A 2011 World Book Night selection.
This is a coming of age with a difference – a culinary pilgrimage through the extraordinary childhood of award-winning food writer Nigel Salter. Moving and humorous in turn, it captures the tastes, treats and torments of daily life in '60s suburban England.
Our Editorial Guru, Sarah Broadhurst, has suggested others book and authors that would be perfect for you to read next or to pass on the recommendation - so your gift will keep on giving enjoyment. Her selection for this title is: Jackie Kay.
| Primary Genre | Biographies & Autobiographies |
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To coincide with the release of a major film adaptation, a new edition of Nigel Slater's much-loved and acclaimed memoir.
TOAST is Nigel Slater's truly extraordinary story of a childhood remembered through food. Whether relating his mother's ritual burning of the toast, his father's dreaded Boxing Day stew or such culinary highlights of the day as Arctic Roll and Grilled Grapefruit (then considered something of a status symbol in Wolverhampton) this remarkable memoir vividly recreates daily life in sixties surburban England.
His mother was a chops-and-peas sort of cook, exasperated by the highs and lows of a temperamental AGA, a finicky little son and the asthma that was to prove fatal. His father was a honey-and-crumpets man who could occasionally go off 'crack' like a gun. When Nigel's widowed father takes on a housekeeper with social aspirations and a talent in the kitchen, the following years become a heartbreaking cooking contest for his father's affections. But as he slowly loses the battle, Nigel finds a new outlet for his culinary talents, and we witness the birth of what was to become a lifelong passion for food.
Nigel's likes and dislikes, aversions and sweet-toothed weaknesses form a fascinating and amusing backdrop to this incredibly moving and deliciously evocative memoir of childhood, adolescence and sexual awakening.
Toast features in the following genres: Biographies & Autobiographies, eBooks of the Month, Biography, Literature and Literary studies, Recommendations
Toast is available in Hardback, Paperback, Paperback (b Format), Ebook, CD-Audio
Toast was written by Nigel Slater and published by 4th Estate an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Toast has 247 pages