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Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch
by
Nigel Slater
A comprehensive, deeply personal, and visually stunning guide to growing and cooking vegetables from Britain’s foremost food writer, with more than 400 recipes and extensive gardening notes.
In the tradition of Roast Chicken and Other Stories comes Tender, a passionate guide to savoring the best the garden has to offer. An instant classic when it was first published in the...more
In the tradition of Roast Chicken and Other Stories comes Tender, a passionate guide to savoring the best the garden has to offer. An instant classic when it was first published in the...more
Hardcover, 624 pages
Published
April 26th 2011
by Ten Speed Press
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...There is the "do-it-and-dust-it" cook, who does it purely to get something on the table with which to fill the belly, and then there is the one who takes delight in unfolding a cabbage leaf by leaf, rubbing his or her hands over the rough skin of a russet apple, or sniffing a freshly cut lemon. The person who finds satisfaction in choosing the right knife and picking the right pot, who enjoys the scent of ingredients and the feel of food in his or her hands. Chopping, slicing, stirring, tasti...more
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Nigel Slater transformed his back yard into a garden. Not a fantastic, provide everything he eats garden ... but the sort of garden that someone who doesn't mind some failure does. And, of course, someone who likes to cook and eat. So we reap the benefit of his observations about gardening overall and then specifically about all sorts of vegetables. With recipes.
I like Slater's informal style and also his honesty about personal quirks. For example, he is determined to be organic and yet frustrat...more
I like Slater's informal style and also his honesty about personal quirks. For example, he is determined to be organic and yet frustrat...more
The two volumes of tender (one for fruit and one for veg) aren't just recipe books, they give basic instructions on how to grow different varieties. It hadn't even occurred to me that I could mail-order seeds. I know, I know! I am the least green fingered person I know, but these books make even me want to do something - like grow tomatoes on the windowsill in pots!
You can sit and read Nigel's descriptions of aubergines or apples and it makes your breath catch. He harnesses every single sense on...more
You can sit and read Nigel's descriptions of aubergines or apples and it makes your breath catch. He harnesses every single sense on...more
This book is a gorgeous and comprehensive review of twenty-nine vegetables that can be grown in a small space. It appeals to my gardener / cook's heart, and I am so glad that I bought the hardcover edition.
My husband/cook was happy to try out the Hungary-inspired Stew recipe, and when he did we were highly entertained by these directions:
“Bring everything to an enthusiastic simmer . . . “ and
“Bake, unpestered, for a good hour and a half.”
I can't wait to spring another recipe on him, and am onl...more
My husband/cook was happy to try out the Hungary-inspired Stew recipe, and when he did we were highly entertained by these directions:
“Bring everything to an enthusiastic simmer . . . “ and
“Bake, unpestered, for a good hour and a half.”
I can't wait to spring another recipe on him, and am onl...more
I've always been riveted by Nigel Slater's prose about cooking. I've loved his earlier cookbooks like Appetite and his Guardian column. He brings a unique combination of pragmatic instruction and lyrical and sensual writing. I believe there is no food writer like him. He is one of the first --and best --to avoid exact recipes and instead to write about the experience of cooking any given dish, as well as the experience of eating the result. (I do see Slater's influence in the focused, energetic...more
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I loved the first two Nigel Slater books I read/cooked from, but this just didn't feel quite as brilliant to me... It could be because, as a student, I don't have a garden and so half the waxing lyrical about the joy of growing your own was lost on me and my central London room. It could also be that my tastes just aren't as sophisticated as Nigel's, with his apparent love of having meals that totally focus on one veg (don't get me wrong, I love my veg, but not really in the way he is eating it...more
I love this man. While I use Bittman's classic for everyday cooking, Nigel Slater's books are perfect art. That's not to say that they aren't useful but I wouldn't pick up HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING for any reason other than cooking, whereas TENDER and KITCHEN DIARIES have manifold pleasures of utility and beauty. Beautiful photography, openhearted descriptive prose, and recipes that are in that sweet spot between ambitious and possible.
I enjoy reading creative writing about food. This is a beautiful book; artful, interesting and appetizing photos of food and plants. This book crosses genres in that it is a cookbook, gardening wisdom, and a very passionate and poetic diary of an accomplished gardener and chef. The voice is so strong I can hear his lovely English accent!
One of those quirky books I'm never sure about until I plunge into its pages, much like plunging my freshly-picked yellow beans into the pot at a roiling boil. Funny, and with beautiful photos. Of course, if you're dabbling in your own garden——or merely fantasizing about such——then another dimension sets in. A good read indeed.
Last year I was given two British cookbooks (The Vegetarian Option and Plenty) for Christmas, and with the addition of Tender, I'm wondering if British chefs are all the same. Like the other two, this book has absolutely gorgeous food-lust photography and is written in a distinctive part self-deprecating, part snooty know-it-all voice. This book is ostensibly about vegetables, but unlike the other two is not constrained by being purely veg. All three books share a common recipe technique: slice...more
One of the most beautiful books I have ever owned. Every vegetable is treated with the utmost respect from growing to harvesting to preparing...to eating. A must for the vegetable lover and for those who aren't quite sure about veggies yet. Gorgeous!
Since you’re interested in both cooking and gardening, you may find this book’s combination of the two compelling. The author, a British chef and food writer, shares tips on vegetable gardening and delicious recipes to build around your harvest.
Absolutely the most beautiful photos of vegetables I have ever seen. Great recipes, in alphabetical order by vegetable. The language is perhaps a little bit flowery, but I think it's inspiring to think of what Slater was able to grow in a tiny London garden.
This is food porn at its finest. I just about drooled on every page of this book. Slater's writing is vivid and I could easily visualise both his garden and the dishes he made from its bounty.
Nigel Slater's passion for his garden and for the vegetable-centric dishes that come from it are combined with hundreds of delectable recipes in this large, beautiful book. This one has been sitting beside my bed for a while now and has many sticky tabs marking the recipes I want to try. The writing is beautiful and it makes a great reference for cooking vegetables. I look forward to Ripe, his companion book on fruits to be released here in April.
Here's a link to his A Rich Root and Cheese Soup...more
Here's a link to his A Rich Root and Cheese Soup...more
Makes me want a patch of my own, quite desperately. Love Nigel Slater's writing, as always - it's as delicious as the food he cooks.
May 11, 2013
Cherie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
vegetarian-cookbooks
Oh Nigel…combining cooking seasonal veggies with growing techniques and oh the preparation and yummy recipes. Delightful!
An inspiring cookery book. It makes you want to cook and garden. Flowery in places but so much more than just a book of recipes
Aug 29, 2011
Melinda McLaughlin
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
cookbooks
Just lovely - the photographs, the writing, the delicious ideas. A must for any veggie obsessed cook.
Mar 30, 2012
Joy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
food-meditations,
cookbooks
Made me want to eat all the vegetables I previously hated. A pretty exceptional feat for a book, I'd say.
This book is as delicious to savor as the vegetables & recipes depicted inside. *drool*
The memoir aspect was more interesting than the recipes (but I do like his carrot cake)
Slater food books read like novels and make me drool.
Mar 22, 2012
Gail
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
lovers of veggies and/or gardening
Recommended to Gail by:
cookbook club
Great book! I like his style of writing. His recipes are a little heavy on the cream, blue cheese and anchovies and seems to really like boiling things, but it is a very appealing approach to British cooking. The gardening tips probably aren't very helpful for those in the States, but it really makes you want to get out there and try gardening yourself. Nevertheless, it is a must read if you love veggies and/or gardening.
Wonderful recipes as ever from St Nigel. Delicious writing and I've used Nigel's suggestions for what grows well *and* tastes good for this year's seed buying.
Tender is fabulous book for the seasonal grower and eater to dip into through the year and as such I think will turn out to be one of those books that grows on you.
Note: though this book is vegetable-centric, the recipes are not all vegetarian
Tender is fabulous book for the seasonal grower and eater to dip into through the year and as such I think will turn out to be one of those books that grows on you.
Note: though this book is vegetable-centric, the recipes are not all vegetarian
emeralds
A beautiful, special treat of a cookbook.
Nigel Slater has a beautiful style of writing that makes you hungry and eager to cook. Unfortunately this book is filled with so much of it that I didn't really have the time to appreciate it. I basically just flipped through and looked at the recipes. This (and it's other 2 companions, I imagine) would be great reference books for cooks who are looking to start their own gardens to cook from.
I really like this book, though I am beginning to think that in order to reproduce his wonderful and simple recipes you must have organic and extremely flavorful ingredients.
So much fun to read. Clever almost to the point of obnoxiousness, but I don't think one can be too clever in writing about vegetables.
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Nigel Slater is a British food writer, journalist and broadcaster. He has written a column for The Observer Magazine for seventeen years and is the principal writer for the Observer Food Monthly supplement. Prior to this, Slater was food writer for Marie Claire for five years. He also serves as art director for his books.
Although best known for uncomplicated, comfort food recipes presented in earl...more
More about Nigel Slater...
Although best known for uncomplicated, comfort food recipes presented in earl...more
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“Pamper a tomato, overfeed it, overwater it and you will get a Paris Hilton of a tomato.”
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2 people liked it
“...I have become more interested than ever in the effect of a diet higher in 'greens' than it is in meat - both in terms of my own wellbeing and, more recently, those implications that go beyond me and those for whom I cook.”
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2 people liked it
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