For Love of Nigel Slater

I have to admit, i have been pretty taken with Nigel Slater these days. I first heard of him when i read an interview Gordon Ramsey did where Gordon Ramsey named Slater his favourite cookbook writer. As is typical with me, i then went on to completely forget about him till i chanced upon one of his books, Appetite, on Amazon last week.

Despite knowing practically nothing about the guy except he hails from England, is good friends with fellow Brits Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver and oh, his books are much loved by cooks everywhere, i just had to get my hands on them. I just had a little problem- Amazon was no longer carrying Appetite and it was going for a hefty 70ish bucks by independent sellers.

My guardian angel must have been watching over me as i went about the city, with GT in tow, going into every major bookstore to see if they carried the title. I not only found Appetite in Borders (there was one copy left at the Melbourne Central store, if you’re interested) but the Kitchen Diaries was going at 35% off at Myers. So that is how, in short, i ended up with two of Nigel’s books within the span of an hour.

Now i simply have to rave about Appetite. The book is, for lack of a better word, incredible. Instead of simply listing recipes and having people cook blindly from it to get their desired dish, what Nigel aimed to do with this book was to teach people about cooking, cutting loose from following recipes to a T and instead, go with their instinct. So he has pages and pages of enthsiastic raving about marriages of ingredients he think were made in heaven, about the quality of ingredients to look for and even a very humourous page or two about cooking for one.

The first night i got the book, i sat in my bed with a cup of tea and read and read, unable to put the book down. Nigel writes in such a sensual way about food and with such warmth and enthuast he makes you just wanna run into the kitchen, whip something- anything!- up with him right beside you.

The Kitchen Diaries has been a really good read. Done entirely different from Appetite, this book is a diary of sorts of dinners Nigel whipped up over the course of a year, using the simplest of ingredients. It’s a nice change to see how he draws inspiration from the best ingredients the seasons has to offer and how, like the rest of us, even he can’t be bothered to do more than call for pizza some days. I especially love how ‘real’ he has kept all the photographs of his food, the photos are apparently snapped within minutes of cooking and serving- so what you see is literally what you’re gonna get.

So far, i’ve made chargrilled lamb chump chops and a quick spaghetti dish from Appetite. Both have been amazing. The lamb, seasoned with finely chopped rosemary leaves, olive oil, mashed garlic, sea salt and black pepper, and served with a drizzle of freshly squeezed lemon juice, crisp and fluffy potatoes tossed in more rosemary and sea salt and a garden salad, was succulent and really flavourful. The one thing i would do differently the next time though was place the lamb chops in the oven for a couple of minutes after grilling the lambs so the seasonings don’t burn and the insides get a little more cooked.

The spaghetti, a first i ever had done this way, was tossed with parsley, breadcrumbs, garlic bits and pancetta sauteed in a delirious mixture of butter, anchovies fillets and pancetta fat till crisp and golden brown. It made for a really tasty, although by no means healthy, lunch with the subtle saltiness from the melted anchovies and pancetta adding a really nice touch.

There are so many other recipes i can’t wait to try from his books. And of course, i couldn’t resist the temptations of Amazon so as i write this,another one of his other books, Real Food, is making its merry way to my place right now- which makes the total number of cookbooks i’ve added to my book shelf this year alone umm.. i really rather not know.