Elizabeth Josephine Craig, MBE, FRSA (16 February 1883 – 7 June 1980) was a Scottish journalist, home economist and a notable author on cookery.

Early life and family

Elizabeth Craig was born on 16 February 1883 in Addiewell,

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

to Catherine Anne Nicoll (died 3 March 1929) and Reverend John Mitchell Craig. Craig was one of eight children and her father was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. The family lived at the Manse in Memus, Kirriemuir, Scotland. She attended Forfar Academy and George Watson's Ladies' College in Edinburgh before returning to Forfar Academy as a teacher.

Journalism

Craig's writing career began in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

where she studied journalism. She first published a cookery feature in the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' in 1920, following comments from the

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

's then film editor who declared she was "the only woman in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

who could cook". Craig was a founding member of the

International P.E.N. PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

, and at the request of the founder, Catharine Dawson Scott, attended the first meeting of the association at the Florence Restaurant in London where

John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include ''The Forsyte Saga'' (1906–1921) and its sequels, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of the Chapter''. He won the Nobel Prize i ...

was elected its first president.

Cooking

Craig started to cook when she was six years old and began collecting recipes from age 12. She declared that the only formal training she had in cookery was a "three months course in Dundee". She began publishing cookery books after the end of World War I and proceeded through World War II and into the 1980s. She began writing in times when food was scarce and rationing was heavily relied upon, and her career ended when the majority of households had a refrigerator and an opportunity to access a much wider variety of foods: this can be observed in her writing as more diverse dishes appear in her later books. Her contribution to English culinary literature comprises a very large corpus of traditional British recipes, although not only this: included are also a considerable collection of recipes from other countries which she liked to collect during visits abroad.

Personal life

Craig's engagement to American war correspondent and broadcaster Arthur E. Mann (died 9 June 1973) of Washington, D.C. was announced on 11 August 1919, and they were married at

St Martin in the Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

Church, Trafalgar Square.

Publications

Cookery books

*''19??'' The Woman's Journal Cookery Book *''19??'' Elizabeth Craig's Menus for a Year *''19??'' Elizabeth Craig's Springtime Cookery Book (''The People's Friend'') *''1923'' The Stage Favourites' Cook Book *''1932'' New Standard Cookery Illustrated *''1932'' Cooking with Elizabeth Craig *''1932'' The Up-to-Date Cookery Book *''1933'' Madeira: wine, cakes and sauce (In collaboration with André L. Simon) *''1933'' Entertaining with Elizabeth Craig (Illustrated by

Herry Perry Heather "Herry" Perry (16 October 1897–6 September 1962) was a graphic artist, illustrator, and printmaker best known for her prolific design work for Transport for London and London Underground throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Biography ...

) *''1934'' Cakes and Candies: How to make them (Calendar with recipes) *''1934'' The Vicomte in the Kitchen ( Georges, Vicomte de Mauduit's Cookery Book; introductions by Elizabeth Craig and Frances, Countess of Warwick) *''1934'' Elizabeth Craig's Standard Recipes *''1934'' Wine in the Kitchen *''1934'' Elizabeth Craig's Economical Cookery *''1934'' Elizabeth Craig's Simple Cooking *''1935'' Elizabeth Craig's Family Cookery: a new standard economical cookery on comprehensive lines *''1935'' Elizabeth Craig's Everyday Cooking *''1936'' Cookery Illustrated and Household Management *''1936'' Woman, Wine and a Saucepan *''1936'' Bubble and Squeak *''1937'' 278 Tested Recipes *''1940'' Cooking in War-Time *''1940'' Cookery: a Time-Saving Cook Book *''1940'' 1500 Everyday Menus *''1950'' Cooking for Today *''1952'' Elizabeth Craig's Practical Cooking *''1953'' Court Favourites; Recipes from Royal Kitchens *''1955'' Beer and *''1956'' The Scottish Cookery Book (see also 1980) *''1956'' A Book of Mediterranean Food *''1957'' Instructions to Young Cooks *''1957'' Collins Family Cookery (see also 1971) *''1958'' Scandinavian Cooking *''1959'' A Cook's Guide to Wine *''1960'' Cottage Cheese and Yogurt *''1962'' Banana Dishes *''1965'' What's Cooking in Scotland *''1965'' The Penguin Salad Book *''1965'' Cook Continentale *''1969'' The Art of Irish Cooking *''1970'' The Business Woman's Cookbook *''1971'' Collins Family Cookery (see also 1957) *''1978'' Elizabeth Craig's Hotch Potch *''1980'' The Scottish Cookery Book (see also 1956)

Promotional recipe books

;Unknown dates *''19??'' More Everyday Dishes ( Tate & Lyle Sugars & Syrups) *''19??'' Primula Presents Recipes by Elizabeth Craig *''19??'' The Kikkoman Book of Recipes *''19??'' 101 Recipes and Uses for Malt Vinegar (

Malt Vinegar Brewers Association Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as "malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, whis ...

) ;Known dates *''1930'' 250 Recipes for use with Borwick's Baking Powder *''1932'' New Ways of using Custard (Foster Clark Ltd) *''1934'' The Importance of Eating Potatoes ( Potato Marketing Board) *''1937'' The Way to a Good Table: electric cookery (

British Electrical Development Association British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

) *''1938 (circa)'' Cooking Made Easier (Foster Clark Ltd – c. 1938) *''1940'' OxO Meat Cookery! The Oxo Way *''1940'' Slim While You Eat, a calendar with over 100 recipes *''1949 (circa)'' Elizabeth Craig's Invalid Recipe Book ( Benger's Food Limited – c. 1949) *''1949'' Chicken in the Kitchen *''1954'' Waterless Cooking ( Milbro Vapour Seal Waterless Cookers)

Books on housekeeping and gardening

*''1936'' Elizabeth Craig's Simple Housekeeping *''1936'' The Housewives' Monthly Calendar *''1936'' Keeping House with Elizabeth Craig *''1937'' Modern HousekeepingModern Housekeeping
– scan of undated edition, via flipsnack.com *''1937'' Elizabeth Craig's Household Library (1937 onwards) *''1938'' Elizabeth's Craig's Simple Gardening *''1940'' Gardening with Elizabeth Craig (Gardening in wartime) *''1941'' Elizabeth Craig's Needlecraft *''1947'' Housekeeping: a book for the single-handed housewife *''1947'' 1000 Household Hints *''1948'' Gardening with Elizabeth Craig; new edition *''1950'' Elizabeth Craig's Enquire Within *''1952'' Elizabeth Craig's Practical Gardening

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Elizabeth Scottish food writers Scottish journalists Scottish women writers Scottish women journalists Members of the Order of the British Empire PEN International 1883 births 1980 deaths People from West Lothian Place of death missing