- Hardcover: 480 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan (20 Nov 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0333659309
- ISBN-13: 978-0333659304
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.6 x 4.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 360,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The immense allure of the late Elizabeth David's writings--at least in the early books of the 1950s with which she made her name--rests not so much in the recipes which are their ostensible subject as in the vividly rendered evocations of the landscapes, the harbours and marketplaces of the Mediterranean where she gathered them and which so dazzled in the austerity of post-war Britain. The introductory sections of French Provincial Cooking, for example, describing the regions of France and their cuisines, are seductive travel writing of the highest order. Yet the author herself, though present, remains elusive. There are hints of the details of a life: she was, after all Mrs David (but who was Mr David?); there are the habitual references to "we" in the accounts of the travels; there is the intriguing friendship with the raffish Norman Douglas. Lisa Chaney's Elizabeth David exhaustively fill the gaps between these biographical scraps. The picture that emerges is a mixture of the expected and the unexpected. The expected includes the patrician, cosmopolitan upbringing, the travelling, the wide circle of artistic, bohemian friends. The unexpected might include rebellion against her family, and an early (unsuccessful) attempt at a career on the stage; flight from England and all it represented; greyness and failure; on a yacht with a rather exotic lover just before the outbreak of war. The wartime Mediterranean exile that followed was what crystallised, on her return to England at the end of the war, into the writing career we are more familiar with. Lisa Chaney brings an impressive richness of detail and a fine empathy to bear on the this life of a complex, often troubled woman who was unquestionably the finest food writer in English of the 20th Century. --Robin Davidson
Product Description
In the 1950s, Elizabeth David helped transform British attitudes to cooking and eating with the publication of "Mediterranean Food". This book takes the reader behind the hints of autobiography in her own titles, and reveals the cookery writer's life.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Where to shelve the Elizabeth David is a dilemma for most foodies. Literature? History? Travel? maybe even - for the true believer - Theology? The appeal of her books has never really been the recipes themselves but her talent for conveying the sheer sensuousness of food. What slave to the supermarket wouldn't be captivated by the thought of picking their way through piles of yellow peppers in the markets of Capri? or discovering the perfect tart aux mirabelles in that little pastry shop in the Dordogne? But while we are never in any doubt about Ms David's feelings for packet sauce she is much less forthcoming about herself. "All there is to know about me is in my books" she said, and to a degree she's right; the autocratic tone, the advice to always keep a careful eye on the butcher, the occasional "we" and the ever present glass of wine do provide clues. For those left wanting more Lisa Chaney's biography tells almost all. While Chaney is admirably restrained, writing in reverent "not one to gossip" tones, she does allow her extensive range of interviewees to dish the dirt. "Intolerant", "wilful", "rude", "self centred", "a terrible handful", "very grande dame", "acerbic", "litigious", "tetchy" and "possessing an excess of fury" are just a small selection of the terms applied to Elizabeth - often by people described as friends. While many won't be too appalled by the bitchiness, booze and bad boys there is something profoundly shocking in Ms David's fondness for - gasp! - Nescafe!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is a wonderfully detailed account of a fascinating complex figure and her life-it lacks the seductive prose of its subject, alas, and although the photographs are excellent, one wishes for more-of her house and of her marvelous kitchens.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am a great fan of Elisabeth David. I own most of the books, she has written and have learned a lot about cooking from her. Her recipes give the food the authentic flavour of the food of the counties they are from.
The biography has made me understood a lot about the woman whose skills as a writer and cook has been such a joy to me. The book loyal to Elisabeth David, is entertaining and well written.
It is also a well designed book.
I have given it to my daughter, who has read it and enjoyed it.
I can add, that I have met Elisabeth David when she attended a food arrangement in Forum in Copenhagen, where I went to thank her. And I have visited her shop in London, which, alas is not there anymore.
The biography has made me understood a lot about the woman whose skills as a writer and cook has been such a joy to me. The book loyal to Elisabeth David, is entertaining and well written.
It is also a well designed book.
I have given it to my daughter, who has read it and enjoyed it.
I can add, that I have met Elisabeth David when she attended a food arrangement in Forum in Copenhagen, where I went to thank her. And I have visited her shop in London, which, alas is not there anymore.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Elizabeth David
Writng lacks style is overlong with too much padding and is more about the books than about the person. Needs severe editing and more information about Elizabeths private life.
Published 5 months ago by Mr. R. Seligman
Historically interesting but overlong and uncritical.
An astonishing life uncritically reviewed, by a fan with a habit of making unsupported statements. Lisa Chaney breathlessly attributes undeserved virtues and skills to the... Read more
Published on 16 Jun 1999
Here you will share in David's culinary journey of discovery
This is a fascinating book about a fascinating and often complex character. Although Elizabeth David spent time in France as a child her discovery of food was the result her... Read more
Published on 25 Jan 1999
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