Phillip’s Almond Biscuits

Many of Carol Davies’s childhood memories of food are far from pleasant. Born in Wales just before World War II, she grew up during a time of severe food shortages, with a mother who was a gifted pianist but a terrible cook.

‘She won a scholarship to the Royal Academy when she was 9, but her family was too poor so she couldn’t take it up. She played at dances and parties and the cinema, but she couldn’t cook,’ says Carol. ‘We must have been the only kids in the neighbourhood who wou