The Kitchen Diaries - Nigel Slater

As a very nosy and greedy girl I couldn't wait to peek inside my new copy of 'The Kitchen Diaries.' It was so interesting to see a year in the life of Nigel Slater told through his dinners. The recipes are laid out monthly, starting from January, and they feature a really nice range of everyday meals, soups, and desserts as well as special dinners. Each recipe features the date it was made and eaten, and each dish was photographed just after it was cooked. The book itself is a beautiful object, and the photographs by Jonathan Lovekin tease and tempt. I had got into a bit of a rut making the same old meals, so in January I cooked a new meal every ...  Read the complete review

One of the many problems I have with supermarkets is that they try to persuade me that any fresh fruit and vegetable I want is available all year round. I can eat fresh raspberries in January, green beans in February, leeks in June, asparagus in October and strawberries for Christmas dinner. The problem is that they’ll have been flown half way round the world and taste of little more than wasted money. What I needed was a book to flag up when food is at its peak and give me some hints as to how it can best be used. Nigel Slater is an obliging man. For more than a decade he’s written a food column in The Observer. I’ve read him slavishly and he’s had more ...  Read the complete review