Toast is Nigel Slater's truly extraordinary story of a childhood
remembered through food. In each chapter, as he takes readers on a tour
of the contents of his family's pantry--rice pudding, tinned ham, cream
soda, mince pies, lemon drops, bourbon biscuits--we are transported....
His mother was a chops-and-peas sort of cook, exasperated by the highs
and lows of a temperamental stove, a finicky little son, and the asthma
that was to prove fatal. His father was a honey-and-crumpets man with an
unpredictable temper. 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 backdrop to this
exceptionally moving memoir of childhood, adolescence, and sexual
awakening.
A bestseller (more than 300,000 copies sold) and award-winner in the UK,
Toast is sure to delight both foodies and memoir readers on this
side of the pond--especially those who made such enormous successes of
Ruth Reichl's Tender at the Bone and Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen
Confidential.