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Tender: Volume I: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch
With over 400 recipe ideas and many wonderful stories from the cook’s garden, Tender: Volume I – A cook and his vegetable patch, is the definitive guide to cooking with vegetables from the presenter of BBC One’s Simple Cooking.
'I would like to think I know more now than I did before I picked up my trowel and dug that first furrow of red and white radishes. How to get the best out of a vegetable yes, but also what are the different ways to treat it in the kitchen, which seasonings will make it sing, what other ingredients is it most comfortable or most exciting with. What are the classic recipes not to be missed by a newcomer and what new ways are there which might be of interest to an old hand.'
In his inimitable, unpretentious style Nigel Slater, the presenter of BBC One’s Simple Cooking, elevates vegetables to the starring role in his latest cook book, whether that means enjoying vegetables for their own sake or on the same plate as a piece of meat or fish. From crab cakes and crushed peas to broccoli and lamb stir-fry, luxury cauliflower cheese to a delicious broad bean salad, ‘Tender’ has everything a cook could want from a recipe book.
'I would like to think I know more now than I did before I picked up my trowel and dug that first furrow of red and white radishes. How to get the best out of a vegetable yes, but also what are the different ways to treat it in the kitchen, which seasonings will make it sing, what other ingredients is it most comfortable or most exciting with. What are the classic recipes not to be missed by a newcomer and what new ways are there which might be of interest to an old hand.'
In his inimitable, unpretentious style Nigel Slater, the presenter of BBC One’s Simple Cooking, elevates vegetables to the starring role in his latest cook book, whether that means enjoying vegetables for their own sake or on the same plate as a piece of meat or fish. From crab cakes and crushed peas to broccoli and lamb stir-fry, luxury cauliflower cheese to a delicious broad bean salad, ‘Tender’ has everything a cook could want from a recipe book.
618 pages, Hardcover
First published September 17, 2009
103 people are currently reading
2852 people want to read
About the author
Nigel Slater
80 books413 followersNigel 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 early bestselling books such as The 30-Minute Cook and Real Cooking, as well as his engaging, memoir-like columns for The Observer, Slater became known to a wider audience with the publication of Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger, a moving and award-winning autobiography focused on his love of food, his childhood, his family relationships (his mother died of asthma when he was nine), and his burgeoning sexuality.
Slater has called it "the most intimate memoir that any food person has ever written". Toast was published in Britain in October 2004 and became a bestseller after it was featured on the Richard and Judy Book Club.
"I think the really interesting bits of my story was growing up with this terribly dominating dad and a mum who I loved to bits but obviously I lost very early on; and then having to fight with the woman who replaced her ... I kind of think that in a way that that was partly what attracted me to working in the food service industry, was that I finally had a family." As he told The Observer, "The last bit of the book is very foody. But that is how it was. Towards the end I finally get rid of these two people in my life I did not like [his father and stepmother, who had been the family's cleaning lady] - and to be honest I was really very jubilant - and thereafter all I wanted to do was cook."
In 1998 Slater hosted the Channel 4 series Nigel Slater's Real Food Show. He returned to TV in 2006 hosting the chat/food show A Taste of My Life for BBC One.
Slater has two elder brothers, Adrian and John. John was the child of a neighbour, and was adopted by Slater's parents before the writer was born.
He lives in the Highbury area of North London, where he maintains a kitchen garden which often features in his column.
Although best known for uncomplicated, comfort food recipes presented in early bestselling books such as The 30-Minute Cook and Real Cooking, as well as his engaging, memoir-like columns for The Observer, Slater became known to a wider audience with the publication of Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger, a moving and award-winning autobiography focused on his love of food, his childhood, his family relationships (his mother died of asthma when he was nine), and his burgeoning sexuality.
Slater has called it "the most intimate memoir that any food person has ever written". Toast was published in Britain in October 2004 and became a bestseller after it was featured on the Richard and Judy Book Club.
"I think the really interesting bits of my story was growing up with this terribly dominating dad and a mum who I loved to bits but obviously I lost very early on; and then having to fight with the woman who replaced her ... I kind of think that in a way that that was partly what attracted me to working in the food service industry, was that I finally had a family." As he told The Observer, "The last bit of the book is very foody. But that is how it was. Towards the end I finally get rid of these two people in my life I did not like [his father and stepmother, who had been the family's cleaning lady] - and to be honest I was really very jubilant - and thereafter all I wanted to do was cook."
In 1998 Slater hosted the Channel 4 series Nigel Slater's Real Food Show. He returned to TV in 2006 hosting the chat/food show A Taste of My Life for BBC One.
Slater has two elder brothers, Adrian and John. John was the child of a neighbour, and was adopted by Slater's parents before the writer was born.
He lives in the Highbury area of North London, where he maintains a kitchen garden which often features in his column.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
October 18, 2023
Tender is an incredibly useful book for those who grow their own vegetables and love cooking. Slater says there are two types of cook, those who cook to put something on the table to eat and those that love the whole process. If you fall into the second category you will probably find this book really useful. Slater starts by introducing how he came to decide to start growing vegetables after moving into a new house, he also appreciates the huge environmental impact eating meat and fish has and wants to make an effort to eat much less. He advocates for a nature friendly garden but sadly the book still contains meat which might be off putting for vegetarians and vegans. It’s disappointing there are meat recipes in here because it contains hundreds of really great vegetarian and vegan recipes, if he had put the meat recipes in another book I’m sure this would still have been a hugely popular book and this would have definitely been a 5 star read for me in that case.
At over 600 pages there are so many recipes and lots of information that is really useful to those who grow their own vegetables. Slater has a section of recipes on each vegetable and suggestions on varieties he has enjoyed, when he has sowed the seed and how long after sowing you can expect to harvest. There was some really good information here, I’m looking forward to using this in the new year to get ideas for new varieties of seed to try, I even discovered a vegetable I didn’t know existed! The photography is very attractive and will be a welcome sight to look at during the winter months.
I have tried several recipes which have gone beyond expectations, I really like Slaters style of cooking, simple good food with some really interesting flavours. This is one of those books that is perfect for looking through for inspiration for something different to make, inventive ways to use leftovers and getting plenty of vegetables into your diet.
At over 600 pages there are so many recipes and lots of information that is really useful to those who grow their own vegetables. Slater has a section of recipes on each vegetable and suggestions on varieties he has enjoyed, when he has sowed the seed and how long after sowing you can expect to harvest. There was some really good information here, I’m looking forward to using this in the new year to get ideas for new varieties of seed to try, I even discovered a vegetable I didn’t know existed! The photography is very attractive and will be a welcome sight to look at during the winter months.
I have tried several recipes which have gone beyond expectations, I really like Slaters style of cooking, simple good food with some really interesting flavours. This is one of those books that is perfect for looking through for inspiration for something different to make, inventive ways to use leftovers and getting plenty of vegetables into your diet.
September 14, 2011
...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, tasting, seasoning all become acts of contentment rather than chores to be hurried through. Although there is something in this book for both sorts of cook, it is this second person I suspect and hope will get the most out of it.
Watching someone you love eat a tomato you have grown yourself makes it more than just a tomato. It becomes a source of glorious, yet strangely humbling, pleasure.
Watching someone you love eat a tomato you have grown yourself makes it more than just a tomato. It becomes a source of glorious, yet strangely humbling, pleasure.
June 5, 2015
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.
August 8, 2012
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!
November 6, 2011
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 or puree the vegetable in question and bake it in a gratin with a lot of cream and cheese. Tender adds a second technique: Apply pork products. I wrote out one recipe that I wanted to keep but on the whole didn't feel the book met my expectations. Maybe there is such a condition as too many cookbooks.
July 28, 2010
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.
September 14, 2022
So refreshing - a book that allows vegetables to star, but accepts that they will taste better with a bit of bacon fat!!
Every recipe has been spot on so far. Made me crave an allotment.
Every recipe has been spot on so far. Made me crave an allotment.
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April 23, 2019Every time I pick up a Nigel Slater book, I wish I lived down the street from him.
Instead, I think I'll make a lentil/cabbage/bacon soup for dinner.
Instead, I think I'll make a lentil/cabbage/bacon soup for dinner.
June 2, 2015
First, the upside: This book smells wonderful! The paper is very high quality! The artfully composed photos are lovely!
Now for my opinion on the writing: I hate to say it, but stringing together adjectives, repeatedly, just isn't that scintillating to me. Especially when the pervasive underlying tone is arrogant. Bless his soul, but I can hardly relate to anything this man has to say.
I am further perplexed by his gardening choices. His box hedges and ivy covered walls certainly are gorgeous, but why keep them if they are such efficient breeding grounds for slug invasions, and hiding places for destructive foxes (no matter how cute)? Allowing the foxes to stay and pilfer his vegetables and fruit because "the garden belongs to them" is to me just plain weird. Has the man never heard of the humane tactic of trap-and-release? Further, my back aches just thinking of having to reach over the hedges to work the little square plots in the center of the hedge squares. If Mr. Slater were to ask my opinion, I would say that he needs to decide whether this particular plot of dirt is a formal garden, or a vegetable garden.
I wish I had researched the book a bit more, instead of merely relying upon its high overall rating. I don't even like many of the vegetables he features, such as cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, fava beans, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, rutabaga, and turnips. (I will try to try them again, I can force an open mind...) His recipes on asparagus, beets, carrots, chard, kale, leeks, onions, peas, peppers, pole beans, potatoes, winter squashes, spinach, potatoes and summer squash appear very interesting. I wish he had included more than just an afterthought mention on radishes, cucumber and fennel, and was disappointed to not see any recipes featuring spinach or corn.
I rarely purchase a physical book anymore, so this quite expensive book is a huge disappointment: I was looking forward to relaxing with some good reading on the garden-to-kitchen-to-table way of life. Alas, being unable to stand all the self-aggrandizing, I just couldn't bring myself to keep reading ~ I have better uses for my time. So, it is just a cookbook then. Ahh, well...
Now for my opinion on the writing: I hate to say it, but stringing together adjectives, repeatedly, just isn't that scintillating to me. Especially when the pervasive underlying tone is arrogant. Bless his soul, but I can hardly relate to anything this man has to say.
I am further perplexed by his gardening choices. His box hedges and ivy covered walls certainly are gorgeous, but why keep them if they are such efficient breeding grounds for slug invasions, and hiding places for destructive foxes (no matter how cute)? Allowing the foxes to stay and pilfer his vegetables and fruit because "the garden belongs to them" is to me just plain weird. Has the man never heard of the humane tactic of trap-and-release? Further, my back aches just thinking of having to reach over the hedges to work the little square plots in the center of the hedge squares. If Mr. Slater were to ask my opinion, I would say that he needs to decide whether this particular plot of dirt is a formal garden, or a vegetable garden.
I wish I had researched the book a bit more, instead of merely relying upon its high overall rating. I don't even like many of the vegetables he features, such as cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, fava beans, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, rutabaga, and turnips. (I will try to try them again, I can force an open mind...) His recipes on asparagus, beets, carrots, chard, kale, leeks, onions, peas, peppers, pole beans, potatoes, winter squashes, spinach, potatoes and summer squash appear very interesting. I wish he had included more than just an afterthought mention on radishes, cucumber and fennel, and was disappointed to not see any recipes featuring spinach or corn.
I rarely purchase a physical book anymore, so this quite expensive book is a huge disappointment: I was looking forward to relaxing with some good reading on the garden-to-kitchen-to-table way of life. Alas, being unable to stand all the self-aggrandizing, I just couldn't bring myself to keep reading ~ I have better uses for my time. So, it is just a cookbook then. Ahh, well...
September 3, 2011
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 passion Jamie Oliver brings to his TV shows.)
Tender is my favorite Slater cookbook to date. The base structure includes beautiful photography, and prose poetry on each vegetable genus. Added to this framework, the elegantly delicious recipes fit in like exquisite and unique pieces of art. So between reading the copy and trying the recipes, this book is a satisfying adventure. It is especially wonderful now that I'm a vegetarian, and summer bounty is at its best. But I plan to keep this book in the kitchen all year long.
If you have any interest in vegetables and/or food writing, this book cannot be beat.
Tender is my favorite Slater cookbook to date. The base structure includes beautiful photography, and prose poetry on each vegetable genus. Added to this framework, the elegantly delicious recipes fit in like exquisite and unique pieces of art. So between reading the copy and trying the recipes, this book is a satisfying adventure. It is especially wonderful now that I'm a vegetarian, and summer bounty is at its best. But I plan to keep this book in the kitchen all year long.
If you have any interest in vegetables and/or food writing, this book cannot be beat.
September 17, 2012
Due back at the library before I could finish, but as with Slater's other books, the prose and manner are incomparable. For cooking beets, "cook until flesh is easily pierced, as one would a vampire." A lot of his recipes call for cream and bacon, but as he frequently mentions the rainy weather, I forgive him.
April 24, 2012
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.
March 17, 2018
Unique book, as it covers the grwing of vegetables as well as their use in the kitchen. A real life farm to table book. The organization is great, alphabetically going through veggies, with each one getting good exposure for what goes well with it in terms of flavor and some fantastic recepies.
June 12, 2022
This is a wonderful book by the author who wrote the autobiography Toast (also an excellent movie with Helen Bonham Carter) aimed for the backyard veggie gardener looking for simple, delicious ways to utilize the fruits of your labour. I really enjoyed the narrative style which made this a joy to read (more of a love-story to cultivating and preparing vegetable dishes than a clinical instruction manual). Loads of simple recipes and techniques for preparing veggies out of your garden.
While our garden is only just starting to produce this year, we tried the Chard Gratin recipe and it was easy and tasty. Can’t wait to try many more of the recipes this summer. Organized by vegetable, it is an easy resource to reference when you’re either a) ready to plant or b) have a glut of something to enjoy.
The book is also sprinkled with interesting historical tidbits - did you know Britain did not have potatoes until they were introduced by the Spanish in the late 1500s?
While our garden is only just starting to produce this year, we tried the Chard Gratin recipe and it was easy and tasty. Can’t wait to try many more of the recipes this summer. Organized by vegetable, it is an easy resource to reference when you’re either a) ready to plant or b) have a glut of something to enjoy.
The book is also sprinkled with interesting historical tidbits - did you know Britain did not have potatoes until they were introduced by the Spanish in the late 1500s?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2023
Tender: Volume I: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch by Nigel Slater is a mouth-wateringly treat of a cook book. But, it's much more than that as we discover what set this chef off on his journey of vegetable growing. The book is sectioned off into vegetables and it not only details what dishes to rustle up with said veggies but also how best to grow them and what other foods they go well with. This is a well-thumbed cookbook I turn to time and time again. It's lovely to read, even if you don't decide to try the recipes.
April 13, 2024
I confess that when I picked this up from the library, was nearly overwrought by the sheer size and heft of it. How will I ever get through such a thing? I thought.
But it was merely 2 paragraphs into the delightful prose of Mr. Slater’s introduction and I felt myself being charmed into proceeding. You mean someone else besides me made a list of “smells I find particularly evocative or uplifting“?
It took me awhile to wade through— and I confess to skimming the parts about the actual sowing of seeds and emending the soil for each plant. But the stories, the details about sights, smells, texture and taste across the seasons make for a rich experience.
Oh and I’m making 2 of the recipes, wink.
But it was merely 2 paragraphs into the delightful prose of Mr. Slater’s introduction and I felt myself being charmed into proceeding. You mean someone else besides me made a list of “smells I find particularly evocative or uplifting“?
It took me awhile to wade through— and I confess to skimming the parts about the actual sowing of seeds and emending the soil for each plant. But the stories, the details about sights, smells, texture and taste across the seasons make for a rich experience.
Oh and I’m making 2 of the recipes, wink.
December 29, 2022
I love Nigel Slater's writing... I also love his recipes... and once again this book hasn't disappointed me. His rich, descriptive prose is always a joy to read (I find myself reading his recipe books almost as though they are novels) and as this tome deals with all aspects of veg, it is great for when you want a quick recipe to use up that couple of parsnips you have lurking in the fridge. Not that it's a vegetarian book, far from it, but vegetables are front and centre: how to grow them, how to cook them, what should accompany them... in short, everything you need to know, wrapped in Nigel's cosy, comfortable, life-affirming writing style. What's not to like?
August 25, 2022
This is not a book for the beginner cook; the recipes are approachable and simple, but you have to know what flavors you like and techniques to riff on the bases of these recipes. It’s the perfect book for shaking up someone who is stuck in a cooking rut.
PS. If you don’t eat lamb or pork, a good portion of these recipes won’t be relevant for you…this is not a vegetarian book! Consider yourself warned.
PS. If you don’t eat lamb or pork, a good portion of these recipes won’t be relevant for you…this is not a vegetarian book! Consider yourself warned.
July 8, 2019
Food porn at its finest. Gorgeous photos, and Nigel's beautiful writing can make you crave salad leaves and mashed turnips. Lots of personal gardening tips, if you're into that (I don't have a garden, but it let me fantasize I did), and some really useful recipes. Probably best read during a meal, which is what I did!
June 28, 2017
It seems a cheat to say I'm finished as I will go back to this book time and time again. The prose is wonderful as are the recipes but what I like most is the journal. I love reading foodie journals and getting a glimpse into Nigel's life makes this an A+ for me.
February 12, 2017
Actually just had a quick look at the different recipes, haven't tried any yet. They look amazing. Considering the very good ones in the other book `Ripe` https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... I have no doubt I will enjoy the recipes.
April 17, 2023
This is a delightful book, just what I needed as Spring arrives. There's something compelling about the story of a garden that goes from nothing to a satisfying space for the gardener who created it. Nigel Slater is my new favorite garden and cookbook author.
June 24, 2018
The writing and visuals are stunning. The recipes, however are beyond me.
December 27, 2018
Proust-like level of sensory description. An amazing work.
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November 25, 2019Good for some fresh ideas for veg, but full of hard to find ingredients.
December 19, 2020
Great book design with gorgeous photos but not that interested in the recipes.
April 15, 2021
Wonderful book to cozy up with. I want to live this life... someday.
May 14, 2021
Mr. Slater, vegetable genius, vegetable muse, garden gnome in top hat.
May 15, 2024
Mostly monologue like a memoir with some recipes
July 29, 2024
If you are a foodie and love gardening (or wandering around farmers markets) this book is a must have. I have literally hundreds of cookbooks and this is a definite top 10
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews