Nigel Slater - The Kitchen Diaries

Nigel Slater is the author of a collection of bestselling books and presenter of BBC I’s Simple Cooking and Dish of the Day. He has been food columnist for the Observer for twenty years. His books include the classics Appetite and The Kitchen Diaries and the critically acclaimed two-volume Tender. His award-winning memoir Toast – the story of a boy’s hunger won six major awards and is now a BBC film starring Helena Bonham Carter and Freddie Highmore. His writing has won the National Book Award, the Glenfiddich Trophy, the André Simon Memorial Prize and the British Biography of the Year. He was the winner of a Guild of Food Writers’ Award for his BBC I series Simple Suppers.

Also by Nigel Slater

The Kitchen Diaries II

Tender Volumes I and II

Eating for England

The Kitchen Diaries

Toast – the story of a boy’s hunger

Thirst

Appetite

Nigel Slater’s Real Food

Real Cooking

The 30-Minute Cook

Real Fast Food

Acknowledgements Right food, right place, right time. It is my belief – and the point of this book – that this is the best recipe of all. A crab sandwich by the sea on a June afternoon; a slice of roast goose with apple sauce and roast potatoes on Christmas Day; hot sausages and a chunk of roast pumpkin on a frost-sparkling night in November. These are meals whose success relies not on the expertise of the cook but on the more basic premise that this is the food of the moment – something eaten at a time when it is most appropriate, when the ingredients are at their peak of perfection, when the food, the cook and the time of year are at one with each other. There is something deeply, unshakeably right about eating food in season: fresh runner beans in July, grilled sardines on a blisteringly hot August evening, a bowl of gently aromatic stew on a rainy day in February. Yes, it is about the quality of the ingredients too, their provenance and the way they are cooked, but the very best eating is also about the feeling that the time is right. I do believe, for instance, that a cold Saturday in January is a good time to make gingerbread. It is when I made it and we had a good time with it. It felt right. So I offer it to you as a suggestion, just as I offer a cheesecake at Easter, a curry for a cold night in April and a pale gooseberry fool for a June afternoon. It is about seasonality, certainly, but also about going with the flow, cooking with the natural rhythm of the earth. Learning to eat with the ebb and flow of the seasons is the single thing that has made my eating more enjoyable. Our culinary seasons have been blurred by commerce, and in particular by the supermarkets’ much vaunted idea that consumers want all things to be available all year round. I don’t believe this is true. I have honestly never met anyone who wants to eat a slice of watermelon on a cold March evening, or a plate of asparagus in January. It is a myth put about by the giant supermarkets. I worry that today it is all too easy to lose sight of food’s natural timing and, worse, to miss it when it is at its sublime best. Hence my attempt at writing a book about rebuilding a cook’s relationship with nature.

January january Dal and pumpkin soup A salad of fennel, winter leaves and Parmesan Stew A frosted marmalade cake Frozen yoghurt with roast rhubarb Double ginger cake Onion soup without tears Cheese-smothered potatoes A velvety soup for a clear, cold day Bulghur wheat with aubergines and mint A really good spaghetti Bolognaise Chicken broth with noodles, lemon and mint Spiced crumbed mackerel with smoked paprika A herb butter for grilled chops A pot-roast pheasant with celery and sage A clear, hot mussel soup Sausages with salami and lentils A lime tart

February february Chicken patties with rosemary and pancetta A herb and barley broth to bring you back to health Spiced roast potatoes with yoghurt and mint Lamb shanks with mustard and mash Smoked haddock with flageolet beans and mustard Roast pumpkin, spicy tomato sauce Kipper patties, dill mayonnaise Pork chops, mustard sauce Linguine alla vongole Hot chocolate puddings Sausage and black pudding with baked parsnips Braised lamb with leeks and haricot beans Spiced pumpkin soup with bacon Slow-roast lamb with chickpea mash Braised oxtail with mustard and mash Treacle tart Warm soused mackerel

March march An English cheese salad A simple flatbread Taramasalata – the real thing Chicken stew and mash Pork burgers with lime leaves and coriander A fiery way with lamb Chicken salad with watercress, almonds and orange Smoked mackerel on toast Roast fillet of lamb with anchovy and mint Demerara lemon cake with thick yoghurt Prawn and coriander rolls Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce and ginger Chocolate almond cake Stir-fried mushrooms, spring leaves and lemon grass Chickpea and sweet potato curry Orange jelly with lemon and cardamom Chicken with mushrooms and lemon grass

April Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

May Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

June Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

July Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.