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Common Knowledge

Other names: Gwynne, Elizabeth (birth name)
Birthdate: 1913-12-26
Date of death: 1992-05-12
Burial location: Church of St Peter ad Vincula, Folkington, Sussex, England, UK
Gender: female
Nationality: UK
Birthplace: Wootten Manor, Folkestone, Sussex, England ,UK
Place of death: Chelsea, London, England, UK
Places of residence: France
Greece
Cairo, Egypt
Sussex, England, UK
Alexandria, Egypt
Education: The Sorbonne
Occupations: food writer
actor
Relationships: Gibson-Cowan, Charles (partner|1939-1941)
Awards and honors: CBE
FRSL
Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite Agricole, France
Short biography: Elizabeth Gwynne was born in Yorkshire and grew up in Sussex. In 1930, she went to Paris and enrolled at the Sorbonne for a course in French history, literature and architecture. On her return to England, she joined the Oxford Repertory Company and later the Open Air Theatre in London the following year. During World War II, she worked for British military intelligence in Egypt where she met and married Lt.-Col. Tony David, but the marriage was brief. After the war, Elizabeth David returned to England and began writing a series of articles about Mediterranean food. Books on French and Italian cuisine followed; within 10 years, Elizabeth David had become a major influence on British cooking.

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Reviews

A Book of Mediterranean Food (New York Review Books… by Elizabeth David

Book 230.
Elizabeth David Classics A Book of Mediterranean Food.
I went to the library for this but they couldn't get it for me. Not even from the London Library. It's my 27/100 books that changed the world. I found it on Simon's shelf so had 3 days to read it. Interesting stories in-between the recipes with a few shocks along the way such as D H Lawrences description below using the "N" word to describe black cauliflowers. I want to try the Venetian breakfast and make Pommes Ana. 7/10

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janicearkulisz | 7 other reviews | Jul 29, 2024 |

English Bread and Yeast Cookery (Revised) by Elizabeth David

Explains the theory of breadmaking as well as providing recipes. Armed with this knowledge, it becomes more possible to adapt a recipe from an original manuscript. It provides recipes with various flours.

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LibrarianFu | 1 other review | May 11, 2024 |

A book of Mediterranean food by Elizabeth David

I had never heard of Ms. David until I read "Something to Declare" by Julian Barnes, one of the collected essays is about her and her recipes. She comes off as a British Julia Child. Many of the cookbooks I have contain brief essays about the culture and history of specific region of the applicable recipes, but never really made much of an effort to read them. This book has inspired me to actually go through though books and read up and not just dive in to the food.

The recipes do require a bit of foreknowledge of food and skill in the kitchen, definitely not for beginners. Some of the recipes probably aren't appropriate for the times either (I haven't done any of the Julia Child aspic recipes and I probably won't start with this one), but some of the recipes looks very intriguing and the loose structure of the recipes leave lots of room for adjustment and creativity.… (more)

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hhornblower | 7 other reviews | Jan 25, 2019 |

A Book of Mediterranean Food (New York Review Books… by Elizabeth David

When I first picked up Mediterranean Cooking I was trying to decide if Elizabeth David truly expected the everyday housewife to cook from this book. The magic of her writing is that her methods as far as cooking is concerned are unconventional and languid. Who else measures their olive oil by the wineglass? Even if you don't consider yourself a gourmet cook, The Book of Mediterranean Cooking is a sophisticated book to have on your shelf. It just looks impressive. It's one of those cookbooks you can pull down to read on a snowy New England night and dream of a mile-long Tuscan table laden with meats and cheeses and fruits, jugs of green olive oil, freshly pressed while a handsome someone in a long white apron pours you ruby red wine by the barrel.… (more)

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SeriousGrace | 7 other reviews | Jul 25, 2018 |

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