What do you think?
Rate this book
Appetite
"If you decide to go through life without cooking you are missing something very, very special. You are losing out on one of the greatest pleasures you can have with your clothes on." Nigel Slater
A chance comment spurred the heralded Observer columnist and wildly popular cookbook author Nigel Slater to write Appetite. A reader asked"If you don't give me exact amounts in a recipe, then how will I know if it is right?" Slater realized the reader had so little confidence in his own cooking that he didn't know what he liked unless he was told. Appetite is not about getting it right or wrong; it is about liking what you cook.
To help the everyday cook achieve culinary independence, Slater supplies the basics of relaxed, unpretentious, hearty cooking, written with his trademark humour and candour. Slater doesn't believe in replicating restaurant-style theatricality to impress guests -- he simply loves food, and his love is evident on every page.
Slater covers the philosophies of cooking, the basics to have on hand, and detailed descriptions of necessary equipment and ingredients. He tells you which wok to buy (the cheap one), and why it can pay to flirt with the fishmonger. There are sections on seasoning, a good long list of foods that pair well, and a large collection of recipes for soup, pasta, rice, vegetables, fish, meat, pastry and desserts. These are straightforward, easy-to-make dishes adapted for the North American cook -- every one a springboard to something new, different and delicious. And with full-colour photography throughout the book, Appetite is a feast for the eyes as well as the palate.
A chance comment spurred the heralded Observer columnist and wildly popular cookbook author Nigel Slater to write Appetite. A reader asked"If you don't give me exact amounts in a recipe, then how will I know if it is right?" Slater realized the reader had so little confidence in his own cooking that he didn't know what he liked unless he was told. Appetite is not about getting it right or wrong; it is about liking what you cook.
To help the everyday cook achieve culinary independence, Slater supplies the basics of relaxed, unpretentious, hearty cooking, written with his trademark humour and candour. Slater doesn't believe in replicating restaurant-style theatricality to impress guests -- he simply loves food, and his love is evident on every page.
Slater covers the philosophies of cooking, the basics to have on hand, and detailed descriptions of necessary equipment and ingredients. He tells you which wok to buy (the cheap one), and why it can pay to flirt with the fishmonger. There are sections on seasoning, a good long list of foods that pair well, and a large collection of recipes for soup, pasta, rice, vegetables, fish, meat, pastry and desserts. These are straightforward, easy-to-make dishes adapted for the North American cook -- every one a springboard to something new, different and delicious. And with full-colour photography throughout the book, Appetite is a feast for the eyes as well as the palate.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published October 5, 2000
10 people are currently reading
1837 people want to read
About the author
Nigel Slater
82 books426 followersNigel 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
March 26, 2012
This book starts with fabulous descriptions of produce - Nigel tell's us that a ripe Mango should be firm but giving, like a woman's breast!
The recipes use fewer ingredients which makes Appetite one of my 'go-to' cookbooks. It has a robust Meat and Fish section; my only complaint is the pudding section - not as comprehensive as other areas of the book.
My favourite recipes include his sausages baked in rich onion gravy (and I don't like sausages!), aromatic fish, whole-baked fish, a fish stew, and the lemon-roasted chicken. Yummy.
The recipes use fewer ingredients which makes Appetite one of my 'go-to' cookbooks. It has a robust Meat and Fish section; my only complaint is the pudding section - not as comprehensive as other areas of the book.
My favourite recipes include his sausages baked in rich onion gravy (and I don't like sausages!), aromatic fish, whole-baked fish, a fish stew, and the lemon-roasted chicken. Yummy.
September 23, 2014
Good, useful book for those just beginning to venture into the waters of cooking for pleasure.
Some areas of no use to anyone in the southern hemisphere.
A few good recipe ideas.
I do like Nigel Slater's attitude to cooking and food.
Some areas of no use to anyone in the southern hemisphere.
A few good recipe ideas.
I do like Nigel Slater's attitude to cooking and food.
March 16, 2018
This isn't merely a book of recipes. This is a book about the joy of making good food, unrestrained by slavish instructions, and then sharing that food with others. This is the book that pushed me over the edge of minimalistic cooking (completing what Jamie Oliver began). Before I understood what this book really was, I found that I was actually a little annoyed with the author's rantings. Just get on with the recipes! However, once I finally realized that this book is the conversation Nigel Slater would have with you if you sat down to discuss food with him, I bought into it wholeheartedly.
I don't just cook from this book. I read this book. Nigel cooks for the same reasons that I cook, and with the same goals. I want to make good food without having to spend long hours or worry about precise amounts or long lists of ingredients. I want to enjoy the process of making, eating, and sharing the food. Those are the motives behind this book.
The recipes here are meant to be viewed more as guidelines, and most offer several suggestions for variations. These recipes aren't refined or creative. Most are simple, straightforward (even obvious), and very good. If you need precise details when cooking, you may feel uncomfortable with it at first, although one of the main goals of the book is to help free home cooks from the need for precision.
I don't just cook from this book. I read this book. Nigel cooks for the same reasons that I cook, and with the same goals. I want to make good food without having to spend long hours or worry about precise amounts or long lists of ingredients. I want to enjoy the process of making, eating, and sharing the food. Those are the motives behind this book.
The recipes here are meant to be viewed more as guidelines, and most offer several suggestions for variations. These recipes aren't refined or creative. Most are simple, straightforward (even obvious), and very good. If you need precise details when cooking, you may feel uncomfortable with it at first, although one of the main goals of the book is to help free home cooks from the need for precision.
May 11, 2010
I loved this book! He has a really fun "foodie" style of writing -- reminiscent of Father Capon. Some of his advice wasn't applicable for me, since I live in the U.S. (and have never seen a damson :-D); however, it was all enjoyable to read. I especially liked his sections on vegetables and fruits, where he talked about which flavors went best with what, and the best uses of each thing. I've tried several of the recipes from this book (chicken with tarragon sauce; bearnaise sauce; "a potato supper") and loved the flavors. My bearnaise sauce split despite my trying his tips, but it still tasted good. :) And the pictures in the book are so pretty! It's a book that's torture to read when you're hungry.
April 30, 2008
A great collection of recipes from one of my favourite food writers.
November 28, 2010
One of my favorite cookbooks. Not so much a gathering of recipes as an authentic, creative, unstructured approach to the making of good food.
May 8, 2008
i don't usually consider myself to have "read" the many cookbooks i've opened up, but this one is an exception - i'm reading it cover to cover, and on page 98, i've only encountered a couple recipes so far. a realistic & motivating attitude toward home cooking, this one, with lots of useful information presented in memorable ways (which herbs to add at the beginning and which to add at the end, and WHY in a way that now makes what i've been doing by following recipes all these years make sense, for instance).
HOWEVER, there is much of slater's opinion in this book. while this enlivens the book with personality and makes it so fun to read, i really disagree with quite a bit of it. such as his suggestion that one should never buy brussels sprouts and his tendency to think that a potato is the only side dish you really ever need for anything.
HOWEVER, there is much of slater's opinion in this book. while this enlivens the book with personality and makes it so fun to read, i really disagree with quite a bit of it. such as his suggestion that one should never buy brussels sprouts and his tendency to think that a potato is the only side dish you really ever need for anything.
November 24, 2016
I read about Nigel Slater in Lucky Peach magazine, and his ideas on cooking sounded interesting, so I ordered the book. Slater is a natural writer and conversationalist and, clearly, a natural cook as well. His attitude toward cooking is to keep it simple and comforting, and he explains techniques to do so better than any of the other, oh, 500 cookbooks I've read. His recipe for cooking firm whitefish (we have local rock cod that fits that description) is the only one anyone ever needs to know, and his language in explaining the process (I hesitate to say it's a "recipe") is colloquial and friendly ("Don't let it all slosh about..."). When I finished this book, I immediately sent a copy to my sister in Portland, Oregon, who is insecure about her cooking ability. Listen to Nigel, there's no mystery, there's just respect.
February 3, 2013
Nigel Slater's cookbooks make excellent bedside reading - except that you will find yourself sneaking downstairs to the dark kitchen to rustle up something from the fridge.... This is a super book for teaching newbie cook some excellent basics, without reading IN ANY WAY like a textbook.
I would suggest Nigel Slater's books would make an excellent choice for the cook at ANY stage in their career - beginner right through to professional chef.
Gread pictures too - even thought there isn't a picture for every recipe. A great example is the picture of him holding the bread dough, complete with floury hands, showing how it should be done - not just staged picture of dough rising in a bowl. The book and the pictures manage to inspire confidence in me as a cook.
I would suggest Nigel Slater's books would make an excellent choice for the cook at ANY stage in their career - beginner right through to professional chef.
Gread pictures too - even thought there isn't a picture for every recipe. A great example is the picture of him holding the bread dough, complete with floury hands, showing how it should be done - not just staged picture of dough rising in a bowl. The book and the pictures manage to inspire confidence in me as a cook.
ongoing-read-reference
April 3, 2008Ok, to be totally honest, I haven't picked up this book in a long time, but I look at it often, sitting on my shelf, and eye it with anticipation! My husband is always encouraging me to cook without recipes. I'm trying to approach cooking more creatively and have fun with it, combining ingredients and flavors that I like, and just seeing what happens. That's what I like about this cookbook - it focuses more on the individual ingredients and their unique potential, and less on strict recipes of how they should be combined.
August 30, 2009
I am in love with this book! This is a book for those who seriously want to cook- who want to experience the deep pleasure of cooking without a recipe. Instead of precise recipes, Slater gives the reader rough blueprints for how to go about one thing or another, making sure to clearly explain what works and how, and how to add embellishments along the way. I've never seen a cookbook like this, and can imagine this could be one of only a few cookbooks needed to teach oneself how to cook- really well. Simple, witty, greedy, "Appetite" satisfies my hunger brilliantly.
June 15, 2008
I didn't intend to read the whole thing in one sitting, so that says something about how compelling his writing is. Haven't actually tested the recipes, but some great sensible advice on keeping things simple. I need recipes these days that won't make it sound easier to get take-out and this seems to be a perfect book for that. Also seems really good and reassuring for a beginning cook. Loved the section on what flavors go best with other flavors.
September 30, 2008
The first half of this book consists of various cooking tips and techniques. Nigel tells you the best ways to select your mangoes, the best foods to pair with tarragon, and what to eat in April. Really practical things. The second half of the book is filled with delicious looking recipes that, admittedly, I only skimmed. This is the only cookbook I've considered buying. My only complaint is that I wish the section on cheese would have been longer.
June 6, 2012
I always enjoy Nigel's books and his philosophy around food and cooking. Recipes, he argues, should be a source of inspiration and ideas, not things to follow religiously. He presents a way of cooking, shopping and eating that places good fresh ingredients at the forefront but that is not fussy or complicated. His motto seems to be eat what you enjoy and enjoy cooking it, because it is indeed a great pleasure.
September 8, 2007
I generally don't like big glossy oh look at the pictures cookbooks, but this is a really fantastic guide to making good, simple food. Sure, it has very shiny pretty photographs, but it's also a cooking manifesto. And the recipes are really, really useful, especially for nascent cooks who are now good enough to wreck things spectacularly.
March 10, 2008
This cook book changed the way that I cook, which for someone who loves cooking is saying a lot. I read this book like a novel, cover to cover. There are zillions of little recipe ideas embedded in Nigel's commentary about everything from letting kids in the kitchen to what to keep in your kip. My biggest take away - cooking is not about what you're making but who you're making it for.
August 25, 2012
The "recipes" in this book are great -- if sometimes just a bit too English for my Texan sensibilities -- but the real star is Nigel's writing. Probably the only "cookbook" I've ever picked up that is also essential cover-to-cover reading. Also, the photography in here pretty much the greatest thing I've ever seen in my life.
March 4, 2013
It's Nigel Slater, what can I say? I would like to acquire all his knowledge and feel for the subject and have it in my brain forever. There are a few brilliant recipes in this book, that seem simple and perfect. A very pleasant read and to end it all, a little rumination on washing up. I love his Kitchen Diaries even more.
October 6, 2014
Fantastic resource cookbook, all about starting points and where you can take a 'recipe' from there. Encourages thinking and being more involved with your cooking than just measuring/mixing/cooking. It is a cookbook but it is also wonderfully readable.
This was a library read but I'm pretty sure I'm going to order my own copy of this one.
This was a library read but I'm pretty sure I'm going to order my own copy of this one.
May 28, 2010
This is a marvellous book. Slater gives you room to adapt and change his recipes, even including lists of potential variations and additions. Gloriously satisfying and hearty dishes, with ample descriptions of what sort of meal (comforting, light, healing, etc) each one will be.
April 24, 2010
A very influential cookbook for me, introducing the exuberant and unpretentious British cooking writing style that led me to Jamie and Nigella. I like that his list of pantry staples includes m&ms.
March 20, 2011
Great cookbook. No recipe required approach to making satisfying food to suit your appetite. Writing is direct and personal. Lush photography! Not figure friendly unless you have will power over portion size.
July 11, 2011
This is a cooks bible. Not a recipe book per se. The tricks and advice in this are fabulous. What to cook in which month, what to slave over and what to buy simply.
This is a book to read and devour if you are a true foodie. The daddy in my bookshelf.
This is a book to read and devour if you are a true foodie. The daddy in my bookshelf.
July 26, 2016
Not so much a recipe book, but rich friendly advice on cooking in general, and particularly cooking without recipes. Nigel Slater's personality is evident, and the writing is very descriptive and evocative. Many insightful tips, much inspiration. Very enjoyable reading.
May 22, 2007
If I was stuck on a desert island with unlimited food and cooking facilities, but only allowed one book, I think this would be it.
October 31, 2008
I love Nigel Slater's books and always use the roast chicken recipe and the crumble recipe from this book. It produces a crumble with attitude!
March 30, 2009
Nigel is a new favorite of mine. He has truly influenced the way I approach meal planning and cooking. Also, such an entertaining writer.
July 18, 2009
This is such a practical,informative,non-fussy,non-trendy cookbook....basic central ideas with simple variations to try according to your taste....plus- the perfect Lemon Delicious Pudding recipe!
March 30, 2010
I'm sure Slater is a kitchen genius but the book is more like prose and not very accessible to the home cook. It's going back to the library basically unused.
September 25, 2011
Maybe one day I will open this book and things will jump out at me that I want to make. So far, not.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews