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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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The latest English Culture Article is a book review of Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food. The book is a delight - a cookery bible for the modern world. The recipes focus on fresh ingredients and meals that can be made (mostly) in half an hour or less. Real Fast Food I would love to know what you think of the book if you have come across it. And/or what you think of Slater if you have seen him on TV, used any of his other cookery books or seen or watched his autobiography Toast.
Last edited by Asha - Scot./Eng. Culture; 08/21/11 09:46 AM.
Asha Sahni
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Chipmunk
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Chipmunk
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Hi Asha,
Since I have taken a solemn vow never (except of course for baked potatoes) to cook anything that takes more than an hour, Slater's book sound right up my time conscious/sensitive (and lazy) alley.
The baked potatoes with goat cheese and spinach sounds super and I will soon be making a garlicky version of his recipe. Like Slater, I just adore mashed potatoes and make them mucho mucho ways.
Thanks for the article!
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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Always loved his weekly articles in the 'Observer' newspaper Asha, made many of his recipes without one single complaint from anyone who had to eat them, and then about four years ago bought Real Fast Food. And it is a cook book which really does what it says, but in an innovative way. There is nothing boring about what he turns into a meal in a very short time.
As a Chef/Cook Book writer impossible to fault, have given Real Fast Food to several friends who insist they 'don't have time to cook', and they have all changed their minds.
Have never seen him on TV but heard him interviewed on Radio and he seems perfectly OK, a bit complex, as we all are, but having read his autobiography 'Toast', and seen a DVD of the BBC film in which the cast was amazing, am not sure what to think.
It was certainly not a flattering description of his family, his mother, father and then stepmother, and at the time I really thought it verged on the cruel, supercilious and was somewhat self pitying.
Later read an article by his step sisters, which made it sound as if a great deal of his autobiography had very little relationship to the facts.
However he is a cooking genius and often geniuses are a little eccentric, it seems to come with the territory.
Francine A. McKenna - German Culture Editor German Culture Site - German Culture Facebook Avatar: HOHENZOLLERNBRÃœCKE Cologne with CATHEDRAL and LUDWIG MUSEUM. The Bridge a symbol of how Germany was rebuilt after WWII, it was left in ruins, the Cathedral with roots in the 13th century represents the country's history, Museum of Modern Art the present day.
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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Les thanks for the comments. Love the idea of garlicking up the goats cheese and spinach. Mash is one of my favourite foods too - I have tried lots of things in it - mustard, garlic, marmite, onions, tahini... I also really like mashing potato, carrot and sweet potato together.
Last edited by Asha - Scot./Eng. Culture; 08/16/11 01:46 PM.
Asha Sahni
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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Francine good to hear you enjoy Real Fast Food so much. I found it a revelation - simple without being patronising even when talking about preparing the most basic of foods. I too had thought it could make a good gift for people.
I have not read or seen Toast, but people I know who have had seemed to enjoy it. Your comments make me wonder what truth is - memory changes quickly, and because people have different memories of the same situations does that make one of them wrong? Is it not just their interpretation of their experience, coloured by time?
Asha Sahni
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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Yes you are right Asha, we all put our own slant on our memories one way or another, but in this case there were things in the book that simply did not take place, and others, such as the fact that he supposedly lived alone with his father and stepmother, were incorrect.
However I do believe he was for whatever reason desperately unhappy, perhaps because it seems he was not 'the son' his father had wanted, and that is why he wrote what he did.
The BBC film was so well acted, standing as a story on its own without necessarily being based on an 'autobiography', and it was worth watching. The BBC do these programmes so well, and the casts are always impeccable, and this one did not let them down.
And whatever else Nigel Slater writes brilliant cook books.............and his recipes actually work.
Francine A. McKenna - German Culture Editor German Culture Site - German Culture Facebook Avatar: HOHENZOLLERNBRÃœCKE Cologne with CATHEDRAL and LUDWIG MUSEUM. The Bridge a symbol of how Germany was rebuilt after WWII, it was left in ruins, the Cathedral with roots in the 13th century represents the country's history, Museum of Modern Art the present day.
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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Francine I've looked at this more and see what you mean, the differences being highlighted in: Mail Online Toast ArticleIt does seem there is an age gap between him and his stepsisters - whilst not a definitive answer, it may help explain differences in perception... It also strikes me as intersting that their protests came around the time Toast was aired, rather than (and do correct me if I have this wrong) when the book was published. I agree the BBC does great drama. Helena Bonham Carter is a great actress - older memories include Room With A View, more recent her portrayal of Enid Blyton. Nigel Slater does do wonderful books. I'm going o review his Real Fast Puddings next week.
Asha Sahni
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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Read the article Asha it was revealing, and Nigel's step sisters are obviously quite hurt, however we will never know the true situation unless an 'independent' witness turns up.
At the bottom of the piece there was a little explanation for why they did nothing after the publication of the book.
I think he is looking for someone to blame for the lack of relationship with his father. I�d love to ask him why he finds it necessary to tell lies. What does he hope to get out of it?�
The sisters know they will probably never get an answer but that doesn�t ease the pain Slater has caused them. June says: �Had it been anywhere near the truth, we wouldn�t have said anything. We contacted a solicitor after reading the book but were advised there was nothing we could do as you can�t libel the dead and now this.
His dad didn�t like him, that�s the truth, he wasn�t the son Tony wanted. But that�s not our fault or my mum�s fault. The day Tony saw my mother he fell for her. Why do this to them or to us?
Last edited by Francine - German Culture; 08/18/11 03:31 AM.
Francine A. McKenna - German Culture Editor German Culture Site - German Culture Facebook Avatar: HOHENZOLLERNBRÃœCKE Cologne with CATHEDRAL and LUDWIG MUSEUM. The Bridge a symbol of how Germany was rebuilt after WWII, it was left in ruins, the Cathedral with roots in the 13th century represents the country's history, Museum of Modern Art the present day.
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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Thanks Francine. I noticed that in the article, too, but thought that the sisters could still have said something at the time if they wanted to - uneasy situation.
Would you, having learned what you have about the situation, still recommend the book (Toast) and/or the TV adaptation to others?
I've been enjoying the puddings book and trying things out from it. Watch this space...
Asha Sahni
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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Think it would have been very difficult for those sisters to deal with the situation, they are not used to the media, might even be afraid of it, and also probably have no experience with lawyers. Who knows, after the advice they were given, and not knowing that the book would be a relative success read by some thousands, they might have thought 'Least said, soonest mended', and wanted to stay out of the limelight.
The film though is a different thing, it was seen by millions who would have accepted it as being the truth, as that is how it was advertised. A bit like Mel Gibson's version of life in Scotland being considered genuine 'history', Enigma 'code breaking' being achieved in the USA and not Bletchley Park, Hertfordshire where it actually happened, the African slave who led the mutiny on the Spanish slave ship Armistad being shown in court in shackles, when he was kept in a cell in a completely different state from where the trial took place, etc. etc.
To a certain extent, when something is supposed to be 'fact', most of us believe what we are told unless we actually know differently, but 'historians' and film makers are usually trying to do two different things.
The book was an interesting read, and for someone whose cooking is so light and appetising, Nigel Slater came across as a surprisingly tortured soul.
The BBC film was definitely worth seeing. A fantastic cast, brilliantly acted and characterised, it is excellent TV, and it is not important to a viewer whether or not, like most things on television, it is basically fictional.
Am sure his 'Puddings' are just as good as all his other recipes Asha, so no doubt you are having a lot of fun trying them out.
Francine A. McKenna - German Culture Editor German Culture Site - German Culture Facebook Avatar: HOHENZOLLERNBRÃœCKE Cologne with CATHEDRAL and LUDWIG MUSEUM. The Bridge a symbol of how Germany was rebuilt after WWII, it was left in ruins, the Cathedral with roots in the 13th century represents the country's history, Museum of Modern Art the present day.
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