Nigel Slater

"Food is, for me, for everybody, a very sexual thing and I think I realised that quite early on. I still cannot exaggerate how just putting a meal in front of somebody is really more of a buzz for me than anything. And I mean anything. Maybe that goes back to trying to please my dad, I don't know. It's like parenting in a way I suppose."

"Food has been my career, my hobby, and, it must be said, my escape."

"I understood that if ever one wanted to live with someone you cooked for them and they came running. But then it is my idea of hell these days, living with someone. The idea of sharing your life with someone is just utterly ghastly. I know why people do it, but it's never a good idea."

"Eating, and that feel of food in the mouth, is all part of comfort and affection and warmth, and I think that a lot of the reason that I turned to food was because I was actually quite a lonely child."

"Good kitchens are not about size; they are about ergonomics and light."

"It is the deep, salty stickiness of food that intrigues me more than any other quality."

"Well let's face it, who on earth besides antique dealers and gay couples actually still give dinner parties?"

"Almost anything is edible with a dab of French mustard on it."

"I have never eaten a boiled egg, but I have had a soldier or two."