Tender - Nigel Slater

Volume II, A cook’s guide to the fruit garden

Nigel Slater With over 300 recipe ideas and many wonderful stories from the fruit garden, Tender: Volume II – A cook’s guide to the fruit garden is the definitive guide to cooking with fruit from Britain’s finest food writer.

And of course if you already own and love (as we do) Vol.1 then you are going to have to buy this one too, unless of course you find it under the Christmas tree on the 25th!

As Nigel says:
‘When I dug up my lawn to grow my own vegetables and herbs I planted fruit too. A handful of small trees - plum, apple and pear - some raspberry, blackberry and currant bushes and even strawberries in pots suddenly joined my patch of potatoes, beans and peas. These fruits became the backbone of my home baking, the stars in my cakes and pastries and even inspired the odd pot of jam. More than this, I started to use them in new ways too, from a weekday supper of pork chops with cider and apples to a Chinese Sunday roast with spiced plum sauce. The hot family puddings and fruit ices we had always loved so much suddenly took on a delicious new significance.’

About the author:

NIGEL SLATER is a cook who writes. He has been the food columnist for The Observer for seventeen years and is presenter of BBC1's Simple Suppers.

Author of seven cookery books, including Appetite and the much loved The Kitchen Diaries, his latest book is the two-volume Tender (Autumn 2010).
The film of his childhood memoir Toast, starring Freddie Highmore and Helena Bonham Carter, is to be shown at Christmas on BBC1. When will we see it in NZ?

Author, columnist and broadcaster, he remains very much an amateur cook. Nigel is not a chef. His food is understated, straightforward home cooking that is easy to accomplish and without a trace of what he affectionately calls 'celebrity cheffery'. He is not fond of fussy food and prefers simple suppers made with care and thought. He believes that making something good to eat for your self or for others can lift the spirits in the way little else can.

"There is something quietly civilizing about sharing a meal with other people. The simple act of making someone something to eat, even a bowl of soup or a loaf of bread, has a many-layered meaning. It suggests an act of protection and caring, of generosity and intimacy. It is in itself a sign of respect."

In November 2009 Nigel was presented with the award of Food Personality of the Year at the BBC Food and Farming Awards by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and was recently awarded an honorary degree (Master of Letters) from the University of Wolverhampton.