A Century of British Cooking

Book excerpt: Britain’s beloved first minister of food offers a decade-by-decade survey of the rich culinary traditions of her home country. Marguerite Patten OBE has written over 160 cookery books, sales of which amount to over 16 million worldwide. Her long and distinguished career, which began before the war, has included regular appearances on radio and television, live and televised cookery demonstrations, lectures as well as extensive journalism and authorship of books and cookery cards. Marguerite is one of Britain’s best known and loved cookery writers and has often been described as England’s Cookery Queen. Ainsley Harriott dubbed her “the cookery icon of our times.” Her Century of British Cooking pulls together her life’s work, with over 200 recipes, and is truly an important work of culinary history. Each chapter covers one decade of the twentieth century, giving both history and recipes. The entire book is illustrated throughout in color and black-and-white. “This book is a marvelous survey of how much and how fast a food culture can change. I do encourage you to pick up a copy for the details from 1950 on. It’s a fascinating story, and it just may make you appreciate living in the here and now.” —Cooking by the Book