Nigel Slater - A Cooks Book: The Essential Nigel Slater [A Cookbook]

A Cooks Book was written at my kitchen table during the pandemic of 202021, but the stories and recipes between these covers go back a long way before that.

A book of recipes and meals shared is, inevitably, a collaborative affair, and I have many wonderful people to thank.

To Louise Haines, my editor for over thirty years.

To Allan Jenkins and to Harriet Green, Martin Love, Gareth Grundy, and everyone at the Observer , I simply cannot thank you enough for your continuing support. Thank you to Araminta Whitley, Marina de Pass, and everyone at the Soho Agency, and a huge appreciation to the Observer readers and to my followers on Instagram and Twitter.

Many hands have been involved in this book, but none more so than James Thompsons. Whether he is cooking with me or working with The Great Ovenhis international network for refugee aid and emergency food reliefhis work and inspiration run deeply through the pages of this book. I can never thank him enough. A round of applause to Giles Cooper, who worked painstakingly on many of the recipes in this book, testing and retesting, and to Nicola Lamb for her wisdom and baking expertise.

To everyone at 4th Estate, especially Charlie Redmayne, Michelle Kane, Julian Humphries, Chris Gurney, and Mia Colleran; to Gary Simpson, Annie Lee, Laura Nickoll, Alex Gingell, and Louise Tucker, my thanks.

It has been a joy, as always, to work with Jonathan Lovekin, who has photographed not only the food in this book and my weekly Observer Magazine columns but all of my cooking for as long as I can remember. I am so grateful to Jenny Zarins for photographing me and my kitchen, and for giving the stories and recipes in this book a sense of place. I think of each of my books as having its own character, which is why each has its own format. I thank David Pearson once again for his thoughtful design and am grateful to GS Typesetting and everyone at GPS Group.

As always, there are no stylists or props involved in my books. If you recognize plates and bowls and pots and pans it is because they are part of my life. The ceramics from which we eat are important to me and I would like to mention all those whose pieces I use regularly in my kitchen, especially Florian Gadsby, Steve Harrison, Anne Mette Hjortshj, Rupert Spira, Teppei Ono, Darren Ellis, Jono Smart and Emily Stephen, and the late Richard Batterham.

I have long been an admirer of the late Howard Hodgkin and am lucky to have some of his paintings in my own collection. I am indebted to Antony Peattie and the Howard Hodgkin Legacy Trust for their permission to use Howards painting A Pale Reflection , 201516, on the cover of this book.

Many have encouraged, inspired, or helped with this book more than they would ever know. A shout-out to Dalton Wong and George Ashwell, Richard Stepney, Tim dOffay, Jonathan Nunn, Edmund de Waal, and Takahiro Yagi; to Katie Findlay, Jack McGuigan, Tok and Hiromi Kise; Takako Saito; Maureen Doherty, Lyn Harris, Kyoko Kuga, and Mitsue Iwakoshi. Thank you and much love to you all.

Nigel Slater, London, October 2021