Elizabeth David

British cookery writer (1913–1992)

Elizabeth David CBE (née Elizabeth Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer of articles in newspapers and magazines, as well as several books. She wrote about European cuisine and traditional British cuisine. She is known for her influence on British cookery from the 1950s onward.

Elizabeth David (1923)
Blue plaque erected in 2016 by English Heritage at 24 Halsey Street, Chelsea, London SW3 2PT, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Quotes

edit
  • Those who make an occasional marketing expedition to Soho or to the region of Tottenham Court Road can buy Greek cheese and Calamata olives, Tahina paste from the Middle East, little birds preserved in oil from Cyprus, stuffed vine leaves from Turkey, Spanish sausages, Egyptian brown beans, chick peas, Armenian ham, Spanish, Italian, and Cypriot olive oil, Italian salame and rice, even occasionally Neapolitan Mozzarella cheese, and honey from Mount Hymettus. These are the details which complete the flavour of a Mediterranean meal, but the ingrediens which make this cookery so essentially different from our own are available to all; they are the olive oil, wines, lemons, garlic, onions, tomatoes, and the aromatic herbs and spices which go to make up what is so often lacking in English cooking: variety of flavour and colour, and the warm, rich, stimulating smells of genuine food.
    • Preface to the 1955 edition of: David, Elizabeth (30 April 2002). "Preface". A Book of Mediterranean Food. p. 3. ISBN 9781590170038. 
  • ... I went on a short trip to Turin and Alba, to see an exhausting exhibition of Piedmontese baroque at Stupinigi, the former palace of the royal house of Savoy, and more enjoyably, to eat white truffles and fonduta, white truffles with risotto, white truffles and scrambled eggs, white truffles spread on bread and butter. My article Trufflesville Regis, was written rather hurriedly for the Spectator, and contained any number of Italian spelling mistakes. Nobody complained except the Italian friend I had been with on the trip. In due course she corrected them for me, and a second version of the article was published by Cyril Ray in his Compleat Imbiber.

Quotes about Elizabeth David

edit
edit
 
Wikipedia
Wikipedia has an article about: