Julia's Trailblazing Predecessor

Elizabeth David is well known among the British culinary public. Perhaps not as much as Julia Child, worldwide, but if their lives converged there would be vigorous debate about their respective contribution to nurturing French cooking over the continents. But Julia Child wasn't a classical writer as David was, who essentially coined the genre of food writing. One discriminating, if pointed, another whimsical, yet integrous.

Elizabeth was a pre-eminent British food writer of the mid 20th century. She is considered responsible for bringing French cooking into the British home. In a Britain worn down by post-war rationing and dull food, she celebrated the regional and rural dishes of the Mediterranean rather than the fussier food of the gourmands and aristocrats. David's style is characterized by terse descriptions of the recipes themselves, accompanied by detailed descriptions of their context and historical background, and often laced with anecdotal asides. She was often scathing of bad food, including much of the food of England that she and her readers had grown up with.

More on Elizabeth David to come. Stay tuned.

Source: Wikipedia