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Book
ReviewShe
Did It: Culinary Reconstruction in Post-War BritainWriting at the kitchen table: the
authorized biography of Elizabeth David. Artemis Cooper, 2002. London: Penguin
Books. ISBN 0140263772, 363 pp., £7.99, paper
SAGE Publications, Inc.2006DOI: 10.1177/09675507060140020503
Fi Bird
British Sociological Association Study Group on Food
Elizabeth
David introduced Britain to the diet of the Mediterranean; her legacy is even
more salient today, as recent research suggests that such a diet contains
a wealth of health-protecting compounds. It is widely accepted that Elizabeth
David stirred up a culinary revolution and a small wonder that after her death
people were queuing up to buy in on the lifestyle – some lucky person
even got the kitchen table. `Authorized' conjures up visions of a book that
will not be confronta- tional, enlighten little and may even err on the side
of being rather dull. This is far from the case in Writing at the kitchen
table. It soon becomes obvious that not only has Artemis Cooper had access
to a wealth of infor- mation but she also has the ability to pick out the
fine detail. This gives the reader real insight into this great cookery legend.
However, in expos- ing David's strengths of character, Ms Cooper does not
seek to suppress this rebel. She catalogues David's early, comfortable, middle-class
upbringing, tracing her flirtation with the theatre, her somewhat tempestuous
roman- tic life and her travels in wartime Europe: voyages at what was hardly
a time for the delicate English rose to sojourn. David was, of course, far
from conventional. This book is all consuming and satiates more than just
a foodie's appetite. Cooper writes well and once engrossed the reader is keen
to savour every event, not just the ingredients. To get the most out of this
concentrated review of her life, I had to reread it and I was rewarded: the
second read allows an even deeper probe into David's complicated character.
One can go off at so many tangents: her forthright love of indigenous ingredients
is well documented but it is done with honesty – rocket is used instead
of parsley because it was there. The diet was at times limited. We are made
aware of David's need to compartmentalize her relation- ships. Cooper tells
us that she did not like to mix her friends and rarely did she like her girlfriends'
husbands. There is further insight into Elizabeth David's personality in the
chapter about her husband Tony Andrews. This woman of passion appears to have
contented herself with a kind but rather uninspiring choice of husband. Surprisingly,
no photographs of the mar- riage exist. Her marriage of convenience allowed
Elizabeth the social confidence (and respectability) to rise above the parapet
and indeed the crowd. In highlighting the sociological aspects of this pairing,
her rela- tionship with Norman Douglas and other eminent personalities of
the time are insightfully put into context.
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The
book changes tempo in chapters that read as a travel journal. I was captivated
by her life in such places as Cairo. Here Cooper documents David's relationships
with cooks (Suleiman), writers and the congenial passer-by. At times the web
is tangled. Her return to post-war Britain, where frugal cooking was the order
of the day, heralds a new course for the book. David's development as an academic
cookery writer proves an interesting path to observe. Her recipes gave no
place to quantity or measurement. Such preci- sion had been unimportant in
Italy, where the recipes were developed. However, with rationing still in
force David's recipes were the antithesis of the British approach to cooking.
Some criticism was inevitable. Cooper unravels a scholarly woman – from the bookworm on board the Evelyn Hope who develops into the inspiring
author who writes as she cooks with knowing confidence. In the chapter on
baking bread, David emerges as an author who is keen to research her subject
well. In writing this book, Artemis Cooper laid herself open to opposition.
In writing the life history of a doyenne who is survived by influential culi-
nary friends, there is inevitable risk. The joy of this book is that, despite
being written in partnership with such people, the observation is clear and
not rose coloured.