Product Description

Nigel Slater presents over 350 creative, delicious and nourishing recipes and suggestions for those who'd rather spend more of their time eating than cooking. From simple snacks to dinner-party desserts, all the dishes in "Real Fast Food" can be ready to eat in 30 minutes or under.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43341 in Books
• Published on: 1993-10-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
'Designed to appeal to people who love food but don't want to spend hours slaving away at the stove (i.e. nearly everybody in Britain)' Independent on Sunday 'Makes your stomach rumble ! Easily my first choice for a simple, good, workable and readable cookery book' Nigella Lawson, Independent 'Nigel Slater offers us a decade's worth of fresh, original cookery ideas with spoonfuls of wit' Observer

About the Author
Nigel Slater is the author of Real Fast Food, Real Fast Puddings, The 30-Minute Cook, Real Good Food, Real Cooking and Nigel Slater's Real Food Which won a Glenfiddich Award. Real Fast Food was shortlisted fir the Andre Simon Award, the 30-Minute Cook was nominated for both the Glenfiddich and Julia Child Awards. In 1995 he won the Glenfiddich Trophy and he has twice won the Cookery Writer of the Year Award as well as being named Media Personality of the Year in the 1996 Good Food Awards. He is Food Correspondent for the Observer and writes a monthly column for Sainsbury's Magazine.

Customer Reviews

Delia - eat yer heart out. Nigel's where it's at.
I was introduced to this book by a friend back in the mid-90s. Since then, it's become my food bible, and I've shared it with my family & have impressed many a friend who's popped in for a mid-week supper. And, like several of the other reviewers, my copy is like the Velveteen Rabbit: pages are stained, stick together, falling apart, and the more it becomes like this, the more loved it is. It is, quite simply, the best cookbook around. It's certainly the only book that we refer to by name: "what does Nigel suggest?" being a common refrain in our kitchen.

Why is this book so perfect?

Well, for one thing, it's fast and nutritious: we work long hours & don't have the time or energy to slave in the kitchen for 2 hours when we get home (I love Delia but that's the problem with her recipes). And as the alternative is a) eating out, b) pulling something out of the freezer, c) pasta (again), or d) hummus & ryvita, this book often proves to be our Monday-Thursday evening road-map. And even when it is pasta again, Nigel has the best suggestions for fast & interesting sauces/toppings.

Second: Nigel's philosophy of cooking is very similar to mine: I make things up based on what's in the fridge anyway. The thing I like about this book is that Nigel's been doing that for longer than me: he has more suggestions, and some really interesting ones. I'm sure he's made mistakes, but they aren't listed in the book, so I can learn from them without making them myself. Nice.

Third: Nigel's a foodie but not a snob. I love the fact that he tells you to eat the very best of things: chocolate with 75% cocoa solids, greek yoghurt etc, but he also includes chip butties. And which of us doesn't secretly want a chip butty occasionally?

Fourth: Nigel's realistic. His recipes are for 1-2 and he says that this is because it's how most of us live now. He's right. (Delia: again, take note: we're not all families with 3 kids looking to roast beef). Much easier to follow his portion amounts (tho' I've made his risotto for years & still think his amounts for 2 would feed a family of 5).

Finally: I have some of Nigel's other books, but frankly, I'm a little worried that he's following the Nigella-Jamie "Glamour Cookbook" trend with his most recent offerings. Yes, they're gorgeous, and yes, he needed to do something different. But their complexity is a little more intimidating (as is the time needed for preparation), and they don't just prop up on the kettle as easily when I need to follow a recipe while opening the post, answering the phone & making supper in 25 minutes.

one good thing to keep somewhere handy in the kitchen
I have this book in my kitchen and it's filthy. The cover is stamped with grease, some pages spattered yellow, some dribbled on and scraped off, sometimes I have to prise them apart. A few years ago I decided I had to change my eating habits, cook a wider variety of dishes, but fit it into my working life, and found a book that promised I could eat good food and spend just 30 minutes a day on the entire exercise. The ethos of Slater's kitchen , namely that you cook things you like, buy fresh ingredients and don't be too precious about sticking to the letter of the recipe has invaded mine. He provides not only recipes you can follow, but recipes you can depart from, which means the act of cooking and eating is now a creative and soothing part of the day that I would find it hard to live without. If you are lost in a forest of ready meals and need a way out, this is perfect.

Reading reviews does work
I have always been a good and enthusiastic cook and while I had the luxury of time (read before kids) I would happily spend 2 hours making lasagne or something similar. Now with a family to feed, entertain and maintain, there just is neither the time or the inclination to indulge in long complicated menus.
To find a bit of inspiration for fast but still really good food I was hunting through Amazon. I bought this book on the strength of the reviews and were not disappointed. The book contains a wealth of great recipes and none take long to make and none are particularly compliated (read not too many fancy ingredients). Yet nowhere is taste sacrificed. Really really tasty food.
The book is organised in useful sections, making it easy to flick through and find something suitable for what you have to hand. There are recipes suitable for lunches, snacks, and both light and more substantial dinners. Very user friendly. The writing is as approachable as the recipes.
A must have for anyone who loves food but do not have the time for overelaborate recipes.