipes from this book. Lawson writes clear instructions, with lots of tips and clever asides. I really enjoyed reading this book and also, Lawson is HAWT.

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

My wife saw the tail-end of Nigella's Christmas Special on TV and was entranced... I was detailed to go pick up the book at Waterstone's when I went in to town the next day. I had never read any of her stuff (deep-rooted suspicions about celebrity chefs) but I have to admit it's very good. The recipes make sense, and she writes in a clear and amusing style.

We followed her advice on roasting our turkey and making the gravy, and the general consensus was that it was probably our best yet in both departments. We also used her recipe for Brussels sprouts with chestnuts, pancetta and Marsala. We didn't have any pancetta, so substituted ordinary bacon, but it still came out pretty well. Jonathan refused to try any, on the grounds that it was weird, but everyone else thought it was delicious. We'll do this again.

The only place where we departed completely from her advice was on the roast potatoes. I'm sure her way of doing them is also fine, but I have great faith in my own recipe, so I stuck with that. Here it is:

Italian-style roast potatoes

about 20 largish new potatoes
half a glass extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
salt
ground black pepper
thyme

Wash the potatoes, keeping the skin on, and cut into quarters. Parboil in salted water for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, crush the garlic and add to the olive oil, together with the rosemary leaves (stripped from the stems), a good sprinkling of thyme, a few twists of freshly ground black pepper, and some salt. You can omit the salt if you prefer - that works fine too, and is healthier.

Grease a baking tray, put the parboiled potatoes in it, and pour on the olive oil mixture. Stir well so that the potatoes are thoroughly covered. Put in the oven underneath the turkey about 90 minutes before it is due to come out. I am assuming that you are roasting the turkey at about Gas Mark 4.

When you take out the turkey, immediately turn up the heat to Gas Mark 6.5, and move the tray of potatoes to the top. By the time you have finished letting the turkey rest, carved it, and got everything else ready, they will be perfect.

Enjoy!

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift a while back, skimmed it, made a couple of recipes (and was unimpressed), and set it aside. I finally got around to reading it and it is interesting. The focus is on "event" cooking, in the sense that the book is divided into sections on holidays (mostly Christian and Jewish, plus Eid, Thanksgiving and Halloween - although there is a much greater range of dishes represented), major events (weddings, funerals, etc.) as well as minor ones (cocktail parties, first time cooking for a new S/O, food to make when coming home from a night of drinking, et al.). There are also a few regional "feasts": Venetian, Georgian, etc. Dishes range from very swanky (e.g. Champagne Risotto) to super lowbrow (e.g. split pea and frankfurter soup). The writing is witty and easy to follow (you can tell why she's a successful TV personality), and the dishes tend to be ones that, while they may look pretty, are not insanely involved (so that the host/hostess can enjoy the event). Non-British/American dishes are often slightly modified, either for ease of preparation or simply the author's personal preference - e.g. a Fatoush recipe that includes avocado. Overall, I liked the book, but I prefer cookbooks that concentrate on a single culture/time period and dig deep into it (but that's just me), and felt that (for me, again) that Feast included more dessert recipes than I'm likely to use. Solid 3 stars.

[GoldenjoyBazyll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a long time fan of Nigella Lawson. One night I could not sleep so I turned on the tv and there she was at 2 AM making up the most delicious pot of mashed potatos with nutmeg and refering to them as comfort food. Between the jazz music/ food visuals and charm of that domestic goddess... I got up and made myself a pot of mashed potatos and ate the whole thing then promptly went to sleep! Just laugh! Anyhow.... I have been a fan ever since! I have a Kindle and what I love that they have done w/ this cookbook is sell particular chapters separately. I bought the Chocolate Hall of Fame. It is chock full of lovely chocolate cake receipes. I love how she explains how to make each creation like she is talking to a girlfriend in the kitchen with her own brand of Nigella slang. :) The receipes ARE FATTENING!!!! Butter and sour cream anyone? Anyhow- a great buy for $3.95!!!!!!

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I dearly loved this book. It is part memoir and mostly cookbook. I read about it in another book and bought it specifically because of the funeral feast. It was this quote that got me. "The thing to remember in either case is never to burden the bereaved with a question: Don't ask what they'd like you to get or what they might want to eat. Decisions are impossible: you have to do it, and do it without drawing attention to the act. I remember a friend of mine leaving some bags of shopping from the supermarket for me once. She hadn't told me she was going, she hadn't asked what I had needed: she just left the bags outside the side door with a short note. It was one of the kindest things anyone could have done."

Of course, there are all manner of feasts in this book, but that particularly touched me. I enjoyed this book so much.

[Trace · Rating 4 out of 5]

ahhhh.... Nigella..... her books are exactly like watching her on her shows... there is no one quite like her. She has been a very reliable cooking mentor to me over the years. I have a handful of Nigella's recipes that I use quite regularly... for example, I make her her One-Pan Chicken and Sausage Bake (with lemon and sage) at LEAST once a month and have done so for the past 5 years... my family never grows tired of it :)

This book was such a great read - I spent the entire weekend reading it and enjoyed every minute of it... My library edition had several pages torn out of it - which annoyed me to no end.. but I still ended up with at least 12 recipes that I need to try - so it was a worthwhile read...and most comforting.

[Francine Apollo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book to cheer myself up a bit at the end of the winter season. Little did I know that I'd be finishing it during a Blizzard.

Anyway, mission accomplished; I am inspired and reinvigorated. I love this book because it is multi-ethnic and multi-religious and covers all of the major feasts.

I, of course, found a couple of recipes to try. You will as well.

Highly recommended.

[Kasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nigella is my original muse, she single handedly got me back into the kitchen and cooking when the days of making cookies with my grandmother passed and I had to start doing it on my own. I have all of her books and honestly they are something one can actually cook from, my shelves are bending from the amount of cookbooks they house but only half are being used to make dinners and cakes, others I look at for inspiration and for pictures but Nigella's recipes are worth every penny one spends on a cookbook. I can't express my love and gratitude for this woman; she's intelligent, cheerful, honest a magnificent food writer who actually got me into writing as well, I even got my first KitchenAid mixer because she used her so much to make all of her delectable treats. So fear not, this and other books that she penned are not only gorgeous to look at but they can help anyone put something mouth watering on the table in no time. This one has pictures on almost every page and a short little bit of how this came to be or how she eats it before each recipe, probably my favorite part of the book.

This book is broken into occasions rather than seasons or ingredients - Thanksgiving & Christmas, New Year, Meatless Feasts, Valentine's Day, Easter, Passover, Breakfast, Kitchen Feasts, Kiddiefeast, Cut-out Cookies, Chocolate Cake Hall of Fame, A Georgian Feast, Eid, Ultimate Feasts, Hallowe'en, Rosh Hashanah, A Venetian Feast, Festival of Lights, Partytime, Midnight Feast, Wedding Feast, Funeral Feast ( somber I know but the food is actually very appropriate and having herself lose her mother, sister and first husband to cancer, Nigella is still living life and making the best of what she has) so no matter what one celebrates they can find something good in this super large volume. I have to admit that I use this daily and don't wait for special occasions.

Feast is probably her biggest ( thickest) book to date, and I made some good things from it. Let me tell you, the Pumpkin Cheesecake (on page 68 ) was my first cheesecake and no only was it ridiculously easy it turned out so good I was shocked I made it myself. There was a suggestion for Butterscotch sauce on the page to pour on top, I made it as well ( gotta love the pairing suggestions) and the combination was just divine. The sauce would also go well on something like an apple and macadamia nut crumble or anything thatis sweet.

Gingerbread muffins on page 91 were so warm and cozy I make them in cold weather to keep the chill of, the trouble is stopping at one. If you want your house to smell like a home, make this!

Roast Loin of pork with caraway, lemon and garlic - spicy fragrant, nothing ordinary about this simple to make dinner, makes great leftovers as the rub on top intensifies.

Chicken Pot Pie - I guarantee that after this one no one will be shopping for it in the frozen section of their supermarket, flaky dough, creamy hot center, lost of peas, ham and chicken in sauce, the only caution is not burning the tongue as it's hard not to gobble up.

There's even Muttar Paneer - an excellent Indian dish, makes me feel silly for ever thinking it was hard to make. Now I can control the ingredients and how much salt and fat goes into it, one can make a healthy lunch out of an exotic staple after all.

This book has everything, I don't know how this woman thinks it all up, but she makes these recipes and writes about them, she feeds them to her children and friends, real people are involved into bringing this book to life and it shows.

[Pear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably my favourite Nigella book. I love to read and read cookbooks from cover to cover and Nigella is especially readable. I haven't much watched Nigella, but her sensuous kitchen manner is well-reported so I won't comment on that. She's a highly privileged, posh and successful woman. And these books are not just about Nigella's food, but about Nigella herself, I find. And yet, despite the huge gap between our lifestyles, I find her food and her writing highly palatable. It's difficult to escape the temptation to describe both her food and her writing as very rich and sumptuous, perhaps a little too much at times, but generally very enjoyable if you're into that sort of thing.
I find it hard not to like Nigella, or at least the persona she's created in these books. The book isn't made up of a collection of recipes - everything has warm, intimate, amusing commentary on the themes of food and family woven through it.

Nigella generally, with a few exceptions, does a good job of remembering that not everybody has a lifestyle like hers - not everybody has a garden or a KitchenAid, and quite a lot of people don't much like washing up, and are busy workers with families to feed. She's generally good at suggesting a workflow or a substitute to accommodate different lifestyles.

As regards technicality - it's a pretty good cookbook, well-tested recipes, clear instructions, generally accessible ingredients and equipment used. And the photos are gorgeous.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading Feast for months and months it seems; I just keep renewing it from the library. Feast has everything I love in a cookbook, namely:
-glossy, vibrant, mouthwatering pictures
-cheeky write-ups to accompany the recipes, as only a Brit could write!
-recipes organized by meal, instead of the typical poultry/veggie/fish sections. This is helpful for someone like me, who doesn't intuitively think of recipe pairings and is often left wondering if your meal "goes together."
-it's HUGE (over 300 recipes--way, way over)!

My favorite section is the "day after thanksgiving"--she writes about interesting ways to use leftover turkey (none of which involve the word "sandwich" thank goodness)!

However, there are a few things which cause Feast to lose that critical star for me. My primary concern is that she seems to re-use many recipes in her cookbooks, both from her previous cookbooks and also from others. It seems like it would be better to buy 1-2 Nigella cookbooks for this reason. The second is that many of her ingredients are ones that I'd never heard of before, perhaps because they are too gourmet for me, or maybe because she's British. However, I've made substitutions and they've come out well enough.

Highly recommended--great cookbook for browsing when you're bored.

[Dayna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Nigella's chatty writing style, not just in introducing the recipe but throughout the instructions. And I love that I can practically hear her voice as I read. The recipes I most want to try and believe I will like the best are the chili and the cheesecakelets with balsamic glazed strawberries. (Two recipes I remember watching her cook and that looked/sounded especially good.) But...what I have tried is the honey chocolate cake. I no longer remember why I was most inspired to make that one, even though it was just a few days ago. And I cannot recall why I bought the ingredients to make a second chocolate cake (the orange one). I don't even especially like cake. But the Chocolate Cake Hall of Fame seduced me. While it tasted okay, I still felt like it was a disaster, because it looked awful and chocolate ended up all over my kitchen. That's not any fault of the recipe or instructions. I just made a mess of it. Perhaps I should stick with the more savory dishes. But, it's due back at the library soon, and I don't feel it's worth buying for just a couple of recipes. Especially when the recipes I am most drawn to aren't even what I would consider for "feasts" (as in holidays - I'm hosting Thanksgiving in a couple of days but was not inspired to make any of her Thanksgiving dishes). Then again, how often do I cook more than a few recipes out of any given cookbook?

[Christine]

Hi. I moved. I have a big new kitchen. And roommates that fix things if I promise them baked goods. Which this book has. Along with a chapter titled 'Chocolate Cake Hall of Fame.' But it also has things like ham in cherry coke, which I probably won't make because I'm not big on the pork. Unless it's in the form of bacon. Or little baby smoky sausages crocked potted in A-1 Sauce. And um... This is my first grown-up cookbook. Does Betty Crocker count? I don't think so... I really can't count any book with that weird plastic binding that's nostalgic of that one book. You know the one I wrote in the 4th grade about the clean-room gypsy, but that was the fourth grade and that book obviously wasn't very grown-up, hence Betty Crocker cookbook, not very grown-up either... Burt oh My God!!! Nigella!!! I'm going to make lamb keema on Monday Night! And cheddar risotto on Wednesday. Or Thursday! And pancetta wrapped sausages on Friday night! You can come over if you want. I have most of a six-pack of Pilsner in the fridge. And that bottle of pink champagne. And there's a bottle of Berenger red wine something in the pantry.

But seriously dudes. Cooking... What a trip. And yes.

[Jamio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suki's been reviewing cookbooks, so I thought I'd give a shout-out to my personal domestic goddess, Nigella Lawson. This cookbook, full of her favorites for every special occasion imaginable, from every major religion's high and holy days to your new boyfriends "first night over", has a permanent place on my bookshelf even though it belongs to the library. (They're so nice at Glouster Branch: no late fees and seemingly unlimited renewing.) Someday I will make an honest cookbook out of it and buy it for myself, but in the meantime I'm comfortable with the long-term affair. My husband doesn't seem to mind. Anyway, the pictures and commentary are so good, you don't have to cook any of the recipes to enjoy the book, but do seriously consider following her instructions for a perfectly roasted Thanksgiving turkey. She says, of course, that a high-quality bird from a real butcher is key (try finding that around here), but it works just as well on the $2/lb Butterball I hauled out of the bin at Kroger.

[Lorita Abdullah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Domestic Goddess offered a look onto celebratory food such as for Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Eid, Birthdays, Easter (you get the idea) and brace yourself for a moment: the book even included the food for mourning/funeral.

The last section on a glimpse, perhaps should not be included in a book that says Food to Celebrate, but I must admit having gone through the whole book, that the recipes for the funeral leans towards remembrance and celebrating the life of a loved one.

In this offering, Ms Lawson wrote at times from the perspective of an observer and/or on behalf of friends, relatives and acquaintance ie. Thanksgiving and Eid festive galore.

So far, I've tried a few pastry and cake recipes and the results were quite fine. Upon my sister's urging, I did Nigella's version of Chicken Pot Pie, it turned out great and I've repeated the recipe since with different twists.

I'd say it's a book you'll use quite often as you go through the festivities every year.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read! I have only made one recipe from this book, but it turned out great! I wanted to add this book to my cookbook collection, but I just spent a bunch of money on another one of her cookbooks, which was worth every penney spent! Anyway, I kept picking it up and putting it down several times at the bookstore, imagine my surprise when I came across it in the clearance section on my way out of the store. I got a 35 dollar cookbook for $7.99!! It must have been meant to be. I immediately came home and read it cover to cover and bookmarked several recipes. Even if you never, make one of the recipes from Nigella's fabulous cookbooks, you won't regret your purchase. The reading material alone is worth it!

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read, if only for the complete "Britishness" of it! Nigella Lawson's descriptions are very luscious indeed, and she manages to make even the most mundane activities sound interesting. My only quibble is with her suggestion that plastic wrap can go in the oven.Second-hand experience from my daughter has proven otherwise, although perhaps it depends on the type of oven, gas or electric, one has. Also, while preparing the Griddled Zuchinni, which was, admittedly, delicious, my kitchen was filled with so much smoke, due to the amount of olive oil called for, that it was lucky the smoke alarm did not go off!

[Linda Hartlaub · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Nigella Lawson! This book has a plethora of recipes for any feast or gathering you are planning - from Christmas to Thanksgiving, weddings to funerals. Rarely does she use ingredients that can't be found at your local or small town grocery store. And there is an entire chapter on chocolate cakes!

Nigella's voice is so snarky that I laughed throughout the book. I love her lack of self-importance.
what other celebrity food writer (because she insists that she is not a chef) would allow photos of her lopsided cakes and imperfect dinner rolls?

A book worth owning, to cook from and to read,

[Donna Was A Scandal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book from cover to cover...and now I'm hungry and I've developed a gloriously odd English accent!

Here's my complete review:
http://www.scandaliciousbookreviews.c...

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more but other than the instructions on preparing goose I felt I did not go away with more cooking knowledge or a strong desire to cook which are two of main reasons for reading cookbooks.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting look at how religious and special occasions are celebrated through food. Nigella shows empathy with each "feast" as she introduces her recommended dishes for celebrating or commemorating.

[Henriette Strydom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Still use it

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Nigella's amusing comments.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a family, WE LOVE Nigella

[Sarah Turnbull · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of her best

[Jo Kitchener · Rating 5 out of 5]

Go to recipes, to go to time after time, after time...

[Tyler D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t usually include include cookbooks on Goodreads, but this one is worth reading for the commentary alone, and I’ve made some great food from it this year too.

[Douglas Shore · Rating 5 out of 5]

At this point, I have read - seen and bathed in everything written by Nigella Lawson. I remember reviewing Kitchen as one of the first of her books I owned. Well, this was the first I read.

Feast is a book for any who fears cooking for a crowd. With simple recipes, cleaver instruction and educational points, you will be guided to the point of no return - potentially even start to enjoy cooking for twenty. (not guaranteed, though)

While some of the recipes are now out of fashion (not that fashion deters from the taste), they hold up today, even by modern-day standards. This is in part because this book is a bit of a "tradition" lecture. (not in a bad way) It teaches us the value of tradition and how it's ok to deviate - but should still feel like a traditional feast (to you at least)

I love this book in particular as one o the first books that got me into food (cooking - eating and writing) but also because who doesn't love a good old feast?

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

So comforting. I ended up giving this cookbook away, as I actually made very few things from it (the chocolate cake hall of fame is a total winner, though)… but I just loved the pictures and her voice, and would frequently take the book out just to read and enjoy.

[Myneck Myback, · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the busty Russian milf I meant tpo click on but she's actually a pretty good cook!!! Thought I was going to give my laptop malware and see some things, learned how to cook instead! after this I went beating my meat to tenderizing it, Thank you Nigella!!

[Quirkybookwormkat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I own this book and I’m loving it! Easy to use and reading it, I can actually hear her talk.