Friends for dinner - or why I had my arm up a duck! (How to Eat - Nigella Lawson)

Member Name: teagirl

Product:	How to Eat - Nigella Lawson
Date:	10/12/02 (1068 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent results, Some interesting stories

Disadvantages: Waffle!, Confusion!

This book has sat on my shelf for a couple of years, unread (actually it's moved house with me three times, but that doesn't sound as good!) Anyway, the reason I'd dismissed it as a recipe book is because I find it hard to use. I have read the other dooyoo ops on this book and everyone sings its praises. Nobody dwells on the fact that this is a confusing book - maybe I'm missing something, but this book has me in a muddle every time!

+++What's wrong with it?+++
I love the food, the end result, but I found I just don't have time for the bits in-between. I believe that if you are an unsure cook, you could read this for confidence and an understanding of non-complex eating. This book's intention is simplicity, eating is a way of life and is to be enjoyed. Cooking should be pleasurable and therefore the book could be seen as a diary of experiences Nigella has had in the kitchen, rather than a more traditional A-Z recipe book of the kind I'm used to. This book does make me tear my hair out on occasion, while I sip my wine and try to enjoy the experience of cooking, Nigella stylie!

Basically, what you have is an explanation of how Nigella found out about recipes, examples of her trying them out, ideas of what dishes go with other dishes and perhaps a wine suggestion. There are helpful sections such as "weekend lunch," "low fat" and "comfort food." But what you won't find is pictures of any recipes, and it is rare that she will set out a recipe for you to follow. Even as a confident cook, I always like some idea of what the recipe should look like in the end, and so I feel it is wrong not to have any pictures! Nigella says "the easiest way to learn how to cook is by watching," and I am inclined to agree, although I'm not sure she makes me feel that she's there in the kitchen with me, which is her intention "The book that follows is the conversation we migh
t be having." However, it is only a one-way conversation. You can't ask her any questions if you're unsure! Nigella's sentiment is good, but if you are used to following recipes with a traditional ingredients list and method, you may, as I do, find Nigella's style more frustrating than helpful overall.

+++My use of the book+++
I do apologise that, rather ironically, the best way to tell you about this book is to tell you the story of how I once used it! I like cooking, I'm fairly competent at it and I had some willing volunteers coming for dinner. I was going to try something new, not even trying it out beforehand! On the day, I chose Duck with Orange Salsa from the "fast food" section of the book, but chose not to use duck breast as suggested. Instead, I stole crispy duck from "weekend lunch" under the heading "relatively easy lunch for 4," and decided I'd do a recipe of my own for the potato part of the meal. Then from the "dinner" section, I chose chocolate raspberry pudding cake for dessert. I thought Nigella would be pleased with me for mixing and matching as this is very much her suggestion throughout the book. I also seem to like making things more complicated for myself!

So, how do you make crispy duck? Simple, you boil a duck for thirty minutes in a big pan of salty water, then roast it uncovered at the hottest your oven will go for forty five minutes. That's it! You should try it, it's just like you get in Chinese restaurants, you know the stuff you get with the pancakes, spring onion, cucumber, hoisin, etc.? Anyway, I digress. Getting this information was really tedious. I had to read through "weekend lunch," where crispy duck was suggested, and discover that the crispy duck 'recipe' was not there but in another section "cooking in advance" on page 100 (actually p100, 101 and 102.) Instead of the instructions I gave you
above for the duck, there was a story about how Nigella went to New York, bought a magazine that discussed the concept of boiling before high-temperature roasting. Then she discussed trying the recipe out but not having the suggested cooking pot. She ended up using a different one (yawn) and so it goes on, through a story about her friends' AGA not working when it came to roasting the duck. Even though I'm confident at cooking, I still felt unsure as to the actual recipe, cooking times and utensils. I had to write down separately what I though I had to do before setting off to buy my duck. More useful information would have been to state that fresh duck is near impossible to find! My local butcher tutted in a way usually only reserved for car mechanics in their 'it's gonna cost you' tone. So on the afternoon of my planned dinner party, I bought a frozen duck from the supermarket and then proceeded to defrost it, hoping I was doing it slowly enough to prevent poisoning my guests, while pulling out frozen icky giblets! Sticking your arm up a duck's bottom in the quest to try a new recipe is not to be recommended, by the way. It's not nice!

But, as Nigella would suggest, in times where you don't have the right ingredients, etc, you shouldn't worry. I figured I could always do a last minute chicken recipe if the duck remained a frozen lump, and cracked open the raspberry liquor I had bought to put in the pudding.

Sure enough, the duck defrosted and through my alcoholic haze, the salsa instructions were only mildly confusing. I even picked up a few tips along the way. Nigella reckons you should, when cutting chilli peppers, wear your washing up gloves, to keep your hands chilli free and preventing you from accidentally rubbing your eyes later with possibly chilli covered fingers. Of course, this does mean you can't hold the chilli properly when cutting it and you may therefore cut off your finger, but i
t is a good idea nonetheless.

The pudding actually had decent and clear instructions and a description of what it was supposed to resemble. However, Nigella said it's almost easier to make the cake than it is to type out the instructions. Being a fast typer, I wasn't inclined to agree with her! I don't reckon a cake that requires expensive dark chocolate, fresh raspberries, three types of sugar and for you to brew some coffee is a simple cake. But it was a pretty straightforward recipe to follow, if not fiddly, I will give her that.

And so, it sorted itself out and somehow it was fab. Everyone was fighting over the last of the food and not quite believing how tasty it was. Nobody was more impressed than me. The recipes I tried produced fantastic results and the flavours worked so well together. However the menu worked out fairly expensive because of all the fresh ingredients required, such as fresh herbs and the créme de framboise, which was, in itself £8.

+++Recommendation for beginners overall rating+++
Not being a beginner, I can only guess that if I find it difficult, then beginners may have a similar experience! On the day of my dinner party, I was discussing the concept of Nigella's book with some other dooyooers. IainWear suggested that a Delia-type recipe book is far more useful for a beginner. Franl has since told me that Delia's 'How to Cook' series is also anecdotal, but has separate sections setting out the recipes clearly. This is what Nigella's book lacks, but being about 2" thick to start with, more pages is not what it needs! The finished results exceed my expectations, but I am always unsure when trying a new recipe. I suppose if you are a total novice, you wouldn't choose to try a new recipe on the day of your dinner party. It does seem a shame that you can't make one of the meals without reading background into the first time Nigella herself tried it. It'
;s also a pity it's so woolly in places. The simple recipes can appear daunting because of the amount of text surrounding and swamping the important bits. This book has so much in it and you will find gems, but personally I find the format frustrating.

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