Patience Gray (1917–2005)

What a quaint little book! I love the first sentences: "This is not intended as an armchair cookery book. It is designed for action in the kitchen" It is designed to introduce 1950's English housewives to dishes from such far flung places as France, Hungary and Greece. The book is so interesting to me because of how different life is, even only 70 years ago. For instance, for the stroganoff recipe, it says "To obtain sour cream, buy the cream a day or two beforehand, pour into an earthenware bowl, and stand it in a warm place, or over the stove, covered with muslin." Less delicious differences include the asbestos mat for diffusing heat on the stove. The other part that seemed very dated was the introduction on "pots, pans and stoves" where they mention various types of ovens and stoves and fuel types I have not heard of.
The other part I thought was interesting was the chapter on fungi, where the author seems to be a little bit defensive about how little the English know about wild edibles. They make the claim that the English don't eat mushrooms nearly as much as the continent because they have so many fresh vegetables they could eat instead? And in any case mushrooms in large varieties are only consumed in: Sweden, Russia, Poland, Germany, Catalonia, France and Italy (so everywhere?)… (mais)

Patience Gray (1917-2005), née Stanham, was at Queen’s College, Harley Street and read economics at LSE. She became a secretary at the Arts Council, where she met Thomas Gray, whose name she took by deed poll; they had two children before they parted. She lived in Hampstead, worked at the Royal College of Art and translated the Larousse Gastronomique with Primrose Boyd (1913-82), née Hubbard, a painter who was married to the BBC producer Donald Boyd. The two of them formed a freelance research partnership and in 1957 published Plats du Jour. At the time it far outsold Elizabeth David’s books, 50,000 copies being bought in the first year. The memorable drawings were some of the earliest published work by the now renowned painter and illustrator David Gentleman (b.1930). From 1958-61 Patience was first Woman’s Page editor for the Observer; she then made her home in Italy with Norman Mommens the sculptor. Their life together is evoked in Honey from a Weed (1986). From Persephone Books Bio.… (mais)