How
to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking
by Nigella Lawson
While the title How to Be a Domestic Goddess may at first make a modern
woman bristle, the book itself is just as likely to inspire the woman who
brings home the bacon to start baking cakes. And what's wrong with that?
"This isn't a dream," writes British cookery deity Nigella Lawson in her
preface. "What's more, it isn't even a nightmare." Lawson--the author of
How to Eat, food editor of British Vogue, and star of her own TV cooking
show, Nigella Bites--has been suspected of upholding the woman-laboring-in-the-kitchen
paradigm, but there are lots of hard-working women out there who derive
great satisfaction from cooking, even after a long day at the office. For
those women, Lawson, who looks more Elizabeth Hurley than Martha Stewart,
is the perfect guide to the wondrous world of baking.
"You know, I'm not a cook-to-impress kind of girl," Lawson says midway
through the book, but she must admit there are few things more rewarding
than putting a warm homemade pie or fragrant cake on the table--especially
after preparing a home-cooked meal. How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking
and the Art of Comfort Cooking makes just such a reward possible, in fact
positively enticing, with its delicious selection of easy-to-make cakes,
pies, cookies, breads, even jams, presented in Lawson's chatty, pleasantly
glib manner. Turns out, you don't have be a Pierre Hermé to
make to-die-for chocolate confections; nor do you have to spend hours "faffing
around" with hot pans and jars to have jam at teatime. You just need to
try baking once, then again, and next thing you know, you'll be turning
out cookies and desserts every chance you get. Many of the recipes are
hand-me-downs or adaptations from other sources, be it a favorite cookbook
or a restaurant in some far-off region, but all are imbued with Lawson's
wit and distinctive touch. Profiteroles, My Way are "monumentally impressively
better" than the original, thanks to burnt-sugar custard and toffee sauce.
Her Coffee and Walnut Splodge Cookies are "American-style cookies; in other
words just dropped onto the baking sheet free-form," and so on.
A sophisticated female alter ego of British mop-top Jamie Oliver, and
considerably more sly and comedic than most American gourmets, Nigella
is sure to convince more than a few up-and-coming hostesses that baking
is indeed women's work. --Rebecca Wright - Amazon.com
Hardcover from Hyperion Press
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