Victory in the Kitchen

The Life of Churchill's Cook

Annie Gray

$34.99

Hardback

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English

Profile
03 March 2020

Biography; Biography: historical, political & military; Social & cultural history; Food & society

In a suburban house in 1977 an elderly lady destroyed her memoirs. Her life, she felt, was not one people would want to read about. The life of a woman, born into the working class, brought up to go into service, who had married, had a daughter, and gone back to work after her husband died, was so like that of many others, that there could be little there worth saving.

This is the story of a woman who was, indeed, like many other people: not a royal, not rich, not famous, simply someone who worked hard and enjoyed her life. Beginning in 1882, she ranged through life in the country, life in the town, life in her own house, and in that of others. She travelled, married, had children and a highly successful career. For while Georgina Landemare saw herself as ordinary, her accomplishments, and the life she lived, were anything but. She started her career as a nursemaid, and ended it cooking for one of the best-known figures in British history, a man to whom food was central, not only as a pleasure by itself, but as a diplomatic tool in a time when the world was embroiled in a worldwide war.

Victory in the Kitchen is a culinary biography: a life lived through food ranging from rural Berkshire to wartime London, via Belle Epoque Paris and prohibition-era New York. Through one eager eater, and one skilled cook, Annie Gray tells the story of the way Victorian tastes changed and 20th century food developed, taking a look into the kitchens of the time complete with evolving technology and attitudes towards domestic service.

Recipes include Georgina's German Kougelhof, Curried Brains, macaroons, Boodles Orange, Mousse de Maple and 'Chocolat Cake Good'.

By: Annie Gray
Imprint: Profile
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: Main
Dimensions: Height: 222mm, Width: 144mm, Spine: 37mm
Weight: 529g
ISBN: 9781788160445
ISBN 10: 1788160444
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 03 March 2020
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Annie Gray is an historian, cook, broadcaster and writer specialising in the history of food and dining in Britain from around 1600 to the present day, conducting her research both in libraries and in kitchens. She has worked at Audley End amongst other historical kitchens, and gives lectures all over the country. She has presented TV history documentaries including Victorian Bakers and The Sweetmakers, and appears on BBC Radio 4's The Kitchen Cabinet. She lives in East Anglia.

Reviews for Victory in the Kitchen: The Life of Churchill's Cook

Zingy, fresh, and unexpected: Annie Gray, the queen of food historians, finds her perfect subject. A book to devour -- Lucy Worsley Popular history at its very best * Daily Mail * Gray is an inventive researcher ... she likes to get close up to the everyday past * Spectator * Engaging ... appeals to three national obsessions: the preparation and presentation of food; the lost world of great households, above and below stairs; and the private life of a national hero, Churchill * The Times * Victory in the Kitchen ... recreates a corner of early 20th-century domestic life * Spectator * Deliciously entertaining * Daily Mail * Praise for Annie Gray's * The Greedy Queen * Had me at the first sentence -- Nigel Slater Annie Gray is a brilliant writer and scholar who brings a glorious combination of enthusiasm and greed to every subject she tackles. In the field of food history she leads the pack -- Jay Rayner Gray writes with great authority, verve and confidence * The Times * Wonderfully researched and entertaining * Spectator *