5.0 out of 5 based on 1 reviews. – Customer review on 17/10/2009

A must for all food lovers! Nigella Lawson is passionate about good food and good eating and you can't help but be drawn in by her excitement and colourful descriptions. She is still the only person I have ever seen who can make lentils sound and look exciting. She treats food with affection and approaches eating with joyfulness. This collection starts where it all began, with Nigella Bites series 1 and 2. These are by far my favourite shows. Nigella is always entertaining and she prepares deliciousness for her family and friends, and quite often just herself.

Forever Summer saw a slight change in format and Nigella's family and friends feature less in this series and the kitchen is not in the family home and is more set-like. My favourite recipe of this series would have to be the Slut-Red Raspberries in Chardonnay Jelly and the Watermelon Salad.

Nigella Express takes you back inside Nigella's family home as she demonstrates her favourite shortcuts and time-saving techniques. Nigella herself is much more polished in this series and the 'snapshots' of her 'real life' are very obviously set up - I'm absolutely willing to believe that Nigella would be making magherita ice-cream in her pyjamas and robe first thing in the morning, but I doubt she would apply a full face of TV-ready make-up first. This in no way detracts from the entertainment value of the show, but was a minor source of amusement for me.

The fourth DVD is Nigella, a morning talk show that has Nigella interviewing her guests as they perch at her kitchen counter observing (and helping) as she prepares them food. Some of her guests include Val Kilmer (disappointingly dull), Jo Brand (fantastic), Stephen Fry (this was my favourite episode), and Ruby Wax (hilarious). Nigella doesn't seem as comfortable in this setting as when she's in her kitchen, up to her elbows in food and telling us exactly what she loves about the colour of tumeric, but it is still entertaining and Nigella is still her endearing self. How can you not love someone who gets so excited about her new high-tech cherry-pitter?

My one disappointment in the boxed set is that it is missing the Nigella Feasts series, but there is enough Nigella here to keep her fans in glorious raptures for hours on end.