I have a confession: I don’t like vegetables. I’m more of a fruit person. However I will admit there has been the odd occasion where someone has prepared some vegetable in a way that has blown my socks off. So in an effort to not get rickets, I purchased the most stunning book by Nigel Slater, Tender: Volume One. A book just can’t look this good, and not promise great tasting vegetables.
It being a massive book, and my trying to eat within the season, has meant that I’ve barely managed to skim the surface of its possibilities; but everything that has come out of this book has been a delightful experience of taste. From a simple dish of roasted potatoes, to the most perfect soup of Jerusalem artichokes, to hearty meal of baked sausages (and more Jerusalem artichokes), this book has created some of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had.
But, hell, you don’t have to cook to enjoy this book. Like an armchair traveler, you could be an arm-chare cook and spend hours flipping through its gorgeous photographs, taking pleasure from its beautiful typography, admiring the author for his green thumb and the knowledge he imparts. Tender can hold itself up against the best of coffee table books (but I would highly recommend taking for a whirl in the kitchen).
Tender reads like a love letter, and this love is infectious.