Just finished Nigel Slater’s excellent ‘Eating for England’. It’s not a new book – published by Fourth Estate 2007 – but is hugely enjoyable and very readable. I spent most of the time reminiscing over all the things I remember from my childhood that he catalogues. Lot’s of ‘I remember…’ and ‘did you have…’.
Because it’s not an A to Z of our relationship with food, it drifts from one wonderful, or otherwise, memory to another with such diverse items as Black Pudding, Murray Mints, Ribena, Dairylea and Branston Pickle.
What comes across is a wonderful catalogue of things we’ve forgotten, or would like to forget. His summary of our attitude says it all: ‘the French cook with their senses, the Italians with their hearts, the Spanish with their energy, the Germans with their appetite. The British, bless them, cook with their wallets.’
Whether you remember Fry’s Five Centres or not, read this book for a trip down memory lane. Highly recommended.
deilibri 