Nigel Slater (born 9 April 1956) is an English food writer, journalist and broadcaster. He has written a column for '' The Observer Magazine'' for over a decade and is the principal writer for the ''Observer Food Monthly'' supplement. Prior to this, Slater was a food writer for ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

'' for five years.

Early life

Nigel Slater was born on 9 April 1956, in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

, then in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. He was the younger of two sons born to factory owner Cyril "Tony" Slater and housewife Kathleen Slater (''née'' Galleymore). This was his father's second marriage. His mother died of

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

in 1965. In 1971, his father remarried to Dorothy Perrens, dying in 1973. Slater attended Woodfield Avenue School in Penn, Staffordshire. He moved to

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

as a teenager and attended The Chantry School in Martley, where he enjoyed writing essays and was one of only two boys to take cookery as an O-Level subject.Nigel Slater
University of Wolverhampton, 2011; Retrieved 6 March 2011I was one of two boys who took cookery O-level at my secondary school
Times Educational Supplement, 10 October 2003; Retrieved 6 March 2011 Slater stated in his autobiography that he used food to compete with his stepmother for his father's attention.Competitive cooking: Why do we bother?
BBC News, 22 December 2010 Their biggest battle was over

lemon meringue pie Lemon meringue pie is a dessert pie consisting of a shortened pastry base filled with lemon curd and topped with meringue. History Fruit desserts covered with baked meringue were found beginning in the 18th century in France. Menon's ''pomm ...

– his father's favourite. She refused to divulge her recipe, so Slater resorted to subterfuge to turn out his own version. "I'd count the egg-shells in the bin, to see how many eggs she'd used and write them down. I'd come in at different times, when I knew she was making it. I'd just catch her when she was doing some meringue, building up that recipe slowly over a matter of months, if not years." Slater gained an OND in catering at Worcester Technical College in 1976, and worked in restaurants and hotels across the UK before becoming a food writer for ''

'' magazine in 1988. He became known for uncomplicated, comfort food recipes which he presented in early books such as ''The 30-Minute Cook'' (1994) and ''Real Cooking'', as well as his memoir-like columns for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' which he began in 1993.

Television and radio

In 1998, Slater hosted the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

series ''Nigel Slater's Real Food Show''. He returned to TV in 2006 to host the chat/food show ''A Taste of My Life'' for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

and BBC Two. In 2009, he presented the six-part series ''Simple Suppers'' on BBC One, and a second series the following year. He appeared as a guest castaway on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

'' in June 2005. In November 2013, he appeared alongside farmer Adam Henson on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's 'Nigel and Adam's Farm Kitchen', which was set on a working farm in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

and covered various aspects of food production and preparation.

Writing

Slater's book, ''Eating for England: The Delights & Eccentricities of the British at Table'' (Fourth Estate), is devoted to British food and cookery. It was published in October 2007 and was described in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' as "the sort of ragbag of choice culinary morsels that would pass the time nicely on a train journey". His book ''Tender'' is the story of his vegetable garden, how it came to be, and what grows in it. The book was published in two volumes; the first is on vegetables, which was released late in 2009 and the second is on fruit, which was released in 2010. ''Tender'' is described as a memoir, a study of fifty of our favourite vegetables, fruits and nuts and a collection of over five hundred recipes. Slater became known to a wider audience with the publication of ''Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger'' (2003), a moving and award-winning autobiography focused on his love of food, his childhood, his family relationships (his mother died of

when he was nine) and his burgeoning homosexuality. Slater has called it "the most intimate memoir that any food person has ever written".Interview with Nigel Slater (page 2)
AfterElton.com, 10 January 2005 ''Toast'' was published in Britain in October 2004Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger by Nigel Slater
Barnes & Noble and became a best-seller after it was featured on the Richard & Judy Book Club. 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 is 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."

Adaptations

Slater's autobiographical work was adapted into 2010's '' Toast'', starring

Freddie Highmore Alfred Thomas Highmore (born 14 February 1992) is an English actor. He is known for his starring roles beginning as a child, in the films '' Finding Neverland'' (2004), '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005), '' Arthur and the Invisibles ...

as the 15-year-old Slater and

Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, List of awards and nominations received by Helena Bonham Carter ...

as his stepmother. It has been broadcast on

. In 2018,

The Lowry Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early 20th-century painter L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England. The complex opened ...

commissioned a stage adaptation of ''Toast'' written by Henry Filloux-Bennett and directed by Jonnie Riordan with Sam Newton as Nigel Slater. After a sell-out run at the Week 53 Festival, it was announced that it would transfer to the Traverse Theatre at

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

. Both productions of the show received rave reviews with critics praising it for its charm and glowing nostalgia. In 2018, it was announced that ''Toast'' would transfer to The Other Palace in London, premiering on 9 April 2019. In March 2019, it was announced that Giles Cooper would play the role of Nigel. In April 2019, it was announced that the show would embark on a UK National Tour in the autumn.

Personal life

Slater has two older brothers, Adrian (born 1944) and John. Slater's parents adopted John, a neighbour's child, before Slater was born. He also has two stepsisters, from whom he is estranged. In 2003, Slater published his autobiography ''Toast'' which is based upon his early life; the book spawned both a film and a play to which he has contributed and collaborated. Slater is gay.

Publications and broadcasting

Cookbooks

*''The Marie Claire Cookbook'', Hamlyn, (, 1992) *''Real Fast Food'', Michael Joseph, (, 1992) or Penguin Books, (, 1993) *''Real Fast Puddings'', Michael Joseph, (, 1992) or Penguin Books, (, 1994) *''The 30-Minute Cook'', Michael Joseph, (, 1994) *''Real Good Food'', Fourth Estate (ISBN, 1995) *''Real Cooking'', Michael Joseph, (, 1997) or Penguin Books (, 1999) *''Real Food'', Fourth Estate, (, 1998) or (, 2000) *''Appetite'', Random House of Canada, (, 2000) or Fourth Estate (, 2000) *''Thirst'', Fourth Estate, (, 2002) *''The Kitchen Diaries'', Fourth Estate, (, 2005) or Gotham Books, published by Penguin (USA), (), October 2006 *''Tender'', Volume One, Fourth Estate, HarperCollins () (2009) *''Tender'', Volume Two, Fourth Estate, HarperCollins (2010) *''The Kitchen Diaries II'', Fourth Estate (2012) *''eat: The Little Book of Fast Food'', Fourth Estate (2013) *''A Year of Good Eating: The Kitchen Diaries III'', Fourth Estate () (2015) *''The Christmas Chronicles'', Fourth Estate (2017) *''Greenfeast: Spring, Summer,'' Fourth Estate () (2019) *''Greenfeast: Autumn, Winter,'' Fourth Estate () (2019) *''A Cook's Book,'' Fourth Estate () (2021)

Autobiography

*''Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger'', Fourth Estate, (, 2003) or HarperPerennial (, 2004) *''Eating For England'', Fourth Estate, (, October 2007)

Broadcasting

*''Nigel Slater's Real Food Show '' (1998) – host and presenter *''A Taste of My Life '' (2006-2008, 31 episodes) – host and presenter *''Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers '' (2009) – writer and presenter *''Nigel Slater's Simple Cooking '' (2011, 8 episodes) – writer and presenter *''Nigel Slater: Life is Sweets '' (2012, one-off documentary) – writer and presenter *''Nigel Slater's Dish of the Day '' (2012) – writer and presenter *''Nigel Slater's Great British Biscuit '' (2013, one-off documentary) – writer and presenter *''Nigel and Adam's Farm Kitchen '' (2013) – co-presenter *''Nigel Slater: Eating Together ''(2015, 4 episodes) – writer and presenter *''Nigel Slater's Middle East ''(2018, 3 episodes) - writer and presenter

Honours and awards

*1995 Glenfiddich Cookery Writer of the Year Award *1995 Glenfiddich Trophy *1995 Glendfiddich Award for Best Visual Work for ''The Observer'' *1996 Media Personality of the Year Award (Good Food Awards) *1999 Glenfiddich Award for Best Visual Work for ''Real Food'' *1999 Best Newspaper Cookery Journalist Award *2000 André Simon Award for Cookbook of the Year for ''Appetite'' *2004 André Simon Award for ''Toast'' *2004 Glenfiddich Food Book of the Year for''Toast'' *2004 British Biography of the Year Award for ''Toast'' *2004 Observer Food Monthly Book of the Year Award for ''Toast'' *2004 WH Smith People's Choice Award for "Toast" *2006 British Book Award for ''The Kitchen Diaries'' *2007 Specialist Writer of the Year, PPA Awards *2009 Honorary DLitt from the

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university in Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, England, located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire. Originally founded in 1827 as the Wolverham ...

*2009 BBC Food Personality of the Year *2018 Fortnum and Mason's Food Book award for ''The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, stories & 100 essential recipes for midwinter'' *2020 Appointed OBE in the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

for services to cookery and literature