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Elizabeth David cookery books, biography and writings |
Watched the excellent BBC 2 drama on Elizabeth David? Now you can cook like her, with this single volume collection of her first three books!
Cookery and recipes - Elizabeth David classics : mediterranean food; French country cooking; and summer cooking ...
Publishers Grub Street are to be congratulated on re-issuing this single volume collection of Elizabeth David's first three books (A Book of Mediterranean Food, French Country Cooking and Summer Cooking), which have too long been out of print in hardback. The paperbacks are useful but tend to fall to pieces with repeated use. Moreover, even at full price this represents something of a bargain. The charm of the originals, with the evocative drawings by John Minton and Adrian Daintrey, remains intact. Grub Street have discreetly changed page numbers in references and that appears to be about it. The lobster on the cover is as forbidding and jealous of its dignity as Mrs David, famously, was wont to be. (The changing cover illustrations of ED reprints over the years might make an interesting study. The 70s paperback of Mediterranean Food features a spectacularly boring photograph of a corner of a French market-meaningless, until you spot in the foreground a big bunch of garlic, a symbol even then of everything Mediterranean.
As for the books, what is there to say? They are what they are. Everybody knows about them. The fumes of historical myth ("grey post-war Britain ... sudden blaze of southern sunshine") rises from them like incense. It's difficult to recapture the effect they must have had in the 50s, and perhaps it's scarcely worth the effort. One returns to them periodically, wearied of the exertions of the gastro-pornographers, to refresh oneself at the spring of Elizabeth David's perfect taste. Or so the theory goes. However, it's important to remember, what seems in danger of being forgotten, that despite the telegraphic concision of some of the recipes, these are practical books, intended to be used over and over in the kitchen. Elizabeth David regarded herself first and foremost not as a writer but as a cook. These little volumes really are indispensable, imperishable classics of the kitchen. -- Robin Davidson (Source Amazon UK 16 September 2005)
| To buy book or obtain reviews ... |
| US UK Canada hardback 1999 |
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Cookery and recipes - Elizabeth David classics : mediterranean food; French country cooking; and summer cooking ... (French cookery books list) Elizabeth David cookery books plus related subjects
Cookbooks and recipe books
TV cooks and cookbooks |
 Rick Stein cookery books
 Delia Smith cookery books
 Gary Rhodes cookery books
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Cookery and recipes - Is there a nutmeg in the house? Elizabeth David (cookery books list) Elizabeth David cookery books plus related subjects
'The best food book I have read in ten years' Spectator (Frontcover)
A sequel to An omelette and a glass of wine
Cookbooks and recipe books
Samples : view sample pages from another edition of... Is there a nutmeg in the house? by Elizabeth David (Amazon US) |
Cookery and recipes - Is there a nutmeg in the house? Elizabeth David
This anthology of Elizabeth David's work is a direct sequel to "An Omelette and a Glass of Wine". It again contains a selection of her journalistic and occasional work from four decades. Much of it she had chosen herself for reprinting in this more accessible form. In addition there is a considerable amount of unpublished material found in her own files, or contributed by friends to whom she had given recipes, or to whom she had sent letters, either with notes in answer to queries or giving details of current research. None of the material here appears in any of her other nine books. The emphasis throughout is on the practical aspects of cooking and eating, and the book contains over 150 recipes. These stem from many different countries, but they all have Elizabeth David's unmistakable personal touch - a Mediterranean tomato consomme or a typically English raspberry ice-cream. Little-known articles on her many and varied likes and dislikes complete a unique picture of what for so long made her the most influential cookery writer in the English language. Her work is always immensely readable, elegant and witty, and she has a wonderful ability to share her sense of season and place, her passionate interest in food, its history, its myriad personalities, its role in civilized society. Those who have followed her progress from the astonishing "Mediterannean Food" to the equally unexpected "Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen" will find much that they have not seen before. For those who are new to Elizabeth David, a feast awaits you. (Source Amazon UK 18 January 2006)
| To buy book or obtain reviews ... |
| US UK Canada penguin paperback 2001 |
| Other versions which may be available ... |
| US UK Canada penguin paperback 2002 |
| US UK Canada viking books hardback 2001 |
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Cookery and recipes - an omelette and a glass of wine Elizabeth David
A collection of Elizabeth David's short pieces on food and wine. (Source Amazon UK 18 January 2006)
More information on ... An omelette and a glass of wine (US UK and Canada) |
Cookery and recipes - an omelette and a glass of wine Elizabeth David (cookery books list) Elizabeth David cookery books plus related subjects
Cookbooks and recipe books
Samples : view sample pages from another edition of... an omelette and a glass of wine by Elizabeth David (Amazon US) |
Cookery and recipes - English bread and yeast cookery by Elizabeth David (cookery books list) Elizabeth David cookery books plus related subjects
Cookbooks and recipe books
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Cookery and recipes - English bread and yeast cookery by Elizabeth David
In this universally acclaimed book Elizabeth David deals with all aspects of flour-milling, yeast, bread ovens and the different types of bread and flour available. The recipes cover yeast cookery of all kinds, and the many lovely, old-fashioned spiced breads, buns, pancakes and muffins, among others, are all described with her typical elegance and unrivalled knowledge. (Source Amazon UK 18 January 2006)
More information on ... English bread and yeast cookery (US UK and Canada) |
Cookery and recipes - Italian food by Elizabeth David
A guide to Italian food, originally published in 1954, which provides a survey of the varied food and cookery of Italy's many regions. Over 400 dishes are described, there are sections on the use of herbs and spices, and there are chapters on wine and cheeses. (Source Amazon UK 18 January 2006)
| To buy book or obtain reviews ... |
| US UK Canada paperback (Penguin books - 1998) |
| US UK Canada hardback (Ebury Press - 1987) |
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Cookery and recipes - Italian food by Elizabeth David (cookery books list) Elizabeth David cookery books plus related subjects
'Above all, Elizabeth David's books make you want to cook' Terence Conran - Observer (Frontcover)
Cookbooks and recipe books |
Cookery and recipes - spices, salt and aromatics in the English kitchen by Elizabeth David (cookery books list) Elizabeth David cookery books plus related subjects
Cookbooks and recipe books |
Cookery and recipes - spices, salt and aromatics in the English kitchen by Elizabeth David
Elizabeth David presents a collection of English recipes using spices, salt and
aromatics. The book includes dishes such as briskets and spiced beef, smoked
fish, cured pork and sweet fruit pickles. An emphasis is placed on the influence
of the Orient on the English kitchen.(Source Amazon UK 18 January 2006)
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Cookery and recipes - Elizabeth Davids Christmas - compiled by Jill Norman (cookery books list) Elizabeth David cookery books plus related subjects
Cookbooks and recipe books |
Cookery and recipes - Elizabeth Davids Christmas compiled by Jill Norman
Throughout her distinguished career, Elizabeth David wrote many
articles on Christmas food, testing her recipes and honing her skills
on the Christmas preparations for her sister's family, which included
five children. She put together a file of articles, recipes and notes,
intending to publish them as a book, for which, much later, she wrote
an introduction, and this file has come to light among her papers. This
volume contains the whole of the file of around 150 recipes, together
with a selection of aricles and her introduction. Designed to take the
strain out of providing festive food, from making preparations and
using left-overs to avoiding hectic last-minute cooking, this a
complete Christmas food book. All the classics are here: mince pies,
stuffings, sauces and, of course, turkey, as well as simple first
courses, party dishes, ice creams and a range of desserts. (Source Amazon UK 18 January 2006)
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Cookery - writing at the kitchen table - the authorized biography of Elizabeth David by Artemis Cooper
Although Elizabeth David was the very reverse of a recluse, she was
famously reluctant to divulge information about herself to her
readership, claiming that everything to be said was said in her books.
We must take leave to doubt this, in the light of Artemis Cooper's Writing at the Kitchen Table, which follows on the heels of Lisa Chaney's Elizabeth David: A Mediterranean Passion. The more that is revealed about her, the more interesting she becomes. Artemis Cooper is the "authorised" biographer, writing with access to a mass of personal papers but this is not a hagiography. Mrs David, as crisply but sympathetically drawn in these pages, was a fascinating egotist, beautiful with a hard sensuality, generous but capable of furious rages and lasting grudges. She learned a valuable lesson in self-centredness from the quintessentially louche Norman Douglas, who in many ways seems to have been a key influence. Clearly she was not exactly a nice person, although it is encouraging (and not entirely surprising) to discover that she had a really dirty laugh--more of a cackle, in fact, it appears.
The story is well told: The patrician background she flouted (but not too much); the flight from England, greyness and failure; the rackety wartime years spent knocking around the Mediterranean in the company of high Bohemians such as Lawrence Durrell; the marriage of convenience in Cairo that at least gave her the status of a married woman but was soon abandoned; the lovers; the return to London and the start of a dazzling writing career; the fame and the status; the shop; the stroke that affected both palate and libido; the troubled later years. On none of this need she be judged and Artemis Cooper does not. After all, Elizabeth David was right. The best of her is in the writing; and the best of her was the precise, attentive, sensual appreciation of food and cooking. We must remember that above all she was an exquisitely skilful cook, whose influence, though mostly indirect, has been incalculable. It's all the more moving, then, to learn that at her funeral, "among the wreaths and baskets of flowers, and the violets she loved, someone had left a loaf of bread and a bunch of herbs tied up in brown paper." -- Robin Davidson -- This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
(Source Amazon UK 18 January 2006)
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Cookery - writing at the kitchen table - the authorized biography of Elizabeth David by Artemis Cooper (cookery books list) Elizabeth David cookery books plus related subjects
Cookbooks and recipe books |
 Good food cookery books from the BBC
 Claudia Roden cookery books
 Jamie Oliver cookery books
 Ken Hom cookery books
 Madhur Jaffrey cookery books
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Cookery and recipes : French provincial cooking with Elizabeth David (French cookery books list) Elizabeth David cookery books plus related subjects
Cookbooks and recipe books
Samples : view sample pages from French Provincial Cooking by Elizabeth David (Amazon US) |
Cookery and recipes : French provincial cooking with Elizabeth David
Elizabeth David aims to induce a desire to use each recipe as soon as it is read, describing recipes like "pot au feu" in all their simplicity. She presents cooking without elaboration. Advice is also included on the choice of the tools that would always be needed in any kitchen. (Source Amazon UK 16 September 2005)
| To buy book or obtain reviews ... |
| US UK Canada paperback 1999 |
| Other versions which may be available ... |
| US UK Canada hardback 1984 |
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More cookery books - the BBC and TV cookery books selection ... |
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