Nigel Slater.his budget, his kitchen, his food, him, rumble grump

[Minimammoth]

It had to be done. A Nigel Slater thread just to get it off your chest.
Do we really have the time that you have Nige?
Does he ever cook for more than one?

[mrsjay]

yes who sells those brown packages ? so i can ram them up their nose whats wrong with taking a knob of butter from a foil wrapper like we all do

[SirChenjin]

None of the supermarkets I go to, that's for sure! I wonder if the man has ever come across cling film, or plastic containers (and if he has I bet he can find the lids for all of his)

[mrsjay]

Bless him he is probably in bliss opening his little wrappers

[dementedma]

Brilliant writer, wonderful cook, creepy on telly

[LeGavrOrf]

I LOVE his writing. He comes across so well. But it all disappears on telly. I don't know how much is his fault or ridiculously Tristram production values, like the butter in brown paper mullarkey.

Did anyone watch Simon Hopkinson? Same high falutin foodie values but he is so watchable and seems a lovely chap.

[VileWoman]

Can't stand him on TV but don't mind his books, although I do find the recipes variable. HFW on the other hand is a god.

[stillstanding29]

Didn't Nigel say something about not being able to sleep if there isn't any cake in the house?? It's the other way round here - we can't sleep if there is cake in the house - we have to eat it all first. I enjoy watching Nigel - but his life and my life are worlds apart - I am stuck in a world that requires me to produce ridiculous amounts of food 3 times a day every bloody day :(

[SirChenjin]

I know what you mean Standing. In my house it's quantity over quality, and it's as quick as they can throw it down their throats. Not all the time, granted, but most of the time....

[RoseFlowerFairy]

I am not sure what to make of him, his movements are much slower than other TV chefs.

I thought the TV crew bought the food in normal shops and wrapped it in greaseproof paper themselves, do shops really wrap food like that in real life?

[NobodyPutsTomArcherInTheCorner]

Same here. I my head I'm Nige pottering about and making one lovingly prepared bespoke dish to eat whilst in quiet contemplation of my herb garden.

In reality I'm yelling come and get it and serving up piles of whatever with one of these

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I firmly believe that somewhere there is an assistant taking stuff out of the ASDA and Morrisons packaging and wrapping it up,in brown paper tied with Artisan String, hand spun by craftsmen specially for Nige.

That pat of butter is Tesco Value salted, not hand churned butter from a named cow.

Cynical? Moi?

[Steamedcabbage]

So pleased there is a thread about this as there has been a deep Nige rift between myself and my sister for years.

She loves him, as do all her friends, and they all cook his recipes on a frequent basis.

I just don't get the attraction.

It's all the contrived "oh sometimes I don't even plan supper, I just look in the fridge and see what is there" nonsense, when what is there enables him to make a perfect beetroot salad that "just happens" to contrast perfectly with a perfect sodding turquoise designer bowl that just happens to be lying on his perfect reclaimed wooden table ...

And all he seems to do is stand there and state the perfectly obvious in an irritatingly "confiding" manner...as though everyone watching is a complete dimwit..

I'd like to see him cook for a load of hungry children, on a budget, in an ordinary domestic kitchen.

[Treagues]

I owe Nigel Slater a lot. I came from a Fray Bentos pie sort of family and I hated it. I got my own place and a job around the time Real Fast Food was published.
Really good bits and pieces now cost an arm and a leg but they didn't always, fifteen years ago or so you could get dark and interesting ham/artisan sausages (arf)/varietal mangoes (double arf) for not that much, thought it's sell a kidney time nowadays I feel.

Anyway I grew herbs in pots, now have a wee bit in my garden, it is not hard and not uncommon. And I can make food that is bloody naice even if I am not no longer shopping at places where they wrap it up in brown paper and string. Coming from my background it wasn't a given and I'm very, very pleased about it. So lay off St Nige and come round for dinner, it'll be lovely

[Treagues]

BTW don't feel sorry for him eating alone, afaik he lives with his photographer

[K8Middleton]

I just can't get past those sad shots of him eating alone. It's the cookery show equivalent of old man in a supermarket with his sad basket of shopping.

[idiot55]

Jings poor Nige, lets hope he doesn't find this thread.

I like him, he seems a genuine sort of guy.

Toast is one of my favourite books!

He's passionate about food, nothing wrong with that.

[MsMunch]

Treagues you know you are right, there I go dissing the dude when he was instrumental in introducing me to herbs and non bentos produce.

[Davros]

It's a set. They all are. Nigella s is a studio in Acton I believe. I'm not kidding.
I live in nirth London (as mentioned up thread) and I've never seem butter in brown paper and string, unbelievable. I think he lives more Chelsea way tbh

[MaryBateman]

I watched it tonight and when he said "don't worry if your burgers fall apart a bit in the pan and don't look perfect, we're going for rustic style." I did want to stab him at that point. Rustic style?? That's just normal home cooking surely?

He gives me the creeps but probably only because he looks like my Godmother. It's very strange......

[Treagues]

You should all follow him on Twitter, I think most of you would love it.
He posts pictures of moments in his garden/at his table and dates them.
Quite often it's a tweet describing the fragrance of a rose.

I just think: this is the sort of shit you think matters when you have a nice house and no kids.

[marriedinwhiteisback]

I think he's lovely; I like his books; I love what he says about food; and his lamb shanks and oxtail have become legends in this house. Go Nigel.

Dreadful bunch of vipers on here sometimes.

[Minimammoth]

No not Vipers, just musing on what we are presented with and how far it is from life. Today's challenge, look in your fridge and come up with a tasty suppah a la Nige.

[pregnantpause]

I adore him. Beautiful writer, passionate about food and produce. He has influenced me in both cooking and gardening.
I admit however, that I avoided him for a decade as before I had read his books I had seem an episode of simple suppers that left me with an instant dislike of the smug little fu##er. His book came as an unwanted gift that I now treasure.

I have a suspicion about his always eating alone on television- in the books it's all 'we had x for supper' not I- is there a chance that they don't want to film him eating with a man and he won't eat with a staged female? Just hazarding a guess really, but I think he's gay, and whilst he may not hide it, I doubt the BBC want to flaunt it for fear of losing some viewers. If I'm wrong about his sexuality feel free to correct me, I don't mean to offend at all it's just a thought

[EstelleGetty]

I'm pretty sure he's gay, pregnantpause, the dramatisation of Toast a few years back more or less confirmed it.

I do like him a lot! Yeah, the tv show is a bit precious, but his books are fantastic, beautifully written and photographed. And ok, he has the time to tweet about the scent of roses and doesn't cook in a family-focused way. So what? He doesn't have children. Loads of people don't. A lot of people do get naice meat and cheese from the deli (I'm pretty sure the brown paper's added on set).

I challenge any Slater haters to read Toast and change your mind about him, even a little.

[Honsandrevels]

PregnantPause Nigel is open about being gay, no secret! Not all cookery programmes have cooks serving up food to friends. Delia never even tries her food. Assuming Nigel is lonely because he eats alone on his programme is a strange conclusion.