"A little book of straightforward, contemporary recipes, quick or particularly easy to get to the table. A collection of recipes that are fast, simple and, I hope, fun."
That's from Nigel Slater's introduction to his new book (out today!) Eat - The Little Book of Fast Food
The recipes are written in the form of extended tweets, NS says, and that gives some indication of their simplicity, but many also come with extra ideas, notes and suggestions which allow for variations, so the repertoire of those sought-after 'on the table in under an hour' dishes is even further extended. I also like the tags Nigel has added to many of the recipes, summing them up in three or four words, for example, on Chocolate Oat Crumble (apricots and raspberries flavoured with elderflower cordial and baked with a chocolate-y, oaty topping) he comments, "heady, crisp, luscious", and for Poor Man's Potatoes (potatoes, peppers and onion simmered in vegetable stock), he adds, "frugal, rich, nourishing" - what more could you want?
Nigel's Real Fast Food in modest paperback is on permanent rotation in my kitchen
It accompanied me from Australia on our Cambridge sabbatical eleven years ago. With a cracked spine and many loose pages, it so very treasured and I look forward to introducing it to its more recent sibling.
Posted by: Martina | 27 September 2013 at 05:57 AM
What more indeed. I probably won't follow any of the recipes but it has already inspired tonight's supper.
Posted by: Sue | 27 September 2013 at 07:40 AM
NS talks about Real Fast Food in his introduction and says that Eat is a result of his wish "to update that dear little book and bring it in line with modern eating".
Posted by: Cornflower | 27 September 2013 at 08:49 AM
I do like his style, e.g. he says "cooking should, surely, be a light-hearted, spirited affair, alive with invention, experimentation, appetite and a sense of adventure", so I'm sure he'd heartily approve of his writing being used as inspiration!
Posted by: Cornflower | 27 September 2013 at 08:52 AM
Appetite is our 'bible', though the pages are rather disgusting these days! NS makes cooking so easy and adaptable. If I had to give a cookery book to a student, if would definitely be one of his
Posted by: Liz Davey | 27 September 2013 at 12:08 PM
I agree, Liz, he's a no-fuss cook and the results are always good.
Posted by: Cornflower | 02 October 2013 at 08:33 PM
We have acquired this book too. We tried the roasted beetroot & carrot & sausage dish Beetroot with Sausage and Rosemary and liked it a lot even though we are not massive fans of the "Devil's Food" :-)
I agree that he is a splendid writer of cookery books and have liked almost everything we have made from his many books that we own. However we are very wary of his timings for certain ingredients, particularly potatoes where he seems to use some sort of nuclear reactor as opposed to our ordinary oven(s).
Posted by: Dark Puss | 24 October 2013 at 07:58 AM
We can strongly recommend his Thai inspired hot and sour soup Green Vegetable Soup on page 51 which we had for lunch today with the end-of-season asparagus and new-season broad beans and peas. Lovely!
Posted by: Dark Puss | 08 June 2014 at 09:43 PM
Hi, last night we had his warm salad (well moderately hot salad if I am honest) of speck, potato, broccoli and dill flavoured creme fraiche which he describes on page 393. If you haven't tried it we commend it to you - dead easy too! Speck is uncooked of course and added on the plate so an excellent choice if you have a mixture of meat and non-meat eaters.
Posted by: Dark Puss | 15 March 2015 at 01:42 PM
Today for lunch I made the Bresaola, Emmental and Pickled Cucumber sandwich (p 25). Very nice indeed, though we dispensed with frying the bread in butter (not my idea of a good thing and another bit of faffing about too) and just toasted it. Easy and piquant.
Posted by: Dark Puss | 05 July 2015 at 02:05 PM