It was something no-one did in the 60s... a boy putting on a pinny and making jam
FOOD WRITER NIGEL SLATER’S STAGE SHOW IS THE TOAST OF THE TOWN. MARION McMULLEN LEARNS HIS RECIPE FOR THEATRICAL SUCCESS
There is not a cheque that you could give me that would make me eat that egg...
What is it like seeing someone play your younger self on stage? IT’S interesting. It’s me, but I forget that and it just becomes a story about a little boy and his memory of what happened.
I think ‘This is nothing to do with me’ and then there is a phrase from my mum or something that I said to my mother, or something that my father did and suddenly it isn’t just any little boy any more it’s me and I get that emotion.
I might have seen the scene countless times in the play, but it still hits me every time.
How would you describe Toast?
IT’S a story of childhood, a story about love and abandonment and all the accompanying trauma. The real heart and soul of it is food.
(Laughs) It was used almost like a weapon really between young Nigel and his stepmother – trying to outdo each other for my dad’s affection. She baked for England. I’d proudly come home with my piece of shortbread and she’d be there with a buffet.
The cast is very young – I feel like a granddad when I’m talking to them – and they’ve been putting their hearts and soul into it. They’ve been playing to packed houses. The first preview got a standing ovation.
Toast has been a bestselling book, a TV drama with Ken Stott and Helena Bonham Carter, a West End hit and is now about to go on tour. How did it all start?
IT started out as a magazine article for the Observer. It was meant to be a one-off piece in a magazine and I’m thrilled about how it has developed. When it came to the book, I just sat down. I didn’t plan anything. I didn’t have any chapter plan. It just flowed... and that is not always the case when you are doing a piece of writing.
I suppose it was something I was always meant to do. I did it for myself. It was about me and it was my story, but countless kids have been in the position where they lose a parent for whatever reason and suddenly someone takes their place.
I didn’t think how difficult it was for my stepmum. She went to live with my dad and a little boy. I don’t think I realised how hard that was for her.
Lemon meringue pie features a lot in Toast. Have you ever made the perfect pie?
I’VE never made a lemon meringue pie as good as my stepmother’s. It was actually her daughter’s recipe and I spent a lot of time trying to recreate it, but she got me there.
I suspect she used the same ingredients that you normally use. It was just the thickness of it. I sincerely hope that it has a bit of a resurgence. It’s a wonderful pudding. It’s a devil to make at home because of the pastry and the lemon filling, but I really hope it’s coming back.
I’ve found it on restaurant menus already in the last few weeks. It’s the pudding of the moment and that excites me.
Toast has been a great success in London. How will the UK tour work?
I’M thrilled about the show. I think there is a fondness for that era – all the 60s television programmes bring back wonderful memories. It’s absolutely brilliant.
The cast distribute little treats and some lovely little lemon tarts from Lily Vanilla to the audience in London. It’s lovely. Food brings people together.
Will we be able to do that on tour? It’s going to be suck it and see. I don’t think we will know until we get to theatres. Food is a big part of the production, but most of the food we use onstage is not real because we have to use them every night.
I don’t know if our designer Libby has read the book intimately, but she found the same lino, chair and china we used to have at home. How did she know the cake tray we had?
Was it considered unusual for boys to be interested in cooking when you were growing up?
I WAS the first boy in my school (to do cookery). I went to a lovely school and I went to the headmaster and said ‘I don’t want to do woodwork or metalwork next term, I want to do cookery’. It was something no-one really did... a boy putting on a pinny and making jam and things. I suppose it was quite a brave thing to do.
It was a really big deal in the 1960s and I was very lucky the headmaster didn’t say no, but I was just so sure it was something I wanted to do. (Laughs) I was never going to be a metal worker.
What is your food hell?
EGGS. I can’t eat eggs. I can only have them in food if I can’t see them or smell them, but if one is just plonked in front of me then there is not a cheque that you could give me that would make me eat that egg. There is a bit in the play were my younger self is made to eat an egg by his father and I literally gag watching it.