Nigella's Amsterdam Christmas. Photograph: Jay Brooks/BBC Studios
It is best not to ask questions about Nigella’s Amsterdam Christmas. Do not ask why Nigella has gone to the Netherlands for her festive feast. Why is she hosting a Dutch Christmas party? Hush now, a finger on the lips. Why is she cooking on a boat? It is a boat so gorgeous that TV’s last lovely houseboat, the one in Copenhagen from season two of The Bear, must be jealous of its fixtures and fittings. Does she have a lot of Dutch friends? Why is she visiting their home city and then throwing them a party? Shhh, don’t worry about it. Just settle in – sink in, might be even better – and enjoy the velvety loveliness.
Nobody does description like Nigella. This is what makes her cookbooks such a pleasure to read. You can pick one up with the intention of finding a recipe and end up reading it like a novel. She really lets rip on Amsterdam, a city she first visited half a lifetime ago, she says, and it is hard to deny that it is a particularly beautiful city at Christmas. She describes the light on the water and explains why the buildings are narrow, and when she gets on to ingredients and the dishes themselves, the adjectives fly as if reindeer are pulling them through the sky. Just wait until she advocates for fennel.
