It’s just as well that Nigel Slater is never likely to be standing behind me in the checkout queue at the Co-op; I’m the woman who annoys him, the one ferreting around in her purse for the right change. A lot of things annoy our Nigel, from Guardian readers to carpet slippers and other signs of age. The point of Eating for England, though, is memory. It reminds us exactly how to unwrap a Dairylea cheese triangle, a Kit Kat or a Tunnocks Teacake and how to fold up the empty foil case from a custard tart (yes! I do that!). Slater’s food icons are roast beef, a full English and, of course, toast but he also celebrates what most food writers would see as an appalling weakness for ready made, processed foods; this is refreshingly honest of him. The book is irritable, repetitive, episodic, not as good as Toast but ultimately very endearing.
Sweet and Sour
It’s just as well that Nigel Slater is never likely to be standing behind me in the checkout queue at the Co-op; I’m the woman who annoys him, the one ferreting around in her purse for the right change. A lot of things annoy our Nigel, from Guardian readers to carpet slippers and other signs of age. The point of Eating for England, though, is memory. It reminds us exactly how to unwrap a Dairylea cheese triangle, a Kit Kat or a Tunnocks Teacake and how to fold up the empty foil case from a custard tart (yes! I do that!). Slater’s food icons are roast beef, a full English and, of course, toast but he also celebrates what most food writers would see as an appalling weakness for ready made, processed foods; this is refreshingly honest of him. The book is irritable, repetitive, episodic, not as good as Toast but ultimately very endearing.
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Recent Reads
Two re-reads first. Toast by Nigel Slater I read again after watching the TV version. I found that the ending of the book had been changed quite…
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Perennial William and Toast
The latest Just William TV adaptation is set in 1953 and some people don’t like it because they think of William as a 1930s figure. Since the…
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The Curious Nectarine
Am I the last person to discover Donut Nectarines? I saw them for the first time at the market yesterday. They were highly recommended by…
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