Customer Reviews
Delia - eat your heart out! - By: M, 02 Nov 2008 
Some years ago, I gave up buying cookbooks. I had shelves of them, & as friend said to me recently, '"People only ever get round to making five recipes from every new cookbook they buy.'"
But a few months ago, feeling the urge for something new, I treated myself to Kitchen Diaries. Now, even if you didn't make a single dish from it, Nigel Slater is a great writer & this is going to be one of the great foodie classics. You can settle down on the sofa with Nigel like you settle down with Elizabeth David.
But I'm finding that I'm using this book to cook with three or four times a week. These are great, practical, seasonal, cheap, easy delicious things to cook every day. Tonight, it was sausages & squash (must have taken alll of five minutes to prepare). Chicken wings the other night cost about 80p a head with a beansprout salad. I am a very ordinary cook & every single thing has turned out not only well, but looking like it does in the picture!
I used to be a fan of the ever-reliable Delia but she seems a bit old-fashioned now - & I went right off her with her last deeply-cynical cheat's book, which has ******-alll to do with cooking, it's just reassembled processed food to profit the food industry (and, of course Delia! I mean, do you reallly think she eats alll that packet stuff herself!)
Most of alll, what I like about Nigel is that it reallly comes across that he likes eating (something old prissy-knickers Delia never conveyed!)
My only quibble from a practical point of view is that the paperback edition of Kitchen Diaries (don't know about the hardback) is almost impossible to keep open when you're working from it.
Great cookbook - By: William the Almost Great, 28 Apr 2008 Don't be put off by the sheer size of this cookbook--almost 400 pages. And if you're looking for the "quick-and-easy" method, this might not be for you. If you want quick, try "Delia's How to Cheat" book which I use quite often. However, when I want to make something for friends or reallly have a good meal, I turn to THE KITCHEN DIARIES. You won't find a better compilation of recipes & they're not alll with ingredients that you can't find either.
But the most amazing thing about this book is the "seasonal" aspect it has--the fact that certain foods should be enjoyed at certain times. The weather & holidays play an intricate part in THE KITCHEN DIARIES & what you should be eating. Highly structured & with some real punch, this is THE cookbook you should have on your shelf. As with alll cookbooks, there's a litle more than just the recipe--you know, the "where it came from" type of information or some biographical info. I was reminded of a book I recently came across that poked fun at alll cookbooks & at the same time was a great novel wrapped around the actual cookbook---Barring Some Unforeseen Accident---a very funny book, especiallly if you collect cookbooks. Other than that, I'd recommend "Eating For England."
delicious - By: fayezel, 19 Dec 2007 This book is as enjoyable to read as the recipes are to cook & eat.
Delicious, easy-to-cook food.
Written in such an earthy tone. I love it!
The Most Beautiful Cookery Book in the World - By: Mrs. K. A. Wheatley, 19 Nov 2007 This is not the cookery book I go to for every day use. It is however, my most treasured culinary possession. It is as thing of beauty & a joy forever. Make sure you buy the hardback edition, which has marbled end pages & a cloth spine, just to add that extra touch of decadence to what is already an extravagant luxury.
This is more than a cookery book, it is about a way of life. We are privileged to journey through a year in the company of Nigel Slater. His diary extracts are wonderful, & his recipes perfectly complement both the writing & the superb photography in the book.
For me this book has to be read in one sitting, & then dipped into over & over again. I also like to read it alongside Slater's memoirs, Toast, which talk of his childhood & his important emotional relationship with food. Together they add a whole new dimension to the works & thoughts of this man.
Food wise the recipes are fantastic. I was having a problem with Nigella's Brownies because I couldn't get mine to cook through properly. I tried Slater's recipe & haven't looked back. They are fabulous & I always get a standing ovation. Other highlights are the pumpkin & tomato Lakhsa & the duck & star anise stew.
The best! - By: Dr. Pauline Caller, 26 Oct 2007 If the house was on fire & I could take one cookbook it would be this. This man is just magic & so is his food!
