Sue Lawrence is a Scottish cookery and food writer, noted for her promotion of traditional Scottish recipes and regional produce, and also a writer of historical novels set in Scotland, exploring women's lives. [1]
Lawrence first became well known after winning the BBC cookery programme MasterChef in 1991. [2]
She wrote a regular column for Scotland on Sunday for several years and was Cookery Editor for the Sunday Times for six years, and has also contributed to Sainsbury's magazine, Woman & Home, Country Living and BBC Good Food magazine. [3] She also regularly appears on British and Australian television and until 2011 was one of the food experts on STV's early evening lifestyle show The Hour . In radio, she is a regular on BBC Radio 4's Kitchen Cabinet, chaired by Jay Rayner. [4]
Raised in Dundee, Lawrence now lives in Edinburgh with her husband, Pat. She has three adult children and enjoys spending time with her grandchildren.
Lawrence has also written a number of historical novels featuring dark aspects of Scotland's past. [5] Her debut novel, Fields of Blue Flax, was published in 2015 by Freight Books. She published a historical thriller titled The Night He Left in 2015. Another novel The Last Train was published in 2016 by Freight Books in the UK, and Allen and Unwin elsewhere. [6] This novel features the 17 day aftermath of the Tay Bridge Disaster in 1879, but includes a modern story. [7] Down to the Sea, her first historical mystery of several to examine the injustices faced by women in Scottish history, was published by Contraband in 2019 and concerns the fragile and often dangerous circumstances of women working in the fishing industry in the harbours of Victorian Scotland. [8] 'The Wee Review' described this book as a "fast-paced and enjoyable read" that "cements Lawrence as a skilled creator of historical mysteries". [9] The Unreliable Death of Lady Grange, published in 2020, is a fictionalised account of the life of Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange, who was summarily abducted at the hands of agents of her husband and exiled on the Monach Isles and then to St Kilda, where she ultimately died. [10] The novel is viewed from Lady Grange's point of view, while until recently her husband's account has been better known and documented. 'The Edinburgh Reporter' described it as a "superlative page-turner", crediting it for offering a "clear-sighted look at the treatment of women". [11] A forthcoming novel, The Green Lady, examines the fate of the wives of Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline, when Lilias Drummond,daughter of Patrick Drummond, 3rd Lord Drummond, and successive wives failed to produce a male heir.
Elizabeth David CBE was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and books about European cuisines and traditional British dishes.
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Tablet is a medium-hard, sugary confection from Scotland. Tablet is usually made from sugar, condensed milk, and butter, which is boiled to a soft-ball stage and allowed to crystallise. It is often flavoured with vanilla and sometimes has nut pieces in it.
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Florence Marian McNeill, was a Scottish folklorist, author, editor, suffragist and political activist. She is best known for writing The Silver Bough, a four-volume study of Scottish folklore; also The Scots Kitchen and Scots Cellar: Its Traditions and Lore with Old-time Recipes.
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Elizabeth David, the British cookery writer, published eight books in the 34 years between 1950 and 1984; the last was issued eight years before her death. After David's death, her literary executor, Jill Norman, supervised the publication of eight more books, drawing on David's unpublished manuscripts and research and on her published writings for books and magazines.
Maria Eliza Rundell was an English writer. Little is known about most of her life, but in 1805, when she was over 60, she sent an unedited collection of recipes and household advice to John Murray, of whose family—owners of the John Murray publishing house—she was a friend. She asked for, and expected, no payment or royalties.
The Cookery Book of Lady Clark of Tillypronie is a book of recipes collected over a lifetime by Charlotte, Lady Clark of Tillypronie, and published posthumously in 1909. The earliest recipe was collected in 1841; the last in 1897. The book was edited by the artist Catherine Frances Frere, who had seen two other cookery books through to publication, at the request of Clark's husband.
Modern Cookery for Private Families is an English cookery book by Eliza Acton. It was first published by Longmans in 1845, and was a best-seller, running through 13 editions by 1853, though its sales were later overtaken by Mrs Beeton. On the strength of the book, Delia Smith called Acton "the best writer of recipes in the English language", while Elizabeth David wondered why "this peerless writer" had been eclipsed by such inferior and inexperienced imitators.
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