Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch
Guest Reviewer: Alice Waters onTenderAlice Watersis the visionary chef and owner of Chez Panisse and the author of ten cookbooks, includingThe Art of Simple FoodandIn the Green Kitchen.This lovely book is a celebration of the senses: Nigel Slater describes a carrot with such attention, tenderness, and humor that it feels like he is introducing a dear friend to his readers. He understands the perfection of a runner bean in midsummer, and explores its flavor in a way that is pure, honest, and delicious. His prose is a pleasure to read--full of life and enjoyment of the table--and the photography makes it a lush and beautiful book.Even as he delivers a collection of elegant, simply constructed recipes, Slater also taps into the reasons we engage with food--reasons both sensory and philosophical. “The idea of planting a seed, watching it grow, then eating the result instantly does away with much of the baggage that goes hand in hand with our modern food supply,” he writes. InTender, we have the rare insight of a cook who knows not only the kitchen, but also the garden. Slater is passionate about every moment in the process of growing, cooking, and consuming food, and he starts with the essential notion of “reading” a plate--which is to say, pondering the where and why of the food we prepare. He weaves this notion effortlessly into his chapters, whether he is discussing his favorite varieties of eggplant (which he grows in deep clay pots against his warmest wall) or sharing his love of walking around the garden on a summer night when peas are in season: “To burst a pod of peas and eat them in the dark is a sweet joy.”Tenderis full of small but irresistible observations like this.