"Serve it Forth" - Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, 1937

This brief history of gastronomy, from ancient Egypt to 1930's America, is laced with anecdotes, observations and recipes "like birds in a tree." It's absolutely fascinating, helped no end by the fact that Fisher is a brilliant writer and observer, able to vividly depict a waiter, restaurant or period of history with as much gusto as she can an intriguing dish.

Unfortunately, she is of the school of thought that English cooking is a grey, mushy, sorry state of affairs. Were I able to contact her, I'd point her in the direction of Orwell's "In Defence of English Cooking" (1945), but that's just an exaple of what a cracking read this book is - to want to actually speak to the author and say "me too!" or "I disagree, look at this." Brilliant stuff, left me salivating.