Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz (17 June 1915 – 27 October 2003) was a British

food writer Food writing is a literary genre that focuses on the cultural and historical significance of food. It encompasses various forms, including recipes, journalism, memoirs, and travelogues, and can be found in both fiction and non-fiction works. Food ...

who popularized

Latin American cuisine Latin American cuisine is the typical foods, beverages, and cooking styles common to many of the countries and cultures in Latin America. Latin America is a highly racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse with varying cuisines. Some i ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Initially a writer of poetry and fiction, she began working in the culinary field upon moving to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

with her second husband, and continued to work on the cuisines of the areas to which he was posted as a diplomat. She was nominated for three

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

s, winning twice.

Early life

Elizabeth Lambert was born 17 June 1915, in

Harrow on the Hill Harrow on the Hill or Harrow-on-the-Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow in Greater London, England. The name refers to Harrow Hill, ,Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, United Kingdom, she was the middle child of three sisters. Her father was a marine engineer, and because of his job, the family moved to Jamaica when Lambert Ortiz was 8 and then later on to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Her writing career began there, first as a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

following the publication of three books on poetry. She also worked a

court reporter A court reporter, court stenographer, or shorthand reporter is a person whose occupation is to capture the live testimony in proceedings using a stenographic machine or a stenomask, thereby transforming the proceedings into an official certif ...

in Sydney, before writing reviews of films and television. Lambert married, but her first husband died during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

after volunteering for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. Lambert Ortiz moved to London in 1949, where she had intended to work as a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, but instead wrote a drama for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

before writing the novels ''The Sleeping House Party'' and ''Father Couldn't Juggle''. She moved in the mid-1950s to New York City to work with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

on a children's reference book on

marine studies Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine current power * Marine debris * Marine energy * Marine habitats * Mari ...

. It was there that she met and married diplomat Cesar Ortiz Tinoco.

Culinary career

She moved with her husband when he was posted to

, where she learnt to speak

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and about

Mexican cuisine Mexican cuisine consists of the cuisines and associated traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican Cuisine, Mesoamerican cuisine. Mexican cuisine's ingredients and methods arise from the area's first agr ...

from her Ortiz Tinoco's extended family there. She became interested in the evolution of Mexican cuisine, and the effects of colonisation had upon the native recipes. From her time in New York, she had already been in contact with the editor of '' House & Garden'', José Wilson. She commissioned Ortiz to write articles on Mexican food, and introduced her to

James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 21, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside ...

. Lambert Ortiz travelled with her husband across Latin America and Asia during the 1960s, with her first

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (food), course (appetize ...

, ''The Complete Book Of Mexican Cooking'', published in 1967. She followed this up with ''The Book Of Latin American Cooking'' and ''The Complete Book Of Caribbean Cooking'' over he following few years. She wrote extensively for ''

Gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...

'' magazine and several

Time-Life Time Life, Inc. (also habitually represented with a hyphen as Time-Life, Inc., even by the company itself) was an American multi-media conglomerate company formerly known as a prolific production/publishing company and Direct marketing, direct ...

publications. She also wrote a ''Complete Book of Japanese Cooking'' in 1976 with Mitsuko Endo while Ortiz Tinoco was posted to Bangkok. After her husband retired in 1980, they settled in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

, West London and her cookbooks began to be published in the UK as well as a book on

nouvelle cuisine Nouvelle cuisine (; 'new cuisine') is an approach to cooking and food presentation in French cuisine. In contrast to ''cuisine classique'', an older form of ''haute cuisine'', nouvelle cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and ...

entitled ''A Taste Of Excellence'' in 1986.

Awards

She twice won

s for her cookbooks, in 1968 for ''The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking'' and in 1980 for ''The Book of Latin American Cooking''. Lambert Ortiz was nominated on a further occasion in 1993 for ''The Encyclopedias of Herbs, Spices and Flavorings''. That work instead won awards from

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...

and the

International Association of Culinary Professionals The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States–based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage. It was started in 19 ...

Later life and legacy

Following her husband's death in 1992, she began to become isolated due to increasing poor health due to

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

. She subsequently returned to New York permanently to be closer to her sister. Although she wrote cookbooks on several different cuisines, she is best remembered for her work in Latin America, popularising Mexican cuisine in particular in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Bibliography

* ''The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking'', New York: M. Evans, 1967 **''The New Complete Book of Mexican Cooking''; rev. ed. London: Grub Street, 1997 * ''The Book of Latin American Cooking'', New York: Knopf, 1979 * ''The Complete Book of Caribbean Cooking'', M. Evans & Co., 1973 ** ''Caribbean Cookery''. London: André Deutsch, 1975 (a revised ed. of the above) ** * ''Cooking with the Young Chefs of France'', 1981 * ''From the Tables of Britain'', 1986 * ''The Encyclopaedia of Herbs, Spices and Flavourings'', 1992

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ortiz, Elisabeth Lambert 1915 births 2003 deaths English food writers English women poets Latin American cuisine English women novelists 20th-century English poets 20th-century English novelists English cookbook writers British women food writers 20th-century English women writers People from Harrow on the Hill Writers from the London Borough of Harrow English television writers James Beard Foundation Award winners English women non-fiction writers British women television writers 20th-century English screenwriters British expatriates in Mexico