Arabella Boxer's Book of English Food (Penguin Cookery Library)

This book is a review of British food in the 1920s and 1930s. It attempts to be part social history and part cookery book, it sets out to describe the dishes - and the social conditions in which they were prepared, cooked and eaten - in the short span between the two world wars. It contains 200 recipes, mostly drawn from cookery books or from magazines of the period, from family sources or from talking to survivors who still remember those days. All the recipes have been tested and adapted, where necessary, for modern use. The dishes reflect the different trends from simple "nursery dishes" that were served in country houses, the elegant "dinner party" food that was popular with the London hostesses and the informal French cooking that also had its own following. This period of time was followed by almost 15 years of food rationing and restrictions, so that once freedom of choice was restored the English preferance was for something new. With the publication of Elizabeth David's first book in 1950, a passion for Mediterranean food swept the country. The author of this book is a former Food Writer for "Vogue" and the author of "First Slice Your Cookbook" and "The Sunday Times Complete Cookbook".