Forever Summer [Hardcover]

Make no mistake from the negative tone of the opening paragraph that this book contains bad recipes. It's recipes all look delightful and invite me to make as many as I wish. A lot of the attraction of the recipes in this book is common to many books of this type written by his nibs Jaimie Oliver, Tyler Florence, and Sara Moulton. They are intended to make cooking more fun for the casual cook. It's for those people who have more time to cook than the 30 minute meal crowd, yet are not hard core Molto Mario style foodies who read Paula Wolfert and Claudia Roden. They are people who occasionally want to broaden their range of cooking. And Nigella has the perfect style of book to suit this audience. The center of gravity of her cuisine appears to be Claudia Roden's definition of Middle Eastern food as many dishes have arabic names and Iranian spice mixes in their recipes. She includes many dishes and ingredients from the Orient as well. She is literally all over the map and shamelessly steals from everyone. As a newphyte foodie, I actually have a great appreciation for references to sources of dishes. It is great fun to see the influence of one writer on another, and for the student to not make believe that they are creating recipes out of whole cloth. Like Jamie Oliver, Ms. Lawson has an especially breezy style doubly effective on American audiences with her English slang. My only puzzle is why Ms. Lawson and Mr. Oliver don't seem to share any slang terms. Are they looking over one another's shoulders? They do have the same publisher, after all.

In spite of the lushious recipes, there are several annoying things about this book which may make people feel they did not get their money's worth. The very thin discussion of the books premise is the first. The second is the abysmal organization and table of contents. In addition to the very short introduction and the index, there are but four chapter headings in the table of contents for 'first course', 'second course', 'desserts', and 'drinks'. Not being very fond of mixed drinks, the twenty pages in the last chapter are lost on me. This doesn't mean there are no divisions but two in the 169 pages dedicated to savory dishes. 'first course' is divided up into 'pasta', 'soups', and 'salads' and 'second course is divided up into 'fish', 'meat', 'poultry', and 'sides and more'. Why in the world did the author or editors not think to put these in the Table of Contents especially since they are essential to the largest audience for this book. The fact that Lawson and Oliver have the same publisher makes me wonder why the photographic styling in 'Jamie's Kitchen' is so good yet the photographic styling is so poor in this volume. The photographs of food have no captions. The reader can assume that the recipe and the photo of same are on facing pages, but good luck if there are any pics which don't fit this placing. The non food related pics range from being uninteresting to ugly, especially the washed out pics of Ms. Lawson herself.

The recipes are luscious and Ms. Lawson is an engaging writer, but this book does not properly serve it's audience, especially at a list price of $35 a pop. If I were a Nigella Lawson fan, I would ignore everything I said above and buy the book. The recipes are worth it and are worthy of four out of five stars. If I'm looking for a resource for filling out a party menu, check out Ina Garten or Martha Stewart. Much more organization, and accessibility.

I have never regretted purchasing one of Ms. Lawson's books.

How To Eat was my long term companion and is still regularly called upon for both pleasure reading and kitchen duty. Very much the first tome that one should include if one is curious about this authoress. I initially spent less time with her Domestic Goddess offering, but as time past I was surprised how often I reached for and depended upon it.

Nigella Bites was long waited for, seeing as I live in the States, but well worth the final reward. I was slightly disappointed in the fact that not ALL recipes shown on her television series are depicted within the book. These are truly missed. And since not even the UK version of her DVD's have all recipes represented within I end up hopefully scouring How to Eat to see if they are shown in this reference. (MANY recipes are, particularly those shown during the first season of Nigella Bites.)

But, despite my petty grumblings, how pleased I was with Forever Summer. I love the program, and relish the book. Really it is my second place choice after How to Eat -- very difficult to beat this opus.

The Caramelized Pineapple with Chocolate Sauce is now requested by both family and friends -- very simple, and you are a culinary hero without much effort. Other favorites include the Za'atar Chicken, Butterflied Chicken with Lemon and Rosemary, Hasselback Potatoes, Coconut and Chilli Salmon Kebabs, Chicken and Cashew Nut Curry (my husband never touched curry and had two bowls of this offering!), Mauritian Shrimp Curry, Black and Blue Beef, Thai Crumbled Beef in Lettuce wraps (been to PF Chang's? These are far better.), and PLEASE try the Anglo-Italian Trifle (those in the States use the soft cake like lady fingers for the cake portion). Oh, and before I stop exuding here, do be certain to try the Korean inspired Spareribs, very good.

I could go on and on, and be sure to realize that I have a husband with rather limited taste buds and two children currently aged 11 and 8 that most approve of all of Nigella's recipes -- well, at least 90 percent of them. (If you have a junior set, refer to the Gooey Chocolate Puddings in How to Eat -- a classic for kids.)

Give this book a spin. My Mum always said to me that if you get at least two or three 'keeper' recipes out of a cookbook well then, it was money well spent.

This book far exceeds that caveat.

New England Mum