Career: He gained an OND in catering at Worcester Technical College in 1976. He then worked in restaurants and hotels in the UK, before becoming a food writer for Marie Claire magazine in 1988. He became best known for uncomplicated, comfort food recipes presented in early bestselling books such as The 30-Minute Cook (1994) and Real Cooking, as well as his engaging, memoir-like columns for The Observer which he began in 1993. In 1998 Slater hosted the Channel 4 series Nigel Slater's Real Food Show. He returned to TV in 2006 hosting the chat/food show A Taste of My Life for BBC One and BBC Two. Slater became known to a wider audience with the publication of Toast: The Story of A Boy's Hunger, which was made into a drama for the BBC.