Nigel Slater, Real Fast Food: a busy 20 something food lover's best friend (Nigel Slater's Real Food)

Member Name: Harrypoodle

Product:	Nigel Slater's Real Food
Date:	04/08/09 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to follow

Disadvantages: No pictures (but who needs them anyway?)

I am by no means an elite cook. I hate washing up. My job/social life means that I am usually short on time when it comes to cooking meals and thanks to the credit crunch I am more likely to purchase Asda Smartprice than Sainsbury's Taste The Difference produce.

That said, as I've got older I've found that I'm not satisfied by the studenty concoctions I used to live off - pasta and a can of chopped tomatoes, beans, beans and more beans (apart from Heinz baked beans snap-pots, there are a work of genius. I must review them). I find myself wanting to cook more exciting meals with exotic/authentic produce, not only for myself but also to wow my friends/boyfriend (the way to a man's heart etc....). An invisible force now sucks me into international delis, posh cheese shops and even, dare I say it, the food halls at Selfridges and Harvey Nichols in search of a particular type of chocolate or stinky cheese I have heard about.

So what am I to do? I'm short on money and time but I have aspirations (or possibly delusions?!) of culinary grandeur. Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food is a godsend.

Be warned: this book will make you hungry. Make sure you have plenty of food in before your read it. The recipes are written in a descriptive and saliva-inducing way (good tactic Nigel) that makes you want to get cooking right away. I love the way the book is written - in fact, I've read it cover to cover and I can't say that about any of my other cook books.

The slightly odd thing about the book is that it's a paper back with no pictures. I think this boils down to the Slater's emphasis on simple food/flavours rather than presentation.

There are recipes for everything from cheese on toast to oysters and Bloody Mary's. It's organised into headings for each type of food e.g. potatoes, cheese, cabbage etc. making it easy to follow. There's commentary about how to track down the best and most ethical produce. I think this knowledge has actually saved me money - rather than going crazy in the expensive deli, I know the Italian salami I'm after and just buy that.

It's simple but inspirational, for example; there are sections headed "good things to team with eggs in a sandwich" and "good things to top a baked potato" which give you great ideas for normal but also sophisticated meals. I would never have come up with a jacket potato sprinkled with pesto and Parmesan - try it! It's so tasty.

You can get yourself a copy on Amazon for around £5.00 - it's well worth it.

Summary: Be warned: this book will make you hungry.