The Kitchen Diaries

The Kitchen Diaries volume i

For instance, I've never come across partridge even in the swank import grocer here.

However, he does eat mackerel a LOT, so if you're looking for new mackerel ideas I recommend this book. It was hard not to feel a bit envious of Slater: Once he mentions a meeting at his home and seems to find it quite tiring. I guess he made a lot writing those food columns! Or perhaps he's retired now; as an American I forget that in some other countries people can still retire without penury. Or possibly there's all sorts of things going on, work and parties and whatnot, that Slater just doesn't mention.

This diary is not intimate in the way the author's earlier Toast , unless you consider admitting lack of self-restraint in eating fresh fruit to be a highly personal confession. Lastly, a note about the photography. It is again by Jonathan Lovekin, whose work I mentioned liking very much in my review of Plenty. I didn't love it quite as much here, but I don't think that's Lovekin's fault. One, the paper quality was softer and the images didn't come out as sharply.

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The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen with Nigel Slater Hardcover – November 8, Beloved food writer Nigel Slater presents a yearlong record of his cooking and entertaining, as well as endearing culinary stories and witticisms. Nigel Slater is the author of ten books. Buy The Kitchen Diaries 27 Sep by Nigel Slater (ISBN: ) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible.

Two, Slater's food is not as colorful as Ottolenghi's. I was impressed at how Lovekin suited his style to the simpler and homier kitchen-garden feel of this book -- many excellent photographers or writers or artists and not so flexible. Pork belly with cannellini beans Jan 31, Tamara rated it really liked it Shelves: Three things I disliked about this book: But when I skimmed I missed things! This man clearly loves food and nature, and can ruminate very eloquently about both.

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If only all days could prick the senses like this one. I sit barefoot in the garden, sipping green tea and listening to the sound of church bells. We have huge, kite-sized pieces of flounder in batter, with lemon and thick fried potatoes, eaten on the beach.

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Worth the wait, the drive there and the drive back home in the dark with the windows open and the music on too loud. The garden is turning from pink to orange, aflame from midday, when the sun comes over the top of the house and floods the garden with burning light. Montbretia, nasturtiums, Indian Prince marigolds, dahlias, zucchini flowers, hot-eye watering flowers in bright sunlight line the beds. The tomatoes are ripening, a single eggplant is hanging down from the purple-leaved plant in a deep pot on the back steps. The garden is suddenly a vibrant, vulgar, scorching place to eat.

After the fudgy, chalk-white cheese and sweet, claret roots, we filled up on slices of thick buttered soft white bread…" Something I very much want to do when I am rich: I cook with the doors open on even the wettest day. The smell of spring rain as I chop and stir brings with it a gentle freshness and energy…every plant, tree and bush seems to have woken up this week.

View all 3 comments. Dec 31, Shimelle rated it it was amazing. I read this slowly and surely over and it has been such a life-altering experience. We live without television, so I couldn't tell you the first thing about Slater being a TV chef. We received Appetite as a gift a few years ago and fell in love with the simplicity of his recipes. Our favourite dish is from that book and it requires three ingredients, yet I guarantee it wouldn't be out of place with a high price tag at a good restaurant. So last year I picked up The Kitchen Diaries as a Chri I read this slowly and surely over and it has been such a life-altering experience.

So last year I picked up The Kitchen Diaries as a Christmas gift to my other half, but it was me who fell in love with the idea of a narrative that takes one through a full year of honest, good food. We are split over this one in our house: I like it because of the diary format, which gives me more information about what the experts look for The boy of the household prefers Slater's recipe-only books because he can flip right to something and make it, no-nonsense.

But then, that exemplifies the differences in our personalities.

Kitchen Diaries WL edit.m4v

I had to resist the urge to read the whole thing like a novel over a few days, and instead read a little each month to see if he would be right about what beauties I would find at the farmer's market and so forth. Of course he was. Plus the diary format makes it feel like you're getting to know a chef's secrets.

And we all like to have a few of our secrets in the kitchen to make our guests ask how on earth we could have made something so lovely. While I am honestly a bit sad to get to the end of the book This month I started keeping my own notes, and for I am planning to keep my own kitchen diary as a personal journey. I have to salute the writer here for never boring me with talk of vegetables, but also for letting us all know that even famous chefs have days where they grab bread from the local bakery and make a sandwich with the leftovers.

Apr 23, Beth rated it it was amazing Shelves: Seriously one of the best books about food I have ever read. This was a birthday gift - and it was written by someone I'd never heard of. But he eats like I want to eat, and thinks about food the way I think about food. Some that I will be trying. However, there is a lot of ideas in here.

Attitudes towards food, eating, and cooking. There are some well planed meals in her but it is a food diary for a year so somedays there is nothing in the fridge, and som Seriously one of the best books about food I have ever read.

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There are some well planed meals in her but it is a food diary for a year so somedays there is nothing in the fridge, and somedays you order pizza, and somedays you have deal with the stuff you have almost forgotten in the back of the fridge Reading books about food can make you hungry. This one makes you hungry for peaches , fresh bread, really good cheese, and a glass of wine Feb 03, Sheena Lambert rated it really liked it Shelves: Another great book by Nigel Slater.

This time he cooks his way through the calendar year.

My one gripe with the format of the book, is that Nigel comes across as a little annoying insofar as all he seems to spend his day doin Another great book by Nigel Slater. My one gripe with the format of the book, is that Nigel comes across as a little annoying insofar as all he seems to spend his day doing is lazily shopping for his dinner at the local market?!

Also, the book is really only suitable for Britain as the recipes are very focussed on seasonal produce. Still, it makes a nice bedtime read, if you can ignore the hunger pangs while you are reading it. Mar 24, Philippa rated it it was amazing Shelves: So many of my foodie friends talked about this book and now I know why.

It is quite possibly the best cookbook I've ever read. Inviting, sumptuous, but never prentious, Nigel Slater talks us through a year of meals he cooks and eats, tantalising with delicious details. He eats seasonally, so each month reflects the best of what is naturally available at that time of year, which is the ideal way to cook and enjoy food.

As well as recipes, there are just loads of great ideas - things to pull toget So many of my foodie friends talked about this book and now I know why. As well as recipes, there are just loads of great ideas - things to pull together if you want something quickly. I made one of the salads he described - spinach, fresh apple, toasted walnuts, walnut oil and goat cheese - and it was incredible!

Nice to know that he likes unwinding with cold, cold beer as much as I do too: And if you live in London, he describes some wonderful markets and shops to try which I certainly will be doing. I can see myself cooking a lot from this, but it's also a book I would happily curl up with and read purely for pleasure. Nov 20, Garry rated it really liked it. Nigel Simpson writes "recipes" in the style of Elizabeth David.

He does not number every little step and he is not always super precise in his measurements - "a good handful," "a glass of," and the like appearing more often than, say, "one and a half teaspoons" -- and employing lively, evocative descriptors like "enthusiastic boil" over traditional cookbookspeak. What is most interesting are the days when he confronts leftovers or seeks inspiration from what is on hand in his hous A lively read. What is most interesting are the days when he confronts leftovers or seeks inspiration from what is on hand in his house, in the organic box of veggies he gets every day, or what caught his eye at the fish store, the veggie store, the butcher, etc.

And this last point is the REAL theme of his book: It will, however, ensure you eat and live well.

The Kitchen Diaries

Oct 28, Anula rated it it was amazing Shelves: Nigel proves not for the first time that he is as great a storyteller as he is a cook. I could hear his voice and accent in my head, when reading it, as it was probably designed - each day of the diary on it's corresponding day during the year, my year. It allowed me to experience this book in it's fullest potential, and provided some great recipes throughout the year! I truly enjoyed this sneak peak into Nigel's everyday life.

His almost everyday account and thoughts about changing seasons, Nigel proves not for the first time that he is as great a storyteller as he is a cook. His almost everyday account and thoughts about changing seasons, nature's way of providing us with fresh food within them and his ideas of how to use those in the kitchen. It is more of a diary than a cookbook, but there is an abundance of recipes - recipes that are easy to follow and ingredients that are easy to source and to be enjoyed at their best!

Aug 11, Margaret rated it really liked it Shelves: Didn't find any recipes that inspired me, but I very much enjoyed what was, essentially, Nigel's food diary. Lusciously illustrated and a superb way to while away a few hours. Dec 11, Valerie rated it it was amazing Shelves: I've got a confession to make. I'm in love with Nigel Slater's cooking and his recipes and he could come to my home and be my kitchen slave forever.

Needless to say, despite ogling his dishes on the television, I bought his books. Well, I bought two: Not only are they filled with great recipes but, importantly to me, the text in between the recipes is engagingly descriptive and effortlessly witty. Nigel Slater is I've got a confession to make. Nigel Slater is my kind of cook as his recipes are straight-forward, easy to understand, and generally use ingredients that are either already in our cupboards, fridges and freezers, or readily available to most of us.

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I suppose I fell in love with Nigel's cookery skills by watching his television programmes. He has such a relaxed way about him, such an ordinary way of speaking to the viewer, such a no-nonsense approach to cooking, that he convinced me absolutely that 'I can do that'. Which actually remains to be seen, of course. His Kitchen Diaries books are like that. They are far more than just recipe books. They are, as they state, diaries. The narrative from the author, Nigel Slater, is almost poetic with descriptions of his garden, the plants, the weather, the shops that he frequents, the produce that he so loves.

You can sit and happily read these books as if they were simply delightful novels that paint vivid pictures with words. They are treasures to be cherished. Maybe not, but today is as close as it gets. Bright sunshine and cool breeze, the scent of wallflowers and narcissus on the air; a farmers' market with sorrel, young pigeons and good rhubarb, and an afternoon so hot and sunny you could fry eggs on the pavement. I gave in and bought my first tomatoes too, a vine or two of the early Campari Feb 29, Hallie rated it really liked it Shelves: Every single day is documented.

After a day spent making homemade flatbread and taramasalata, he writes "In my smug haze of good house-keeping from yesterday's baking session, not to mention my arch disdain for factory produced foods, I fail to notice there is bugger all to eat in the house. At seven-thirty I dash to the corner shop, returning with a can of baked beans, a bag of frozen fries, and some beers. There are also dinners of braised oxtail with mustard and mashed potatoes followed by treacle tart and cream.

Personally, I would settle for being their dog, content to bask in and beg from their kitchen. Zeer fijn boek dat me zin gaf om te koken en boerenmarkten te bezoeken zoals Nigel doet. En de seizoenen wat beter te volgen zodat ik eet wat ik op dit moment hoor te eten. Ik ga zeker wat van zijn recepten proberen de komende weken. Dec 23, Elizabeth rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: I really can't recall the last time I enjoyed reading a book as much as I enjoyed The Kitchen Diaries.

I spent most the weekend curled up with it on the couch under a warm blanket, drinking a hot mug of coffee. It's basically the perfect format for me - a combination of diary and cookbook, reflecting on seasonal eating, cooking experiments both good and bad , and the pleasures and sometimes shames of food. After reading through half the year on Saturday, I woke up Sunday morning dreaming of p I really can't recall the last time I enjoyed reading a book as much as I enjoyed The Kitchen Diaries. After reading through half the year on Saturday, I woke up Sunday morning dreaming of perfect breakfasts.

Each of these things conjures up an image: Every cook has his or her priorities, and Slater wants his food, above all, to be uplifting. As a cookbook, The Kitchen Diaries succeeds brilliantly. He starts off by telling us: He also gets a weekly "organic box". But this is really a book about enjoyment.

THE KITCHEN DIARIES, US

He loves salt, for instance. He fries a lot of things. He enjoys melted cheese, and cakes, and puddings. One of his recipes, which is great, consists of waxy potatoes, chopped "about as thick as a pound coin", fried in olive oil with onions and garlic, and covered with melted cheese.

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I will eat this dish more often when I have taken up cross-country running. Here, then, is a year of highly flavoured food. He likes "the Marmite-like goo that adheres to the skin of anything roasted" and "the crust where something - usually a potato or a parsnip - has stuck to the roasting tin". His "benchmark bolognaise" is cooked with chunks of pancetta, as are his chicken patties; he likes to eat chilli-roasted potatoes with cold meat, and he sometimes likes his curries to be "bum-stingingly hot".

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Lastly, a note about the photography. Fontaine Uitgevers, Holland, Lusciously illustrated and a superb way to while away a few hours. And then you realise it's something simple, like bacon and avocado salad. I love Nigel Slater and the way he writes - like all good cookbooks, this is one that can be read whilst sitting in bed thinking about what you would like to cook. We are split over this one in our house:

But Slater also likes fast food, and eating anything he can find in his cupboards. He eats dried fruit and ricecakes and biscuits, and thinks that almost anything is edible "if you put French mustard on it". One of the best descriptions in the book is of "four vast rounds of dough, light, thin and charred in big fat yeasty blisters". He is writing about pizzas that have been delivered to his house. Sometimes with Slater, you'll be reading about some amazing dish he's making, and you'll imagine the kitchen, and the people sitting in the garden, through the French windows, and you'll feel like you're almost tasting the food.

And then you realise it's something simple, like bacon and avocado salad. Slater's trick here is to "scrape up the pan-stickings with a wooden spatula and tip it over the avocados".