Women of TASTE

Five years ago, I was rummaging through a collection of antiquarian cookery books when I came across one that was unlike all others. I knew instantly that this chef was a cut above the rest. I could smell her chopped herbs and her freshly zested lemon. And yet I’d never heard of her. Who was Eliza Acton?

Like many women, I first learnt to cook from my mother. But now I started learning from Eliza. A self-taught cook, she spent 10 years creating her bestselling recipe book, in 1845. After she died, Eliza languished in the shadow of Mrs Beeton, but her legacy was