

Nigel's fruit
"And then there was fruit" Nigel Slater And flowers and nuts too. On the cover of this book - a Christmas present that I requested and received from my son and his ex?partner - is - I think - a blurry fig. Inside the cover is a rather beautiful red flower - also in soft romantic focus, but then all of the photographs in this companion volume to Nigel's book on the vegetables in his garden Tender Volume 1 , are taken by his friend and favourite food photographer of the Brit
5 days ago


Fruit fools
"Savlon for the tongue" Nigel Slater That's a somewhat weird, maybe even repulsive or at least unattractive way of describing, what to me and many other English people is the most sublime of desserts - particularly the gooseberry version. ‘Soft, pale, creamy, untroubled, the English fruit fool is the most frail and insubstantial of English summer dishes’ says Elizabeth David and even Claudia Roden - doyenne of Middle-Eastern food describes them as "one of the delights of s
Jan 3


Capsicum stuffed with tomatoes
"an Italian idea that has been put into words well by Elizabeth David, Simon Hopkinson and Nigel Slater among many others. And no wonder – it is such a good idea" Rachel Roddy I spent another happy almost hour with Nigel today, checking out his book Tender volume 1 for my lunch party on Sunday. If you remember I had forgotten to check this volume out. And of course there were heaps of other possibilities in addition to what I wrote about the other day, but I think I will
Dec 12, 2025


Letters to Nigel Slater - a blog
"If you accept what IS, then you can simply relax and appreciate it for its specialness" Hilary Chambers I haven't written about other bloggers for a while now, so it's time, and the next one is one I have been sort of looking forward to for a while - Letters to Nigel Slater . I mean how could I resist? Having now read a few posts it leaves me a little sad and with lots of questions. It's a very plain and unfancy looking website which began back in November 2011 and eded w
Nov 19, 2025


Beautiful words, beautiful food - Nigel
"Early spring, Kamakura, and a small basket appears at my table and a tiny dish of salt. In it, a single whisp of new season's bracken in tempura batter, the fern caught in the process of slowly unfurling." Nigel Slater Looking for inspiration again - it's an everyday thing. I couldn't get excited about the cuisine of El Salvador or smoked fish canapés (my next first recipe - maybe tomorrow), and so I decided to have another look at Nigel Slater's beautiful book of small w
Oct 29, 2025


It starts with the plate
"I am so obsessed with my serving platters that before I decide on what to cook, I first select the platters I want to serve it on ." ...
Oct 10, 2025


Another Nigel fan
ALL OF 'REAL FAST FOOD': Cooking (Maybe) Every Recipe from the Nigel Slater Classic “Maybe I should work my way through the whole book”,...
Sep 13, 2025


It's never been easier
"Many of my most pleasing suppers have been one-off, chucked together affairs made with whatever was to hand. A question of making do. ...
Sep 2, 2025


Upping my sandwich game
"No offence, but I find sandwich recipes pointless. Who needs a recipe for making a sandwich? It’s like looking up a manual before taking...
Jun 2, 2025


Carrot salads
"Creative freedom is a huge carrot." Adam McKay I don't think Adam McKay meant, what I have taken to mean from the above quote. I think...
May 30, 2025


Nigel's spicy sausage pasta step by step
"I couldn’t get over how lush it tastes; creamy and luxurious and comforting" A Muse Bouche You may remember that I decided to try to...
May 21, 2025


Boredom leads to an idea and to teenagers
“Anyone who likes to eat, can soon learn to cook well." Jane Grigson I get bored. Frequently. Always have and am currently going...
May 6, 2025


Pumpkins, fairy stories and recipes
"A fat round pumpkin is used both as a candlelit ghoul at All Hallows and as a fairytale stagecoach to whisk Cinderella to the ball" ...
Apr 27, 2025


Who honestly doesn't have a favourite mug?
"how using a much loved cup or bowl can increase our enjoyment of what we eat or drink." Nigel Slater I have just finished a perfect...
Mar 23, 2025


Words in a recipe lead here and there
"Dice a little onion, carrot and celery to the size of Dolly Mixtures." Nigel Slater A typically wry kind of simile from Nigel and the...
Mar 20, 2025


Nigel's leeks
"The leek is the onion's refined sister, brought here by the Romans, for the times you want the latter's silken texture but less of its...
Mar 4, 2025


February - beginnings and endings
"the reason God made February short a few days was because he knew that by the time people came to the end of it they would die if they...
Feb 11, 2025


Sprue
"the thinnest, early cultivated asparagus that used to be sold off cheap, but now gets a cute-factor price hike." Sophie Grigson Earlier...
Feb 7, 2025


That other problem
"Of course, you could wait to eat until after the sun goes down, if you have the backbone." Zoe Williams/The Guardian This is a problem...
Jan 30, 2025


What happened to smoked mackerel?
An ode to Nigel Back in my dinner party hosting days I discovered that a smoked mackerel, served much like this, but with little slices...
Jan 25, 2025

