Frei nach diesem Wahlspruch hat Nigel Slater sein jüngstes Werk zusammengestellt: Anhand von 250 neuen Rezepten führt er durch das Jahr und teilt seine Neugier, seinen Appetit und seine Freude, andere mit guten Gerichten zu beglücken, mit dem Leser.
Schweinekottelet mit Rhabarber-Chutney im Januar, gegrillter Grünspargel mit Zitronenpüree im Mai, Langustinen mit Parmesan-Butter und Chili im August und Gnocchi mit Sahne und Dolcelatte-Käse im Dezember. Was nach komplizierter Gourmetküche klingt, erklärt Slater in seinen sinnlichen und unterhaltsamen Texten auf lebendige und leicht verständliche Weise, gespickt mit Anekdoten und grundsätzlichen Überlegungen zur Bedeutung von gutem Essen.
Und für Abende, an denen es schnell gehen muss, finden sich zwischen den Tagebucheinträgen vier Jahreszeitenkapitel mit saisonalen Alltagsgerichten, denen man sich auch nach einem langen Arbeitstag noch gewachsen fühlt. Und wie immer gilt: Die Rezepte sind nicht in Stein gemeißelt, sondern können und sollen ergänzt, verändert und nach den eigenen Wünschen interpretiert werden.
- Mehr als 250 Rezepte im Jahresverlauf - Von Englands wichtigstem Food-Experten – ein Buch zum Lesen und Kochen
Nigel Slater is a British food writer, journalist and broadcaster. He has written a column for The Observer Magazine for seventeen years and is the principal writer for the Observer Food Monthly supplement. Prior to this, Slater was food writer for Marie Claire for five years. He also serves as art director for his books.
Although best known for uncomplicated, comfort food recipes presented in early bestselling books such as The 30-Minute Cook and Real Cooking, as well as his engaging, memoir-like columns for The Observer, Slater became known to a wider audience with the publication of Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger, a moving and award-winning autobiography focused on his love of food, his childhood, his family relationships (his mother died of asthma when he was nine), and his burgeoning sexuality.
Slater has called it "the most intimate memoir that any food person has ever written". Toast was published in Britain in October 2004 and became a bestseller after it was featured on the Richard and Judy Book Club.
"I think the really interesting bits of my story was growing up with this terribly dominating dad and a mum who I loved to bits but obviously I lost very early on; and then having to fight with the woman who replaced her ... I kind of think that in a way that that was partly what attracted me to working in the food service industry, was that I finally had a family." As he told The Observer, "The last bit of the book is very foody. But that is how it was. Towards the end I finally get rid of these two people in my life I did not like [his father and stepmother, who had been the family's cleaning lady] - and to be honest I was really very jubilant - and thereafter all I wanted to do was cook."
In 1998 Slater hosted the Channel 4 series Nigel Slater's Real Food Show. He returned to TV in 2006 hosting the chat/food show A Taste of My Life for BBC One.
Slater has two elder brothers, Adrian and John. John was the child of a neighbour, and was adopted by Slater's parents before the writer was born.
He lives in the Highbury area of North London, where he maintains a kitchen garden which often features in his column.
One of my absolute favourite chefs or cooks. His programs, articles and books are always a pleasure and this book is a personal diary of special foods,ingredients and favorites season by season. I am a seasonal cook myself, so this book is an absolute treasure and will remain out on the shelf! Enjoyed his life story and the BBC filming of it too a few years ago. Been a fan for years and enjoy his approach to cooking and enjoying various favourites. Special......
Well, Nigel appears to have redeemed himself from some of his recent ventures (ahem Eat). It's also interesting to read his record of travelling and eating in Japan, not something he's done in earlier books. The entire fourth star however comes entirely from the pizza base recipe, which somehow manages to be the simplest yet best pizza base I've ever made - thanks Nigel!
Round 3! And no less good for it. I have always loved The Kitchen Diaries, so realistically textured with the sensuousness of domestic life throughout the seasons. Nigel Slater's writing is pure pleasure, so evocative of a certain kind of internal sensitivity that I readily identify with. The recipes are always excellent, but to be honest, that's not why I buy and treasure these books - this is the best kind of bedtime reading.
I love Nigel Slater. I love his simple way of cooking, I love the way he writes, I love his attitude to life and the people of the world. I love following his diary notes each week on what he has cooked, where he got his produce, his friends, his influences, his travels and his simple nights at home with friends. Did I mention how much I love Nigel Slater. Read all of his books!!!
It's a typical Slater book. Wonderful, lyrical prose as instantly comforting as a favourite teddy bear, recipes that make you want to tear off to the kitchen, right now! And mouth-watering pictures. A joy from start to finish.
I really enjoy reading Nigel Slater. I read his cookbooks as much as I cook from them. His emphasis on a seasonal approach, and being inspired by what he sees in the markets, keeps me mindful with my meal planning.
I knew I would love this book the minute I read the recipe on the cover band. Smoked garlic cauliflower cheese. Nigel Slater never disappoints and, like the previous diaries, this book is delicious from the first page to the last.
As well as good recipes this book is written beautifully with lots of descriptive passages making the reader feel as if they are in the kitchen with him tasting these wonderful dishes.
Nachhaltig einkaufen, kochen mit Produkten, die gerade zu diesem Zeitpunkt überall erhältlich sind. Gerichte genießen, die zur Jahreszeit passen. Die im Herbst / Winter wärmen und im Frühling / Sommer erfrischen. Nach der Arbeit nicht stundenlang am Herd stehen, um etwas Schmackhaftes zuzubereiten. Anregungen und Inspirationen, um neue Geschmackserlebnisse mit dem zu kreieren, was sich im Kühlschrank und der Vorratskammer finden lässt.
All diese Punkte sind mir beim täglichen Kochen wichtig. Und in Nigel Slater habe ich eine verwandte Seele gefunden, der genau dies in seinen Rezeptvorschlägen umsetzt. Mit „Ein Jahr lang gut essen“ liegt nun der dritte Band seiner Kitchen Diaries vor, und wie immer ist es ein gewichtiges Werk in sehr schöner Ausstattung, das sich wohltuend von üblichen Kochbüchern abhebt.
Gegliedert sind die Gerichte nach den Jahreszeiten sowie den Monaten und orientieren sich an dem Angebot der Märkte zu diesen Zeitpunkten. Den gravierenden Unterschied machen die Texte. Anders als bei den meisten Veröffentlichungen in diesem Bereich werden die Zubereitungen nicht auf den üblichen Doppelseiten mit Zutaten und gegenüberliegendem Bild des fertigen Gerichts präsentiert (was akzeptabel ist, leider ist aber mittlerweile den meisten Kochbuchautoren der Personenkult wichtiger als das Ergebnis ihrer Arbeit). In den Kitchen Diaries ist das anders, hier steht immer das Produkt im Mittelpunkt. Ergänzt wird dies durch Slaters persönliche, zuweilen fast schon philosophische Gedanken zu den Themen, die Kochen und Essen streifen. Von daher ist für mich „Ein Jahr lang gut essen“ fast schon ein täglicher Begleiter und weit mehr als ein bloßes Kochbuch.
Die Rezepte selbst sind weitgehend unkompliziert und mit einem überschaubaren Zeitaufwand zu realisieren. Es ist nicht notwendig, sich sklavisch an die Zutatenliste zu halten, man sollte sie eher als Vorschlag und/oder Inspiration verstehen. Manchmal lohnt es sich aber, auch ungewöhnliche Kombinationen auszuprobieren, die dem Esser völlig neue Geschmackserlebnisse bescheren. In seinen Rezepten gibt es von allem etwas, denn Slater ist weder Veganer noch Vegetarier. Und folgendes Zitat scheint mir ein schöner Abschluss, verkörpert es doch auch meine Einstellung zum Kochen und Essen:
„Ja, ich esse Kuchen, und Eiscreme, und Fleisch. Ich esse Kekse und Brot und trinke auch Alkohol. Mehr noch: All das nehme ich ohne einen Funken von Schuldgefühlen zu mir. Und dennoch finde ich meine Essgewohnheiten eher achtsam als achtlos. Ich interessiere mich brennend dafür, wo mein Essen herkommt und welche langfristigen Wirkungen es für mich und den Planeten hat(….)Mir gefällt der Gedanke, dass meine Einstellung zum Kochen und Essen auf der Basis von gutem Geschmack und Vergnügen beruht, nicht auf Verehrung und Ehrfurcht.“
Essen ist Genießen und nicht nur bloße Nahrungsaufnahme. Dieses Credo teile ich uneingeschränkt mit Nigel Slater. Und deshalb gibt es auch für „“Ein Jahr lang gut essen“, den dritten Teil der Kitchen Diaries, von mir wieder die volle Punktzahl!
I don't know how to rate this one, there are some amazing vegan/vegetarian recipes in here, but most of it is meat and fish. Having said this, there are so many excellent vegetable recipes in here, I find it frustrating. Slater would be wise to extract all these wonderful recipes and publish a vegetable book based on the kitchen diaries (which there are three of). There are some real gems, potatoes with smoked garlic, aubergine cassoulet, beetroot leaf sauté, mushroom bourguignon, mushroom and garlic pasties.... Although I don't want a recipe book with meat in, this has many more vegan recipes than I would want to try from some vegan recipe books I own. I think what is great about this one, is that he has a vegetable garden and wants to cook simple, great tasting fresh food he has grown himself.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a gift and I have been following Nigel for a long time. This is one that I often go back to. It's so well written as always but I loved the concept of this book, a seasonal guide.
A joy as ever. Thoroughly enjoyed the previous two Kitchen Diaries but this has possibly been my favourite. Will read them all again and again. Now on to the Christmas Chronicles.
More than just a cookbook, rather it's a year in Slater's life, complete with small antidotes and delicious recipes. A book I keep returning to again and again and again.
Oh, it's so sad to finish this book, because I know there's not another one waiting for me on my bookshelf.
I just love these books, and I can't tell you precisely why. They're beautiful, yes. The writing in them is peaceful and lovely, and they're about one of my favorite things ever (food). But that doesn't really explain my maniacal love for them; so maniacal that I have bought them.
Anyway, I can't recommend them highly enough. Buy the British versions if you're planning on buying. (Though good luck getting your hands on them through your local library! Not the most purchased book by US libraries.)