At 82 years old, Niagara-on-the-Lake resident Nigel Napier-Andrews shows no signs of slowing down.
Besides his regular posts on his Gentleman’s Portion lifestyle blog, his Escapes with Nigel YouTube video series highlighting the uniqueness of NOTL, and his scriptwriting for recent Canadian-produced romantic comedies, the retired television producer has just published his fifth cookbook, Simplifood Too.
Cooking has long been an obsession for the British-born Napier-Andrews. Fifty years ago, while working for CBC Television, a friend asked him to write a cheeky food column for a magazine he was publishing. That led to NIgel’s first cookbook, How to Eat Well and Stay Single, in 1974.
“It took me about a year and a half to write it,” he laughs. “It was really a book written for bachelors. But within a year I was married!”
That experience allowed him to develop the methods he continues to use to this day. Each of his recipes features a shopping list of ingredients followed by simple instructions that are easy to follow. He takes his own photographs of the food he prepares in his well-equipped kitchen at his home in The Village. The images are tantalizing without using the over-the-top lighting and spray-glossing seen in many cookbooks.
“I’m a completely self-taught cook,” he adds. “I love to cook, and I love to cook for friends. I have a table here that seats eight and I enjoy having dinner parties.”
On the day The Local arrives at Napier-Andrews’ home, he is cooking a fresh pot of Spaghetti Bolognese on his gas stove, filling the house with an aroma that reminds this reporter of his days growing up in an Italian household.
Nigel offers a spoon and a small bowl of the dark red sauce. It is thick, rich and delicious, chock-full of ground beef and mushrooms. Purposely, his recipe for the dish includes no added salt, as he says he likes to allow his guests to control the amount of sauce they would prefer.
The well-travelled Napier-Andrews has been around the world and often takes his inspiration from his journeys.
“I love French food and Italian food, especially” he says. “I was just in Italy in June. I was in Naples, so I had to have pizza there as it’s quite different than pizza here. And I had to have Parmigiana di Melanzane (Eggplant Parmigiana, page 74 in Simplifood Too) because it was invented there. I love to know the history behind foods.”
Many of the book’s recipes have also appeared on Gentleman’s Portion, such as the site’s most popular dish, Eggs Benedict. He tells The Local the story of the two New York City restaurants that claim to have invented the dish. On page 47 of the new cookbook, he includes a simple recipe and offers four variations, including one with a Norwegian spin.
Simplifood Too is divided into nine chapters, gathering pastas, soups, starters, eggs, main dishes, seafood, sauces, side dishes and salads together in each.
Because this reporter is involved in a soup contest each January, the soup chapter was where Simplifood Too was first opened.
The section begins with an Apple and Parsnip Soup. It’s a recipe that he learned while in Germany, where it’s called Pastinakensuppe mit Apfel.
“Everywhere I go I try to figure out how to make a dish that I have enjoyed,” says Napier-Andrews. “I try to decompose what the chef has done. Sometimes I’ll even ask the chef for the recipe but they are often very shy. So I try to work out what’s in it by trial and error.”
A Zucchini and Mint Soup recipe jumps out immediately, partially because of the overabundance of the latter growing at the side of this reporter’s NOTL home.
It’s a simple recipe with only eight ingredients. It’s fast and easy to whip together and makes for a flavourful, aromatic bowl presented nicely with a dollop of yogurt, a slice of crostini (page 20 for that particular recipe) and a fresh sprig of mint for garnish. The soup recently received rave reviews from a dozen book club women. It could be the 2025 Soup Night award winner, thanks to Nigel. And it is truly a simple recipe.
Napier-Andrews promises that his cooking adventures are not done yet, too.
“I was going to include desserts in this book,” he explains, “but I was up to 250 recipes already. So I decided to split off the dessert and baking sections and I’m going to do a new book called Simpli Sweet: Just Desserts.”
Look for that one some time in the new year.
Simplifood Too is published by Nigel’s own Two Mile Creek Productions company. It’s available as a softcover, large format book for only $28.88 via Amazon.
