Memorable food moments, from curry by moonlight with Maggie Smith and Judi Dench to cornbread with an astronaut
My mother was a Debrett’s-listed aristocrat and father a commoner from Glasgow who became a doctor. They’d met when she stepped out of a posh social event one night. He was sitting in his car outside and took a fancy to her and offered the gift of fruit. I’m the result of an apple.
Mother had us five children but otherwise was far too busy giving parties. Thelma, our nanny, looked after, cooked for, and fed us. We ate with our parents only at Christmas and on the odd Sunday, when I remember being made to sit for hours until I finished my roast meat – one of the reasons I believe I turned vegetarian. Father, who was 60 when I was born and had been through two world wars, didn’t approve of butter and jam on toast; he thought it should be either one or the other. He’d get very cross whenever he saw waste, especially food, whereas mother was in the opposite direction - always going extravagant with her big parties, squealing with laughter. But they found a way through, somewhere in the middle. She got away with a lot.
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