Nici Wickes - A Quiet Kitchen

About this episode

Nici Wickes discusses her cookbooks and reflections on living alone at the Marlborough Book Festival.

Nici Wickes was the Instagram foodie we all needed during lockdown - down to earth, great fun, and cooking up a storm with mostly pantry ingredients. Her gorgeous cookbooks A Quiet Kitchen and the just-released More from a Quiet Kitchen include many of those recipes along with her honest reflections on her struggle to find contentment in mid-age, how she finds happiness in living alone in a quiet coastal community, and where she draws inspiration from. Most of her recipes serve one or two and serve to inspire those who also live alone, though many are easily scaled up if you have friends over. Nici says: “I want this book to be a cookbook but also a guide to becoming accomplished at living alone, healthily, joyfully, quietly, whilst still feeling engaged and connected to the world and staying open to the mystery of it all.” Hear Nici talking with Tania Miller at the 2024 Marlborough Book Festival about her cookbooks, her mid-life sea change, and how choosing to eat well goes hand in hand with choosing to live well.

People in this episode

Host: Tania Miller

Guest: Nici Wickes

Topics covered

• cooking
• mid-life reflections
• living alone
• contentment
• cookbooks

Keywords

• Nici Wickes
• cookbooks
• A Quiet Kitchen
• living alone
• mid-life
• cooking
• Marlborough Book Festival

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: A Quiet Kitchen, More from a Quiet Kitchen

Places: Marlborough

More episodes of The Marlborough Book Festival

• Nici Wickes - Cook, Eat, Travel · May 25, 2026 · 1h 5m
• Emily Perkins and Sue McCauley - Turning Points · May 5, 2026 · 56 min
• Emily Perkins - Lioness · February 6, 2026 · 1h 0m
• Fletcher McKenzie - From the Pilot’s Seat · December 19, 2025 · 1h 1m
• Rachael King - The Grimmelings · November 21, 2025 · 1h 7m
• Lauren Keenan - Time Travellers Guide to History · November 6, 2025 · 1h 2m