Women in the Kitchen by Anne Willan is a book to read and absorb. A great book about twelve cookbook writers who have contributed to the way we eat over the centuries. Cookbooks back in time were for mainly the well off, but now, a cookbook can be bought cheaply from a charity shop, and if you buy well and in season, which all of these women tell us to do, then it can be inexpensive to eat well.

I am so pleased this book was written, a woman in the kitchen is a formidable force. I remember my own mother cooking brilliant steamed puddings and pies, marmalade and many other delights and it was my grandmother who really made me think about food differently. I was so used to good food having a father as a chef, but my Gran, cooked for us with so much love, and that scotch broth will never leave me. Having worked with lots of men in the kitchen, a female presence creates a better environment, plus, I believe, women can be far more natural cooks and chefs.

Fast forward to Cafe, and we have had many women in our kitchen, who now have gone on to become head chefs in their own kitchens and opened their own businesses.

The women in this book are impressive as are the dishes. Picking a couple, Hannah Glasse, an 18th century food writer, who became well known with her book, The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy. And to the present day, with Alice Waters, who inspired me as Vice President of Slow Food. Her practice of taking a new chef out of the kitchen to show them the soil on the farm to pull a carrot from the ground and to pick an apple from a tree and to make a cheese, is simple, but it works. This is inspiring stuff.