The Kitchen Diaries II – Nigel Slater

Kitchen Diaries Full Of Inspiration

If you liked Kitchen Diaries I, you will love his latest book. I must admit Nigel Slater comes closest to a celebrity cook that I would love to emulate. And I say cook rather than chef, because that’s how he describes himself.

His recipes are simple with few ingredients and with lots of suggestions as to how to make some changes to the way he is showing you. He talks about food and recipes with genuine passion and doesn’t apologise for recipes made with just a few simple, tasty recipes. He also suggest that his recipes are not necessarily to be followed to the letter, but to inspire ideas – and they certainly do that!

For example, his description of the taste of juniper berries in January has made me want to try them in a recipe. The ham and cabbage fry up, he uses them in sounds lovely and is very simple and very delicious!

Cooking, Utensils And Tools

Not only does he talk about food, but about his cooking implements. Like many of us he has some he has had for years and years, that have definitely seen better days and yet go on being used because they are so familiar and comfortable. He has trusty, inexpensive knives that he has had for decades.

I like that he talks about the ups and downs of how he does things – even discussing different kitchen papers, baking parchment and greaseproof paper. It’s practical and interesting stuff that is often not mentioned in many cookery books, or at least not in such an honest and down to earth way.

A Book For Cooking With – And For Reading

As Nigel says himself in his opening pages, this is a book that will be found as often on the bedside table as the kitchen table. Unlike many cookery books, though that might stay on the bedside table, this book will be inspiring people to jump into the kitchen and to use their favourite foods in new and exciting ways, without having to get unusual or exotic ingredients or spend hours over a hot stove.

You do need to read the text or you will miss some of the simplest ideas as not all his ideas are written into recipes. He describes a delicious sounding chickpea, parsnip and chard recipe in an article that starts off about his wooden spoons. This is a book to read and then to act on.

The book is full of lovely simple recipes – ever heard of Mincemeat Cheesecake? Maybe not but doesn’t the though make you want to try it? So often I look at cookery books full of delicious recipes but they are so complicated, expensive or made with hard to get ingredients that it seems like too much effort. But this book is a book that just makes me want to get into the kitchen and start cooking, because nothing is too difficult.

A Book For All Seasons

Because the book follows through the seasons, it uses seasonally available ingredients and even follows them through their life cycle from the tender first harvests through to when a vegetable may be past its best.

Mr Slater also talks about making his television programme, including the fact that whilst he cooks like he is blissfully alone cooking for one, he in fact surrounded by several people making up the camera crew. An illusion spoiler if ever there was one! The camera crew are apparently pretty keen to help him finish up what he has cooked too!

Conclusion on Kitchen Diaries II

All in all this is a cookery book I would recommend. In fact it may end up being added to my all time favourite cook books. This is a book for real everyday cooks who enjoy food but don’t want to spend all their life in the kitchen. Although its is so inspiring, it does encourage you in there to try out some of the exciting ideas!