The Elizabeth David Collection
Elizabeth David
In 1965 Elizabeth David opened a shop in Pimlico, London, where she sold Le Creuset pans and other hard-to-get-hold-of kitchen utensils. The store, with its marvellous window displays, was as influential as her books would eventually be, pioneering a new generation of shops devoted exclusively to kitchenware. Rosi Hanson, who worked in David’s shop for two years says, ‘She was good fun, and the shop was magical. She rather loved being a shopkeeper, perhaps because it gave her a rest from writing. If someone wanted some very specific piece of equipment, I often heard her say: “If you could come back, I think I may have one at home.” On evenings when we stayed late to do the windows, she would make a picnic for us all to eat: terrine, things in jelly.’ ‘The Baking of an English Loaf’, ‘Dried Herbs’ (1969), ‘Aromatics and Condiments’ (1967), ‘English Potted Meats’, ‘Fish Pastes’ (1968) and ‘Syllabubs and Fruit Fools’ (1969) were sold exclusively in the shop. They were simple black and white productions which have now become rare, highly sought-after and very expensive collectors items. So Grub Street is delighted to have acquired the rights to these booklets from the David Estate and are redesigning them as four hardback books in a slip-case with specially commissioned beautiful artwork, making them the perfect gift item.
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Elizabeth David on Vegetables
Elizabeth David
Culinary legend Elizabeth David revolutionised British cooking, her recipes bringing the colour and vibrancy of sunnier climes to kitchens everywhere. This beautiful new collection celebrates Elizabeth’s best and most-loved vegetable recipes, spanning her lifetime’s cooking and featuring a range of delicious, timeless dishes filled with irresistible flavours and scents. With today’s increase in vegetarianism and emphasis on eating more fresh vegetables, this superb collection – the first time these recipes have been gathered together before – will inspire a whole new generation of food lovers. Seven chapters guide the reader from soups, salads and small dishes through to pasta, rice dishes and more substantial fare. Now, these mouth-watering recipes will be accompanied by sumptuous colour photography, while threaded throughout are some of Elizabeth’s short essays – richly evocative pieces full of history and anecdote as well as practical culinary advice. Published to celebrate the centenary of Elizabeth’s birth, ‘Elizabeth David on Vegetables’ is a must-have for anyone wishing to give vegetables a starring role in the kitchen.
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At Elizabeth David’s Table: Her Very Best Everyday Recipes
Elizabeth David
‘At Elizabeth David’s Table’ is the very best from the woman who changed the face of British cooking. Elizabeth David introduced a dreary post-war Britain to the sun-drenched culinary delights of the Mediterranean; to foods like olive oil and pasta, artichokes and fresh herbs – foods that have become the staples of our diets today. Her recipes brought colour and life into kitchens everywhere, yet her books never contained any photographs. Now, published for the first time, is this beautiful new collection of her most inspiring everyday recipes with full-colour photography throughout. Published to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of Elizabeth’s first book, ‘At Elizabeth David’s Table’ has twelve chapters guiding the reader from tasty soups and starters, through to meat, fish and desserts. Sections on successful bread making, as well as more extravagant dishes, ensure that this will become the cookery bible that you will turn to, time and time again. Interspersed throughout ‘At Elizabeth David’s Table’ are some of Elizabeth’s short essays – from how to cook ‘fast and fresh’ using store cupboard ingredients to evocative portraits of French and Italian markets.
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Elizabeth David’s Christmas
Elizabeth David
A beautiful and timeless new edition of the ultimate festive food book, from the most loved and respected British cookery writer of the twentieth century. ‘Elizabeth David’s Christmas’ is a celebration of every traditional recipe and favourite indulgence that we savour during the festive season. Containing over 150 classic recipes, together with a selection of wonderful articles, notes and observations from the Elizabeth David archive, this timeless book will inspire an elegant and memorable Christmas while taking the strain out of cooking for a crowd. All the classics are here: mince pies, stuffings, sauces and, of course, the perfect turkey, as well as simple first courses, party dishes and a range of desserts that make ‘Elizabeth David’s Christmas’ irresistible seasonal fare and a unique festive resource to treasure, hand down and return to year after year.
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Is There a Nutmeg in the House?
Elizabeth David
This anthology of Elizabeth David’s work, originally published in hardback in 2000, is a direct sequel to ‘An Omelette and a Glass of Wine’. It again contains a selection of her journalistic and occasional work from four decades. Much of it she had chosen herself for reprinting in this more accessible form. In addition, there is a considerable amount of unpublished material found in her own files, or contributed by friends to whom she had given recipes, or to whom she had sent letters, either with notes in answer to queries or giving details of current research.
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Elizabeth David Classics
Elizabeth David
‘Everyone who loves good food will welcome this reprint in one volume, hardback and durable, of the three classics of the kitchen which first made us familiar with the name Elizabeth David. They have been necessary to my generation, they will be necessary to our children and grand children.’ These are the opening lines from Jane Grigson’s preface to the original edition of ‘Elizabeth David Classics’ published by Jill Norman in 1980 and her words are as relevant today as they were nearly twenty years ago.
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South Wind Through the Kitchen: The Best of Elizabeth David
Elizabeth David, Jill Norman
Before Elizabeth David died in 1992, she and her editor, Jill Norman, had begun work on a volume of ‘The Best of’ but then her health deteriorated and the project was shelved. The idea was revived in 1996 when chefs and writers and Elizabeth’s many friends were invited to select their favourite articles and recipes. Some sent notes explaining their choice, others provided an anecdote or a recollection about her, others sent lists of recipes they had been using for years. The extracts and recipes which make up ‘South Wind Through the Kitchen’ are drawn from all Elizabeth David’s books, namely ‘A Book of Mediterranean Food’, ‘French Country Cooking’, ‘English Bread and Yeast Cookery’, ‘An Omelette and a Glass of Wine’, and ‘Harvest of the Cold Months’. There are over 200 recipes in the book organised around courses and ingredients such as eggs and cheese, fish and shellfish, meat, poultry and game, vegetables, pasta, pulses and grains, sauces, sweet dishes and cakes, preserves, and bread, all interspersed with extracts and articles making it a delightful compendium to dip into as well as cook from.
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An Omelette and a Glass of Wine
Elizabeth David
‘An Omelette and a Glass of Wine’, offers sixty two articles originally written by Elizabeth David between 1955 and 1984 for numerous publications including ‘The Spectator’, ‘Gourmet magazine’, ‘Vogue’, and ‘The Sunday Times’. This revered classic volume contains delightful explorations of food and cooking, among which are the collection’s namesake essay and other such gems as Syllabubs and Fruit Fools, Sweet Vegetables, Soft Wine, Pleasing Cheeses, and Whisky in the Kitchen. Her subjects range from the story of how her own cookery writing began to accounts of some restaurants in provincial France, of white truffles in Piedmont, wild risottos on the islands of the Venetian lagoon and odd happenings during rain-drenched seaside holidays in the British Isles. Here we can share her appreciation of books, people who influenced her, places she loved and the delicious meals she enjoyed. Some of the best essays are those about others who wrote about food such as Norman Douglas and Mrs Beeton.
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English Bread and Yeast Cookery
Elizabeth David
First published in 1977, and winning its author the coveted Glenfiddich Writer of the Year Award, this universally acclaimed book is regarded by many as simply the best book ever written about the making of bread. It covers all aspects of flour-milling, yeast, bread ovens and the different types of bread and flour available. It contains an exhaustive collection of recipes, everything from plain brown wholemeal or saffron cake to drop scones and croissants, all described with her typical elegance and unrivalled knowledge. Even how to make your own yeast and keep it. But more than just a list of recipes, it is an insight into an interesting and informative home-baker. Enquire within on any point connected with baking and Miss David has the answer. Nor does it omit the history of bread making from the Exodus onwards, the iniquities of sliced bread and uncovers the dubious practices of some flour millers and bread manufacturers in the UK and elsewhere with amusing anecdotes and personal observations throughout. The writing style of this book has aged well and adds greatly to its charm. This is a book that should be included in every food lover’s collection. Not just for those who love to cook but those who enjoy reading about food and its history, and, of course, it is an absolute must for keen bakers.
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Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen
Elizabeth David
In this most elusive of her books, Elizabeth David presents English recipes notable for their use of spices, salt and aromatics. As is usual in her writing she mixes instruction with information, explaining the origins and uses of ingredients such as nutmeg, cardamom and juniper. She stresses the influence of centuries of oriental trade on the English kitchen, where spices and Indian curries, kebabs and yoghurt are now perfectly at home, along with dishes such as risotto and paella.
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French Provincial Cooking
Elizabeth David
‘French Provincial Cooking’ is Elizabeth David’s classic work on French regional cuisine. Providing simple recipes like omelettes, soufflés, soups and salads, it also offers more complex fare such as pâtés, cassoulets, roasts and puddings. First published in 1960, it is readable, inspiring and entertainingly informative. ‘French Provincial Cooking’ by Elizabeth David is the perfect place to go for anyone wanting to bring a little France into their home. Elizabeth David (1913 – 1992) is the woman who changed the face of British cooking. Having travelled widely during the Second World War, she introduced post-war Britain to the sun-drenched delights of the Mediterranean and her recipes brought new flavours and aromas into kitchens across Britain. After her classic first book ‘Mediterranean Food’ followed more bestsellers, including ‘French Country Cooking’, ‘Summer Cooking’, ‘French Provincial Cooking’, ‘Italian Food’, ‘Elizabeth David’s Christmas’ and ‘At Elizabeth David’s Table’.
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Summer Cooking
Elizabeth David
‘Summer Cooking’ – first published in 1955 – is Elizabeth David’s wonderful selection of dishes, for table, buffet and picnic, that are light, easy to prepare and based on seasonal ingredients. Elizabeth David shows how an imaginative use of herbs can enhance even the simplest meals, whether egg, fish or meat, while her recipes range from a simple salade niçoise to strawberry soufflé. Finally, ‘Summer Cooking’ has chapters on hors d’oeuvres, summer soups, vegetables, sauces and sweets that are full of ideas for fresh, cool food all summer long.
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Italian Food
Elizabeth David
In ‘Italian Food’, Elizabeth David was the first to help us understand the real country cooking of Italy. ‘Italian Food’ was an inspiration to British cooks when it was first published in 1954 – and it remains so to this day. Embracing the variety, richness and vibrancy of Italian cooking, with particular reference to regional variation, Elizabeth David provides a magnificent and inspiring collection of favourite dishes as well as those more rarely encountered. With straightforward recipes for meals such as Piedmontese cheese fondue, fettuccine with fresh tomato sauce and chicken breasts with ham and cheese, Elizabeth David brings us the authentic taste of Italian food.
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French Country Cooking
Elizabeth David
‘French Country Cooking’ – first published in 1951 – is filled with Elizabeth David’s authentic recipes drawn from across the regions of France. ‘Her books are stunningly well written… full of history and anecdote’, ‘The Observer’. Showing how each area has a particular and unique flavour for its foods, derived as they are from local ingredients, Elizabeth David explores the astonishing diversity of French cuisine. Her recipes range from the primitive pheasant soup of the Basque country to the refined Burgundian dish of hare with cream sauce and chestnut puree. ‘French Country Cooking’ is Elizabeth David’s rich and enticing cookbook that will delight and inspire cooks everywhere.
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A Book of Mediterranean Food
Elizabeth David
Having lived in France, Italy, the Greek islands and Egypt, Elizabeth David perfected the art of Mediterranean cooking. In her classic cookbook she gives us hearty pasta dishes from Italy, aromatic and tangy salads from Turkey and Greece, and tasty seafood and saffron dishes from Spain. The book includes delicious Mediterranean dishes such as tomato and shellfish soup, Greek spinach pie, Toulouse-style cassoulet, Valencian paella, Turkish salad dressing and Syrian fish sauce. Whether it is the simplicity of hummus or the delicious blending of flavours found in plates of ratatouille or paella, Elizabeth David’s wonderful recipes in this book are imbued with all the delights of the sunny south.
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