Toast: The Story of a Boy's HungerToast 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 house-keeper 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 50,000 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. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - Cassandra2020 - LibraryThingA lovely little book that works on many levels. Basically, Nigel Slater tells of his childhood by reminiscing about various foods that are associated with incidents in his life. As with all his ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - wealhtheowwylfing - LibraryThingA raw, engrossing, and sometimes uncomfortable memoir by a British chef. It covers his childhood and teenage years as though he's reliving them, recounting events with the same naivete and unconscious ... Read full review
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Bibliographic information
| Title | Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger |
| Author | Nigel Slater |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Fourth Estate, 2003 |
| Original from | the University of Virginia |
| Digitized | Aug 22, 2008 |
| ISBN | 1841152897, 9781841152899 |
| Length | 247 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |