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Nigel Slater

Sue Lawley's castaway is cookery writer Nigel Slater.

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the cookery writer Nigel Slater. The British public have taken Slater and his recipes to their hearts and - crucially - their kitchens in recent years, encouraged by his philosophy that cooking need not be daunting. Don't cook to show off, he says, or because you feel you should - cook for enjoyment, and comfort. Choose good ingredients, cook them simply, and above all - relax.

Slater's passion for food grew out of a lonely, neglected childhood in which his only comforts were culinary. Born in Wolverhampton in the late 50s, his mother died when he was just nine leaving a gap in his life which he tried to fill with comfort food. Against his father's wishes, he fantasised about being a chef, later leaving home to go to catering college and then work in a variety of restaurants around the country. After testing recipes for a new magazine, he first came to public attention as food editor for Marie Claire.

Currently food editor of the Observer, Slater's books are both popular and critically acclaimed. His 2003 memoir Toast won biography of the year at the British Book Awards, his cookbook Appetite won an Andre Simon for Cookbook of the Year in 2000, and Slater himself has won the Glenfiddich Trophy and Cookery Writer of the Year Award in 1999.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Teddy Bears Picnic by Henry Hall and Val Rosing
Book: Derek Jarman's Garden by Derek Jarman
Luxury: Howard Hodgkin's painting Learning About Russian Music

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 10 Jun 2005 09:00
成人快手 Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Henry Hall & His Orchestra & Val Rosing

      Teddy Bears' Picnic

      Artist: The 成人快手 Dance Orchestra

      • Classic Children's Favourites.
      • Conifer.

  • The Supremes

    Baby Love

    • Love Supreme: Diana Ross and the Supremes.
    • Motown.

  • Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

    Stabat Mater dolorosa (from Stabat Mater)

    Soloist: Felicity Palmer, Alfreda Hodgson & the Choir

    • Stabat Mater: Pergolesi.
    • Argo.

  • The Beach Boys

    Do You Wanna Dance

    • Today and Summer Days and Summer Nights.
    • Capitol.

  • Chet Baker

    The Thrill is Gone

    • Lets Get Lost - the Best of Chet Baker Sings.
    • Pacific Jazz.

  • Roxy Music

    Avalon

    • Avalon.
    • EG.

  • The Stone Roses

    This is the One

    • Trigger Happy TV.
    • Channel 4 Music.

  • Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

    Osculetur me (from Motets, Book 4)

    Orchestra: Hilliard Ensemble Conductor: Paul Hillier

    • Palestrina: Canticum Canticorum.
    • Virgin Classics.

  • Book Choice

    • Derek Jarman's Garden - Derek Jarman

  • Luxury Choice

    • Howard Hodgkin's painting Learning About Russian Music

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest Nigel Slater

Broadcasts

  • Sun 5 Jun 2005 11:15
    成人快手 Radio 4
  • Fri 10 Jun 2005 09:00
    成人快手 Radio 4

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