Toast is Nigel Slater's truly extraordinary story of a childhood remembered through food. In each chapter, as he takes readers on a tour of the con...
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May 10, 2011
K.D.
rated it: 
This book brought back childhood memories. Not that I was into hard-to-pronounce food names when I was growing up but reading the book made me think back of how it was when I was growing up in Quezon. There is a part in Nigel's memory as a boy when he kept on discussing the odor of their house or the people in it. Did our house in Quezon have an odor? Maybe the odor of the sand (as our house had no cement flooring then), beer and smoke (as my father had those vices), copra (just like the last ti
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Apr 14, 2008
Bethany
rated it:
An enjoyable collection of memories linked to food.
I felt sad for Nigel as a young boy. He seemed to lack so much. Gladly, he was able to find happiness as an adult.
When I finished this book, I immediately began to read Orxy and Crake. I was amazed at how many similar themes the two books shared. Mother leaves at a young age. Father is too distracted with life to pay attention to young boy. Many memories around food.
I think the two books make an interesti
I felt sad for Nigel as a young boy. He seemed to lack so much. Gladly, he was able to find happiness as an adult.
When I finished this book, I immediately began to read Orxy and Crake. I was amazed at how many similar themes the two books shared. Mother leaves at a young age. Father is too distracted with life to pay attention to young boy. Many memories around food.
I think the two books make an interesti
Jan 30, 2012
John
rated it: 
I'm giving this one a fourth star because Slater really does write well; however, he became progressively bitchier as the book went on. His world fell apart when his mother died when he was 10, which is understandable, though not for the usual reasons. He's fairly open about his ability to manipulate his parents, esp his mother ("Eventually, if I nagged persistently enough, they'd get me what I wanted ... just as I'd moved on to wanting something else usually (sigh)"). Life with his si
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Feb 15, 2011
Fiona
rated it:
A delightful little memoir written by Britain's greatest food writer. Written in bitesize chapters within a entire feast of words, Nigel Slater narrates with great honesty, wit and vividity his "story of a boy's hunger", his sexual awakening, his culinary journey through childhood and adolesence in sixties suburban England. 'Toast' is flavoured with Nigel's favourite tastes and teenage torments, decorated with a dollop of pain and seasoned with a great big pinch of passion for food a
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Jan 02, 2011
Cecily
rated it:
Autobiographical account of middle class 60s/70s childhood, as defined and recalled by particular foods and his mother's poor cooking - except that it wasn't quite as bad as he makes out. As he is the same age as me, many of the typical foods of his childhood have strong memories for me too (surprise peas, angel delight, space dust). Subtitled "A boy's hunger", which is emotional at least as much as it is culinary. Sweet and sour.
I have just seen the BBC TV adaptation (Decem More...
I have just seen the BBC TV adaptation (Decem More...
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Aug 08, 2011
The concept of this novel is really good and Nigel Slater really takes us on a journey of the senses as he descibes his life through the food he has come across.
I think Slaters description of his life through food really is mutli-sensory as he describes the look, taste, texture and smell of those foods presented to him. Its something that everyone can relate to - I certainly remember where and when I tasted some of the best food I have ever had, and so for Slater to use these memories as teh b More...
I think Slaters description of his life through food really is mutli-sensory as he describes the look, taste, texture and smell of those foods presented to him. Its something that everyone can relate to - I certainly remember where and when I tasted some of the best food I have ever had, and so for Slater to use these memories as teh b More...
Oct 14, 2011
Sandra
rated it:
Nigel Slater is my favourite cookery writer and TV food presenter. I refuse to call him a television chef, because he isn't, but he understands food and how different flavours and textures work together. His cookery books aren't at all fussy or precise and he makes it very clear that cooking is a very personal practice that can be varied as the cook wishes. But his recipes draw in the reader, make your mouth water, and make you want to rush off to the kitchen to start trying the dishes for yo
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Aug 29, 2011
Grace
rated it:
This book was ok , i didn't love it , yet i didn't hate it... so here is what its about....
This book is basically about a boy who only remembers his childhood through food. He tells the story of how each food had its own special meaning.
^^ that is bascially what its about. I couldn't really say anymore about it because it is very difficult to write about unless you actually read the blurb or have read the book itself. There is a sort of storyline to this book as it is woven into all o More...
This book is basically about a boy who only remembers his childhood through food. He tells the story of how each food had its own special meaning.
^^ that is bascially what its about. I couldn't really say anymore about it because it is very difficult to write about unless you actually read the blurb or have read the book itself. There is a sort of storyline to this book as it is woven into all o More...
Aug 26, 2011
Andrea
rated it:
Engaging memoir written in a unique structure--each chapter is about a food item and the memories from his childhood Slater associates with it.
I'm still mulling over all of the sex in it, though. Of course, I don't expect a memoir to not mention sex; but Slater includes a lot of it in here--the book is as much a recounting of his interest in food growing up as it is of his sexual growing up (and, in the bargain, leaving us tantalizingly unclear about his sexual orientation).
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I'm still mulling over all of the sex in it, though. Of course, I don't expect a memoir to not mention sex; but Slater includes a lot of it in here--the book is as much a recounting of his interest in food growing up as it is of his sexual growing up (and, in the bargain, leaving us tantalizingly unclear about his sexual orientation).
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Jul 27, 2010
Bluenose
rated it:
Ann tells me I got this for her at Harrod’s in 2004. It does have a price in pounds though the sticker on the cover says Sussex Stationers. I found it in our bookshelves so I guess there are still some books there that I haven’t read.
Nigel Slater is a British food writer of whom I was vaguely aware. This is the story of his early life told with a great deal of reference to food, particularly candy, of which the British have a mind boggling variety. I vividly remember English sweet s More...
Nigel Slater is a British food writer of whom I was vaguely aware. This is the story of his early life told with a great deal of reference to food, particularly candy, of which the British have a mind boggling variety. I vividly remember English sweet s More...
Jan 08, 2010
pinknantucket
rated it:
The thing I was most amazed about when reading this book was Nigel Slater’s apparently incredible memory for food – the taste, the appearance, the context. I tried to conjure up of some of my childhood memories of food, but all I could think of was the time I threw up after eating spaghetti and dreaming about gorillas (left over from an episode of David Attenborough’s “Life on Earth”). And I can’t claim to remember the particular texture or special ingredients of the spaghetti in question. (The
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Nov 27, 2009
Beth
rated it: 
While I generally liked the author's voice and many of the stories, I think this book was hampered by the American publisher trying to balance the unique British qualities and items in the book with the need to appeal to an American audience. Thus there's a glossary, which is a nice idea but wasn't really successful because it included lots of obvious terms the reader would probably know or could figure out from context and left out several items that would have been helpful. (The glossary also
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Mar 08, 2010
Louise
rated it:
It's stating the obvious, but Nigel Slater is a chef and a cookery writer, and for the most part this book is about food, and the parts that were just about food I thoroughly enjoyed. It was like taking a trip down memory lane reading about foods and sweets from my childhood that I'd forgotten all about - the ice creams you used to get from the ice cream man in slabs wrapped in paper for example, Birds custard and that horrible, horrible milk all primary school children used to be given.
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Feb 19, 2011
Kirsti
rated it:
About tapioca: "This is the most vile thing I have ever put in my mouth, like someone has stirred frog-spawn into wallpaper paste."
I love my library's used-book sale because I find random things I never would have heard of otherwise. This is a sad and funny memoir about growing up obsessed with food. At first I thought it was going to be a male, foodie version of Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life or A Girl Named Zippy . . . an entertaining memoir of a childhood in which noth More...
I love my library's used-book sale because I find random things I never would have heard of otherwise. This is a sad and funny memoir about growing up obsessed with food. At first I thought it was going to be a male, foodie version of Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life or A Girl Named Zippy . . . an entertaining memoir of a childhood in which noth More...
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Dec 23, 2009
Kasey
rated it: 
Under normal circumstances, I am not one to read memoirs. Quite honestly I don’t care about someone else’s life enough to read a whole book about their life. Especially if I don’t know them other than seeing them on television. If a friend wrote a memoir, on the other hand, I’d snatch it up in a heartbeat if only to see how much smack they talk about me. LOL But as a dear friend took the time to send me a copy of Toast knowing how much I enjoy learning about the ordinary life in the UK, I decide
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Jan 11, 2009
Stephanie
rated it:
I guess I love British celebrity chefs so much because I don't have to watch them on TV.
I hate all the German famous cooks because they're everywhere in the media around me, whereas somebody who only exist on the internet and in cookbooks can't get on your nerves.
So I had never really heard of Nigel Slater until about a week ago when I picked up one of his cookbooks in the library.
Even though it was a translated copy, I instantly fell in love with both his style of cooki More...
I hate all the German famous cooks because they're everywhere in the media around me, whereas somebody who only exist on the internet and in cookbooks can't get on your nerves.
So I had never really heard of Nigel Slater until about a week ago when I picked up one of his cookbooks in the library.
Even though it was a translated copy, I instantly fell in love with both his style of cooki More...
Oct 06, 2011
Adnams
rated it:
Toast is a memoir about the difficulty years of TV cook Nigel Slater’s life from just before he lost his mother at about the age of nine till his father died when he was 16 when he went off to catering college and finally realised his dream to be able to cook.
From this book you get the impression that while Slater idolised his mother he never really got on with the father, and it was not for want of trying, as his father didn’t really know what to think of him as he wasn’t into sports More...
From this book you get the impression that while Slater idolised his mother he never really got on with the father, and it was not for want of trying, as his father didn’t really know what to think of him as he wasn’t into sports More...
Jul 18, 2011
Julie
rated it:
I wouldn't say this was a bad book but it was very different from my expectations. I had expected something funny and tongue-in-cheek about growing up with a mother who couldn't cook.
It's actually much darker, exploring a childhood stained with death and a dysfunctional step family. There's also far too many references to various moments of sexual awakening. It's hard to see how these are relevant sometimes, and they're certainly much less enjoyable to read than the stories about food. More...
It's actually much darker, exploring a childhood stained with death and a dysfunctional step family. There's also far too many references to various moments of sexual awakening. It's hard to see how these are relevant sometimes, and they're certainly much less enjoyable to read than the stories about food. More...
Dec 05, 2010
Veronica
rated it:
If you grew up in Britain in the 60s and 70s, you can open this book at any page and encounter a Proustian moment. Spaghetti in those long blue packets, with instructions in Italian (it was the only kind of pasta you could buy). Grated Parmesan in carboard drums ("Daddy, this cheese smells like sick." "Yes, son, I think it must be off."). Steak Diane flambed at the table in smart restaurants. Aztec bars, sherbet lemons, Curly-Wurlies, licking the filling out of Walnut Whips,
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Feb 07, 2011
Donna
rated it:
I watched the TV adaptation of Toast over Christmas, but I have to say this book was much better. The TV version took a bit of artistic license, leaving out characters and situations and failing to convey the real passion Nigel Slater has for food.
Each chapter is a reminiscence of a certain food that he remembers from his childhood he and interweaves it into what was happening in his life at that time. These are sometimes only a page long, so it is easy to zip through this book. The food More...
Each chapter is a reminiscence of a certain food that he remembers from his childhood he and interweaves it into what was happening in his life at that time. These are sometimes only a page long, so it is easy to zip through this book. The food More...
Apr 24, 2011
Eliza
rated it:
4/19/11: Slater's memoir is purportedly about food--the British food that he grew up with in the 1960s--so both a fascinating glimpse into a culture and a bit repulsive--but as I worked into it, I found that it was about so much more. Slater's mother died when he was maybe 9 or 10 (he's vague), and his childhood and teen experiences, both with and without food, are so wound up with that event and its aftermath that suddenly, Walnut Whips are more poignant than you ever would have imagined. His w
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Feb 19, 2010
Mark
rated it:
Slater's Toast awoke in me so many past food feelings from my own childhood not just from his sumptuous descriptions of his own past life but because of the proximity our lives shared in the fact that we were raised in towns barely eight miles apart and are within two years of being the same age. The descriptions of past memories of sweets reminded me so much of my childhood, and I think would resonant more with a British audience than American.
My mother, as his, did not enjoy the pr More...
My mother, as his, did not enjoy the pr More...
Oct 13, 2011
Steve
rated it:
Now an indie movie. Young boy grows up w/ mom dying, tough dad, mean step-mother. But food a constant. Addicted to British sweets (most of which American readers will have to Google if they want to really know what it is he is stuffing in his gob) - and the hormones of a young man. Set in the '60's and '70's. The short (1-3 pp) chapters wear on you a bit, so glad that towards the end of the book the stories got longer. The best story is when his father takes him for a walk, and finds out wh
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Mar 30, 2009
amelia
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jul 26, 2011
Kingfan30
rated it:
It started off well and I found myself laughing at the description of the Christmas cake with the bristle tree decoration (I now know why mum used wave icing on hers and not smooth!) and the Arctic roll. I loved the idea of each chapter relating to a food he remembered from his childhood and the fact the chapters are short so makes it easy to pick up and put down if you only have a couple of mins. As the book continued I was getting a bit fed up of the constant food references and just wanted t
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Feb 10, 2009
Rico
rated it:
"Toast" is a memoir in four layers. It's simultaneously a nostalgic look back at mid-century Britain... a loving catalog of the cuisine of the day (both tasty and, to my mind anyway, repulsive)... the melancholy story of a kid growing up "different" in a family and a society that had a very hard time accepting difference... and a coming-of-age tale about the making of a young chef. It's far, far better written than I expected it to be -- each short, impressionistic chapter
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Mar 24, 2011
Kevin
rated it:
It is sometimes interesting to know what kinds of food contributed to a food lovers evolution. This book gives an interesting insight into British food from the recent past. But why do some culinary writers insist on airing their sexual experiences in public. I really don't care. I've enjoyed Slater's cook books for some time. They have a different and appealing way of exploring food. But this one was at best a distraction on a long plane ride. Here's what I learned from this book:
To be More...
To be More...
Apr 13, 2011
N.J.
rated it:
I absolutely love it when someone is really good at doing a thing. I don't mind what - from mending pot-holes to splitting atoms - as long as their passion shines through.
I watched a lot of Nigel Slater's food programmes on British TV, and was in no doubt that he could cook. When I read this I was delighted to find that he was also an exceptionally gifted writer too.
Writing good descriptions of food is one thing - tying them up with the emotions of a life well lived is another, and on More...
I watched a lot of Nigel Slater's food programmes on British TV, and was in no doubt that he could cook. When I read this I was delighted to find that he was also an exceptionally gifted writer too.
Writing good descriptions of food is one thing - tying them up with the emotions of a life well lived is another, and on More...
Dec 15, 2010
Sheena
rated it:
This Christmas there will be a dramatisation of 'Toast' I read this a long time ago and it is a wonderful account of childhood by a child who later became a well-loved and respected food writer. His childhood was very influenced by his step-mother (played by Helena Bonham-Carter in the forthcoming tv drama) she is a hopeless cook and his father is totally uninterested in food anyway. Mr. Slater's account of some of their meals are witty and not so much complaining as being stoically accepting
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Feb 15, 2011
anglersrest
rated it:
This was one of the Times reads for 99p reads back in 2007. A delightful book, written as a series of small recollectings of past times. Funny in places with some sad bits and lots of descriptive bits about food, and his childhood.
I enjoyed this, as I read it I also took a trip down memory lane, school milk, which has a very similiar effect on me to that of the author, having suffered a similiar fate as a child at junior school. The ponderings of an artic roll, we had one for desert More...
I enjoyed this, as I read it I also took a trip down memory lane, school milk, which has a very similiar effect on me to that of the author, having suffered a similiar fate as a child at junior school. The ponderings of an artic roll, we had one for desert More...
