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Anne Willan was bom in Yorkshire. After reading economics at Cambridge, she studied and taught cooking in London and Paris. From there she moved to the United States, where she worked on Gourmet magazine and was food editor of the Washington Star, as well as editing the 20-volume Grand Diplome Cooking Course.

She is best-known in Britain as founder and President of l’École de Cuisine La Varenne in Paris and the author of cookery books such as The Observer French Cookery School and the award-winning French Regional Cooking.