I know, it’s a bit of an odd title, but bear with. As usual with my writing, there is a point, I promise!
First of all, I bloody love Nigel Slater and have done for over 20 years. He first burst into my consciousness late 1998 with his TV program on channel 4, Real Food. (Coincidentally, that is where I first saw my other culinary love, Nigella Lawson). Up until then, much of my food education was either Keith Floyd or Delia Smith. Now there is nothing wrong with these two. Delia’s Complete Cookery Course is still the book that I turn too if there is a classic that I need to cook. Her Christmas cakes were with me long before Nigella came onto the scene. But, there was something very different about Nigel.
I remember watching the episodes and loving the way he spoke about the food he was making. It wasn’t all faffy ingredients, tonnes of steps and frou-frou. It was stuff you could see yourself making and, more importantly, eating! I don’t think that I can remember any other TV cook or chef who’s passion you can feel through the screen. It was love at first sight.
As the years went on, it wasn’t just the food that gave Nigel a place in my heart, it was his whole demeanour. There is something about the way he speaks and the love of his garden that just lowers my blood pressure after a day at work. I know I can sink into my sofa and spend an hour or two enveloped in his programs and feel better. I can’t think of anyone else, other than perhaps Nigella, who can do that.
Most of his TV programs are repeated constantly on the food channels and I just love that. The recipes are just as joyous to me some 20 years later as they were when I first saw them. I loved the fact that he had guest chefs on there, Nigella, Peter Gordon and many others who became like old friends due to the number of times I’d seen them cook the same dish. It’s something that I know I’ll never tire of.
I also have to admit that I’m also slightly, ok ever so, jealous of his house and his minimalist way of life. He lives in a nigh-on puritanical fashion and I love that. I look at my house and it’s full of stuff, the detritus of a life of someone with mental health issues. I’m one of those people who’s still not cottoned on fully to the fact that stuff does not equate to happiness, but I’m getting there. I am slowly shunning the consumption of crap for the sake of it.
Nigel also has an eye for beautiful things that are made to last forever. He posted on Instagram earlier in the year about buying a 2nd cooks knife. That post actually made me shed a tear. Not only was the knife an object of great workmanship, but it was also the simplicity and necessity of it all that overwhelmed me. He loves the beauty of simple things. How could I forget his mug, it’s the most beautiful mug I’ve ever seen (you can see it here) I really have no idea how a mug and a knife could stir up such emotion in me, but they do. He champions the makers of fine things. The small and unusual. There is a lot to learn from this.
So why does Nigel warrant a place on my blog? Well other than what I’ve outlined here, he is an inspiration to me and an example of how I want to live. He’s just a normal guy who loves to cook and write. He does it with passion and that shines through in all his work. When read his words, I can hear him speaking. I can see his face, light up with pleasure, like a child, when they talk about something they love.
Simple, honest and life-affirming. Couldn’t we all do with a bit more of that?
Not Middle Aged 