2015 is the year the redoubtable Marguerite Patten celebrates her 100th birthday. In her honor and to mark this memorable occasion Grub Street is reissuing a new edition of the first book we published by Marguerite back in 1999, her comprehensive Century of British Cooking. In this book each chapter covers one decade of the 20th century giving both history and recipes. The entire book is illustrated throughout in color and black and white. Marguerite Patten OBE has written over 160 cookery books, sales of which amount to over 16 million worldwide. Her long and distinguished career, which began before the war, has included regular appearances on radio and television, live and televised cookery demonstrations, lectures as well as extensive journalism and authorship of books and cookery cards. Marguerite is one of Britain's best known and loved cookery writers and has often been described as EnglandÕs Cookery Queen. Ainsley Harriott dubbed her Òthe cookery icon of our timesÓ. Her Century of British Cooking pulls together her lifeÕs work, with over 200 recipes and is truly an important work of culinary history.

England’s premier food maven shares recipes for cakes and dainties designed to make teatime sparkle. Only the most hardened dieter can resist the pleasures of afternoon tea. Its enjoyment, whether it is a simple slice of home-baked cake or dainty sandwiches followed by scones oozing with jam and cream, is part of our culture and is a tradition acted out each and every day in tea-rooms up and down the country. This then is the perfect book for all tea-time lovers, with over 100 recipes chosen by the un-crowned queen of British cookery, Marguerite Patten, and is published as a tribute to and celebration of Marguerite’s 90th year. There are recipes for cakes, breads, biscuits, sandwiches, and savories from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland as well as recipes from teatimes around the world. But teatime isn’t teatime without a pot of tea, so the book also traces the history of Britain’s national beverage with a guide to all the different blends and styles available.

The cookery queen of England selects her personal favorite recipes. Marguerite Patten is one of Britain’s best known and best loved cookery writers. Here she turns her attention to one of her real true passions: the classic cookery of the British Isles. From traditional breakfasts to high teas, from roasts to hearty soups, she has selected a collection of over 400 of her favorite recipes showing the enormous and exciting variety of British produce and cooking. She covers soups, fish dishes, meat, poultry, and game, vegetables, salads, and savory dishes as well as puddings, baking, and preserves.