Brilliantly compiled and presented by the celebrated biographer, Hilary Spurling, Elinor Fettiplaces Receipt Book has become a classic in the history of English cooking, and an extraordinarily intimate glimpse into the fabric of everyday Elizabethan life.Hilary Spurling has done brilliantly ... Being both a scholar and a cook seems to be a rare combination than one might have expected. Jane GrigsonFew cookery books are as important or as fascinating as this (Hilary Spurlings) scholarly and practical skills combined make the book much more than an antiquarian curiosity. It is a cookery book to use. Victoria Glendinning, The TimesHilary Spurlings research into Lady Fettiplaces family and background is stunning. She and her household do really come to life ... Hilary Spurlings pinpointing of her precise social standing and that of her intimates and acquaintances, of the kind of lives they led, consequently the kind of food they ate, the way it was prepared, preserved and so on, are all subjects of the greatest interest. Elizabeth David
