
- 224 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
Eliza Acton is the forgotten hero of our culinary past. A debt of gratitude to her is what Delia Smith, Elizabeth David and Mrs Beeton have in common. She was the original and best: the first cook to write recipes in a clear, modern format, one of the few Victorian ladies whose legacy has lasted well into the twenty-first century and whose recipes are still used in thousands of kitchens today. In this absorbing first biography, Sheila Hardy creates a richly painted narrative of how a young woman produced the first cookery book for general use and changed history. She provides a rich background to Eliza's success, not only as the little-known mother of modern cookery, but as a poet and a campaigner for healthy eating. She introduced us to curry, chorizo and gluten-free diets 150 years before they became fashionable. She knew Charles Dickens, and her family life was possibly an inspiration for several of his plots. She had a fascinating career, and this brilliantly researched biography is a must for anyone interested in food and cookery, or simply as an insight into the life of a modern lady who was years ahead of her time.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword by Delia Smith
- Preface
- One Beginnings
- Two The Family
- Three The Poet
- Four Disaster and Change
- Five The Second Career
- Six Combining the Ingredients
- Seven The Literary Circle
- Eight Fame and Fortune?
- Nine The 1855 Edition
- Ten The Last Attempt
- Eleven Last Days
- Twelve Eliza’s Legacy
- Appendix I Prices in the 1850s
- Appendix II The Acton Family Tree
- Notes
- Sources
- By the Same Author
- Copyright
- Other Biographies by The History Press