D

Elizabeth David (b 1913). English Foodie goddess. The only person everyone in the Foodie world agrees about. Her seven beautifully written books have influenced two generations of cooks and eaters, but to the just-post-war British she opened up a new life. American Foodies such as Richard Olney and Alice Waters were influenced by Mrs David as well, and the French Government has made her a Chevalier of the Ordre du Mérite Agricole (1977). The British have meanly limited her honours to an OBE (1976), but she is also an honorary doctor of the University of Essex and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.