Nigel Slater may be considered a national treasure by many food fans, but it took a long time before this acclaimed cookery writer could be persuaded to transfer his skills to TV.
Born in Wolverhampton, Nigel began cooking at an early age. He worked in restaurants around the country from the age of 16. He then moved to London and became a recipe tester and a cook for food photography.
In 1988, he joined Marie Claire magazine as the food editor. By 1993, he was writing about food for the Observer's Life magazine and his first book, Real Fast Food, was published. Several more books followed, which helped to establish him as one of Britain's best-loved cookery writers. His most recent book is called Eating for England: The Delights and Eccentricities of the British at Table. His next book, Tender, will be split into two volumes, the first of which will be published in late autumn 2009.
Nigel has been awarded numerous awards for his food-writing and won a Glenfiddich Award for his autobiography, Toast: A Story of a Boy's Hunger, in 2004.
Nigel presented three series of the BBC Two programme, A Taste of My Life. In autumn 2009 he will appear in a new BBC Two programme, called Slater's Simple Suppers.