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A cook who writes. Observer columnist. Programme maker. Author of Tender, Toast, The Kitchen Diaries, The Christmas Chronicles, GreenFeast.languages
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Jan 01 1970 GMT00:33
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One of the acer palmatum growing in pots on the kitchen roof. They loved the long hot summer sunshine - baking up there on the roof, sheltered from the wind (which they hate) by the house next door. A couple of them have gone straight from green to brown and crisp which I would normally worry about but on close inspection they are full of emerging buds. It was a bit of a punt putting them up there but they seem to like it and have survived two winters now. Feeling the need to squeeze a couple more in.
Jan 01 1970 GMT00:33
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Before the rain set in, a corner of the tiny basement garden and it’s rambling jasmine. Once a dank, grey area, used for storing builders’ rubble, this depressing little corner has been helped by attaching a few wires to the wall and encouraging a white jasmine to do its thing.The little zinc table is used for potting plants in spring and as a hospital bed for poorly plants. (Anything that isn’t doing well is put here to revive or not. Most do.) It was a case of identifying the most inhospitable area of the garden, giving it the gift of greenery (a tree fern and a few pelargoniums) and hoping for the best.
Jan 01 1970 GMT00:33
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🙏💕 A huge and heartfelt thank you to everyone who watched my friend James Thompson’s film of his work in Beirut, to those who are following @thegreatoven and to those who have so kindly donated...
The Great Oven is a charitable project where James builds giant ovens in conflict zones and refugee camps. Your donations are helping another oven to be set up in the port area of Beirut, a scene of total devastation.
I’m posting James’s film once more as so many have asked to see it again. James is still there. His work continues, feeding those made homeless by the explosion. He and his team of volunteers are working round the clock to help so many people.
I can’t tell you how much your help has meant to him and to me. Thank you so much. 🙏💕
There is a link to his website in my Instagram biog.
Jan 01 1970 GMT00:33
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One of those damp, autumn ‘mushrooms-on-toast days’. This time I roasted a head of garlic, then crushed the caramel coloured cloves to a soft paste with cream and a few drops of Worcestershire Sauce. I spread the garlic scented cream thickly on rounds of toast then piled slices of mushrooms fried in butter and thyme leaves on top. The details are on nigelslater.com, in the recipe section.
Jan 01 1970 GMT00:33
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This month’s picture of the garden showing the first hints of autumn. A golden leaf here and there; the dahlias in their jewel colours; white Japanese anemones swaying in the breeze. So far, so good.
What isn’t immediately visible are the tunnels the foxes have started making under the borders. It is annoying, especially as they have an entire abandoned garden to dig up next door. I guess they just do it to wind me up. And no, no amount of peeing in the garden has worked. Believe me. No doubt they’ll move on again at some point. Hopefully before they’ve killed all the roses.
I recently received a letter from an architect asking me if I was interested in selling my garden to him to build on. I’m sure you can imagine what I did with that.
Jan 01 1970 GMT00:33
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🙏(with subtitles) Thank you again to everyone who is following my friend and collaborator James Thompson @thegreatoven . He has been in Beirut since the explosion setting up kitchens and cooking for some of the thousands made homeless. This is a short film he has sent of the work he is doing. Details @thegreatoven greatoven.org 🙏
Jan 01 1970 GMT00:33
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In tomorrow’s @obsfood we celebrate the arrival of autumn. “This subtle change of season is more welcome than winter’s slip into spring. Unlike the change from cold weather comfort food to the “hungry gap” of early spring, this is a change of bounty.”
We stuffed these orange-fleshed autumn squash with soft, sweet onions, Gruyere, cream and sauerkraut. Details in tomorrow’s Observer Food Monthly @obsfood
Jan 01 1970 GMT00:33
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Kitchen Diaries. September 6th. Golden autumn day. Somewhere under the green tangle of wisteria, tomatoes, dahlias and pelargoniums lies the door to the kitchen. To the left of the picture sits the sprawling fig tree that has given us more figs than ever this year (I write about it today’s @obsmagazine.) a record harvest from a tree I planted twenty years ago. Today I’m making a pickle from tiny Turkish apricots to eat with sheep’s milk cheese and about to tackle a big pot of bean soup with borlotti which I’m simmering with old Parmesan rinds. It’s these golden autumn days that are so precious. They’ve started early this year, or so it seems to me, which may mean a good long autumn ahead. Something to cherish.
Jan 01 1970 GMT00:33
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City living. Each year, in early autumn, the fig, jasmine and climbing rose entwine. I love this short-lived tangle before they are given their annual pruning. Their branches and stems twist themselves into a green canopy that almost completely shades the tiny red brick courtyard below. The jasmine and rose are suspended on wires that I never expected to work, but with a bit of encouragement they have scrambled across to make a little green roof. In a few weeks they’ll be carefully trimmed and tied back till spring. But for now they are welcome to do their thing. 🙏🏻 @theloosehorse
Jan 01 1970 GMT00:33
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The Kitchen Diaries. Everyday bowls. The bowls I use on a daily basis for soup, yoghurt, salad, pasta, fruit, indeed pretty much anything live in a cupboard by the kitchen table. It’s an odd collection in as much nothing matches, and yet they happily work together. I keep them in a cupboard opposite the kitchen hob, where they will be at their most useful. Amongst the Japanese bowls are pieces by Svend Bayer, Anne Mette Hjortshøj, Florian Gadsby, Richard Batterham, Steve Harrison and Rupert Spira. There are so many potters whose work I admire and whose pieces I use regularly. Pieces that have quietly become part of my cooking life and of those I eat with.
Jan 01 1970 GMT00:33
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I lit the fire last night. Something I can’t remember doing in August before. The garden smells autumnal, even if it doesn’t look it. As much as I look forward to autumn I had hoped for a couple of weeks more Summer. The dahlias have barely got going and the roses are still blooming. The tomatoes are probably at their best right now. A few are splitting from the avalanche of rain last week. But they are good enough for a salad of mozzarella and basil. We made some of them into a rough salsa last week with curly pickled chillies and sherry vinegar then scattered it over freshly steamed new potatoes, which we cracked open and the let the dressing sink into them. Details are at theguardian.com Posting times
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Aug 31 2020 GMT08:52
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The Kitchen Diaries. Everyday bowls. The bowls I use on a daily basis for soup, yoghurt, salad, pasta, fruit, indeed pretty much anything live in a cupboard by the kitchen table. It’s an odd collection in as much nothing matches, and yet they happily work together. I keep them in a cupboard opposite the kitchen hob, where they will be at their most useful. Amongst the Japanese bowls are pieces by Svend Bayer, Anne Mette Hjortshøj, Florian Gadsby, Richard Batterham, Steve Harrison and Rupert Spira. There are so many potters whose work I admire and whose pieces I use regularly. Pieces that have quietly become part of my cooking life and of those I eat with. analysis
This post got 95% more likes
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Sep 30 2020 GMT16:41
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One of those damp, autumn ‘mushrooms-on-toast days’. This time I roasted a head of garlic, then crushed the caramel coloured cloves to a soft paste with cream and a few drops of Worcestershire Sauce. I spread the garlic scented cream thickly on rounds of toast then piled slices of mushrooms fried in butter and thyme leaves on top. The details are on nigelslater.com, in the recipe section. analysis
This post got 45% more likes
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Oct 01 2020 GMT07:46
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Dahlia labyrinth. Still going. Still glowing. The most reliable and floriferous of all my little collection. Grown in terracotta pots, the tubers now in their fifth year. Constantly cheerful, still full of buds. Doesn’t even mind the rain. analysis
This post got 13% more likes
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comments
22,338
770
Aug 31 2020 GMT08:52
captions
The Kitchen Diaries. Everyday bowls. The bowls I use on a daily basis for soup, yoghurt, salad, pasta, fruit, indeed pretty much anything live in a cupboard by the kitchen table. It’s an odd collection in as much nothing matches, and yet they happily work together. I keep them in a cupboard opposite the kitchen hob, where they will be at their most useful. Amongst the Japanese bowls are pieces by Svend Bayer, Anne Mette Hjortshøj, Florian Gadsby, Richard Batterham, Steve Harrison and Rupert Spira. There are so many potters whose work I admire and whose pieces I use regularly. Pieces that have quietly become part of my cooking life and of those I eat with. analysis
This post got 188% more likes
compared to @nigelslater's average. It uses the average amount of hashtags
and its caption is 13% longer
16,627
612
Sep 30 2020 GMT16:41
captions
One of those damp, autumn ‘mushrooms-on-toast days’. This time I roasted a head of garlic, then crushed the caramel coloured cloves to a soft paste with cream and a few drops of Worcestershire Sauce. I spread the garlic scented cream thickly on rounds of toast then piled slices of mushrooms fried in butter and thyme leaves on top. The details are on nigelslater.com, in the recipe section. analysis
This post got 129% more likes
compared to @nigelslater's average. It uses the average amount of hashtags
and its caption is 33% shorter
13,014
317
Oct 01 2020 GMT07:46
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Dahlia labyrinth. Still going. Still glowing. The most reliable and floriferous of all my little collection. Grown in terracotta pots, the tubers now in their fifth year. Constantly cheerful, still full of buds. Doesn’t even mind the rain. analysis
This post got 19% more likes
compared to @nigelslater's average. It uses the average amount of hashtags
and its caption is 59% shorter