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Food In England

On sale

2nd July 2009

Price: £25

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Selected: Paperback / ISBN-13: 9780749942151

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Her love of the infinite variety of English cooking and her knowledge of British culture and history show why our food should never be considered dull or limited. There are unusual dishes such as the Cornish Onion and Apple Pie, and even recipes for fungi, from common field mushrooms to puffballs. She describes some delicious puddings, cakes and breads, including an exotic violet flower ice cream, an eighteenth century coconut bread and Yorkshire teacakes. The finely-executed line drawings that accompany many of the recipes are more than just beautiful; they inform the cook about different varieties and techniques of food-handling.

First published in 1954, FOOD IN ENGLAND was the bible of english cooks and had a deep influence on many contemporary cooks and food writers. It will undoubtedly attract a new generation of admirers.

Reviews

BBC COUNTRYFILE MAGAZINE
extraordinary, idiosyncratic and utterly absorbing
Elisabeth Luard
A true source-book, a labour of love ... a plum-pudding of a book - stuffed with all manner of delicious things, all the better for the keeping
DELIA Smith
A classic book without any worthy successor - a must for any keen English cook
Lucy Worsley, Daily Telegraph
A curious mixture of cookery, history, anthropology and even magic ... I'd always been a big fan of FOOD IN ENGLAND for its readability and exuberance
Delia Smith
A classic book without any worthy successor - a must for any keen English cook
BBC Countryfile Magazine
Extraordinary, idiosyncratic and utterly absorbing
JOSCELINE DIMBLEBY
Dorothy Hartley's ingenious ideas were one of my first inspirations; they show that English food should never be dismissed as boring
TLS
A treasure-house of knowledge and delight
Guardian
Dorothy Hartley's Food in England has been in print for 58 years - and no wonder. It's a sharp and funny compendium of cooking tips and treats
Josceline Dimbleby
Dorothy Hartley's ingenious ideas were one of my first inspirations; they show that English food should never be dismissed as boring
The Sunday Times
For food scholarship at its best see Dorothy Hartley's robust, idiosyncratic, irresistible FOOD IN ENGLAND ... As packed with diverse and fascinating information as a Scotch bun with fruit, this untidy bundle of erudition is held together by the writer's huge enjoyment of her subject, her immense curiosity about everything to do with the growth, preparation, preservation and eating of food in this country since the Middle Ages
Tom Parker Bowles, Daily Telegraph
[FOOD IN ENGLAND] captures the very essence of English cooking
Bee Wilson, Guardian
Dorothy Hartley's FOOD IN ENGLAND has been in print for 58 years - and no wonder. It's a sharp and funny compendium of cooking tips and treats, from medieval times to the modern day ... The past is not a foreign country to Hartley. It is ever-present in her kitchen, among the spices and preserving jars. The book is a compendium of favourite tips and treats, many of which just happen to be several hundred years old ... To spend time in Hartley's untidy but fantastically well-stocked kitchen is to feel that the food of England past is not entirely dead
Caitlin Moran, New York Times
A history of British food that has the same, odd, dreamy, lysergic air as THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS. Takes you through an England of roast swans, possets, syllabubs, gold-leaf jellies, boiled elvers and elderflower fritters
Terry Pratchett, Sunday Express
This is not a book of recipes but it celebrates food, the history of food and almost, you might say, the philosophy of food. It changes the way you think; the article about tracklements is particularly wonderful. You don't know what a tracklement is? The answer is here