Every meal tells a story in Slater’s writing. Premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2018, Toast covers the joy of learning to cook with his mother, his deteriorating relationship with his dad, and his domestic war with his stepmother. But Toast succeeds in capturing the engrossing pleasure of food which Slater turned into mouth-watering poetry in his cookbooks. Spaghetti bolognese is disastrous, Victoria sandwich a weapon in his war with his stepmother, and mum’s toast is often burnt. Anecdotes and fantasy sequences infuse fun and tenderness into the story.

As Nigel grows up we meet his school-friends, his workmates and his extended family. And his first girlfriend. Nigel narrates his experiences throughout and, with cooking on stage and sweets and cakes for the audience, this warm story of family relationships, sadness and poignancy, comedy and fantasy is a well-seasoned recipe.