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I remember laughing with DH over an old Nigel programme when he said straight to camera "Ooh, I do love my sausages sticky". Love his writing and his recipes - have only seen one of the latest programmes but can vouch for the chilli feta - yum!

So, Nigel fans, which is his best book? I have Real Food and Real Fast Food, both of which I love. But which is the best out of his others?

It's for DP, and needs to be a proper cook book with recipes, rather than something prose-heavy. Any suggestions? Is the 30 minute meals one any good?

(PMSL at "sticky sausages"!!)

Tbh, I only really use those two, though I've got Kitchen DIaries (which is very prose heavy!) I would like a book of the Simple Suppers recipes but I don't think there is one -they're all on the Internet though. I'm doing the simple korma tonight-trying to eat more veg!

Can't bear him, either on paper or on TV.

Particularly couldn't bear it when he used to edit the Guardian/Observer Food Monthly supplement and the front cover was always 'Gorgeous Recipes from the World's Best Cook' and it turned out that the World's Best Cook was - ta da - Nigel Slater, the editor. Blow your own trumpet, much.

Maybe he is lovely in person.

Quick korma very delicious

He's a good cook and inspirational IF you don't have family meals to knock out Mon-Fri to fit around DS football training, DS cross country training, DD cub scouts, DH tennis matches, DD pilates, DH dayskipper course and whatever I find to do with any time left over for me (Ha!) He's a posh bloke who has loads of time to wander around his neighbourhood to funky ethnic grocers and come back home to cook 'whatever is left in the fridge'for himself and his partner. It's frivalous cooking and he is smug about it and his tyle of cooking doesn't work in our family. I think Jamie has his finger more on the pulse, he genuinely cares how and what people eat and most of his recipes in his later books are family-friendly.

He is but I love him!

Now don't get me started on Nigella & Jamie...smug doesn't even cut it with those two!!

Unavailable - yes Nigella is smug and makes me want to slap her - naturally DH practically dribbles at the screen. Nigel seems really genuine and his recipes are interesting and don't look too difficult (not actually tried enything yet but the intention is there).

Yes, Nigel is gay (does anyone care?) but I detect he's a nasty gay - off camera the asides will be very very bitchy and very hurtful. Closer to Kenneth Williams than Oscar Wilde. Without doubt Nigella would get a paste-ing.
His cooking is sensible and carefully done, but hey ho. Pretty damn tired of cooking shows - they're on because they're cheap.

Slater is just one of a very very very long line of middle class boys than have made their first step crawling to the well off, who will shell out £120 a plate. Second step is flogging some advice to the plebs.

Nigella is so much better value - she's comedy gold.

His recipes aren't recipes. Throw a bunch of Veg in a pot? Really? His leftovers aren't leftovers - my leftover cheese is two.inches of tesco mature cheddar, his is an.entire round.of brie. He claims to just be inventing things in his show - bull shit! It's been tested a dozen times, he's on a strict filming schedule. Disingenuous tosser .

Nigel has good reason to be smug ( is there a word for nice smug not horrible smug, he's nice smug) because he lives in Slaterland. I want to live in Slaterland or at least visit for a day.

In Slaterland you have every speciality food shop you can think of only a jaunt away. No slumming it in the hellhole of Tescos/Asda/Sainsbury's for our Nige, no, he can shop at his deli for his lovely ingredients and have cosy chats with HELPFUL and FRIENDLY shopkeeepers aswell! If I stood there trying to ask a fishmonger what to do with my fish for 'supper' he'd probably just look at me as if I had two heads and grunt, whilst a scowling queue was steadily forming behind me grumbling 'get a move on'. Nige never has queues and said shopkeeper then invites Nige round to cook for him!

Also in Slaterland you have a kitchen big enough to play tennis in and how on earth does he grow every herb under the sun in that 20 foot square of concrete? And how, how, when we've had one of the wettest summers on record, does it never rain over his house??

To be fair, they are actually like that in that fishmongers - really helpful if you want to stot around and answer questions. Even when it's a Saturday morning and the place is full of people. But it is a ludicrous programme. We alternate between 'sumg!# and 'How weird is his kitchen?' and 'I want to live in his garden' and 'let's have that for dinner'.

Zombie thread!

Having said that, glad I'm not the only one who gets the heebie jeebies from his greasy hair and overall manner <shudder>

Also, I fucking hate the word "supper" and people who use that word to describe their evening meal. Haaaaaaaate!

Oh dear. We have a new local butcher so we went along to support. And acquire a joint.
It was wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. Jolly tasty though and he threw in a spring of rosemary.

hiviolet I'm with you on supper. What a pretentious word to describe a bowl of cornflakes at 10.30pm