Marguerite Patten: English Home Economist and Wartime Food Consultant

Marguerite Patten c. 2000 at Glyndebourne. Used with permission of © Judith Patten

Marguerite Patten (1915 – 2015) was an English home economist and food writer whose career spanned many decades. She came to prominence in the 1940s during the Second World War, but continued working until 2011.

Contents hide

1 Life and Times
2 Chronology of her career
3 Bibliography (in chronological order)
4 Sources

Life and Times

Marguerite Patten had a very long career in the United Kingdom, writing about and teaching about food. Though she turned 85 in 2000, she was still working on books and magazines, despite being struck by arthritis later in her years, which she brought under control by diet. She continued to work until a stroke in 2011. Prior to that, she lived in Brighton, East Sussex and then moved to Richmond, Surrey in 2012.

Very unpretentious, Patten always made it clear that she was a “home economist, not a chef”, though her favourite food books were those by Escoffier and Elizabeth David.

It was during the Second World War that she came to national prominence, working with the war effort on the home front helping people to eat well despite a limited range of goods. She was called “the Queen of ration book cuisine.” And, as prosperity eluded the UK after the war, she even popularized cooking with SPAM in the UK in the 1950s.

As of 2006, she had published over 169 cookbooks, with over 17 million copies altogether being sold, making her one of the best-selling cookbook authors of all time.

Patten was born 4 November 1915 as Hilda Elsie Marguerite Brown in Bath, England. When she was young, her family moved to High Barnet near London in Hertfordshire. Upon her father’s death in 1928 when she was 13, her mother, who had been a teacher, went back to work. As the eldest daughter, helping her working mother out with the cooking at home fell to her. Marguerite liked cooking, and when she left school, did a cooking course, then got her first job as a junior home economist at the Eastern Electricity Board.

Despite her early start at the career that would eventually bring her national recognition, she decided early on to try to pursue a more glamourous path, and so left her job with the Electricity Board, and joined an acting company, with the stage name of Marguerite Eve. She stayed with them for an entire nine-month season, during which she performed at Hampstead’s Everyman Theatre and at the Oldham Repertory. With the season ended, though, and her out of work and needing money, she went to work for Frigidaire (the refrigerator company) as a senior home economist, doing demonstrations, aided by her acting skills. Her job was trying to persuade British housewives that they needed a refrigerator. She said it was very hard-going.

Chronology of her career

1939 — Marguerite returned to the Eastern Electricity Board.
1940 — War rationing of started in Britain in January 1940.
1942 — Marguerite was hired by the Ministry of Food to inspire people about what to cook with the limited range of food that was available. She was based out of Lincoln.
1942 — Marguerite marries Charles (“Bob”) Alfred Patten. She had met him at Lincoln, where he was in the RAF posted on Lancaster bombers. Marguerite fell pregnant quickly, and left work with the Food Ministry and went to live with her mother who was still in High Barnet. There, she found that her mother had created a huge fruit and vegetable Victory garden. She and her mother saved up sugar from their rations to make fruit preserves.
1943 — Her daughter Judith is born. Marguerite returned to the Ministry of Food and was posted in the east end of London, which was being severely hit, visiting hospitals and factories. Marguerite was then posted to a bureau that the Ministry had opened right inside Harrod’s, with a kitchen that Marguerite used to give cooking demonstrations.
1944 — Marguerite started appearing on the BBC Radio morning radio programme called “Kitchen Front”, broadcast from studios in Oxford Street, London, with host Stuart Petre Brodie Mais (1885 to 1975.)
1945 — When the war was over, Harrod’s reclaimed the space from the Ministry, and Marguerite switched to working for Harrod’s directly, giving demonstrations of using appliances such as refrigerators, stoves and pressure cookers in the kitchen.
1947 — Marguerite’s first cookbook, “Recipes by Harrods”, was published by Harrod’s. She was 32 years old at the time. In the same year, she had her first television appearance on the BBC television programme called “Designed for Women” (aka “Mainly for Women”.) She was the expert that appeared in a segment of it set aside for cooking. Some writers say this made Marguerite the first cook on TV in Britain, but Marguerite herself thinks it was Philip Harben (who in fact did start appearing on TV in 1946), while the BBC thinks it might have been Moira Meighn or Marcel Boulestin. The programme continued with her on it until the early 1960s.
Early 1950s — Marguerite was firmly a household name.
1951 — Marguerite left Harrod’s to go freelance as a writer and presenter.
1991 — Marguerite was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE.)
1997 — Bob died.
1999 — BBC Radio 4. Marguerite did a series of 10 half-hour programmes called “Marguerite Patten’s Century of British Cooking.”
2001 — Marguerite helped Channel 4 and the Imperial War Museum design the “1940s house”, which depicted the house of a British middle-class family during the war.
2001 — With Jeannette Ewin, published “Eat to Beat Arthritis”. She eased the pain of her arthritis by following Giraud Campbell’s arthritis diet ‘The New Doctor’s Proven Home Cure for Arthritis’. She didn’t like the recipes, though, so created a whole new set of more practical and appealing recipes to carry out the diet on.
2007 — Received the Woman of the Year award, Lifetime Achievement Award
2010 — Marguerite was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE.)
2015 — Marguerite died on 4 June 2015

Bibliography (in chronological order)

Recipes by Harrods. Harrods: London. 1947
Pressure Cooking by Harrods, including recipes. Harrods: London. 1949
Harrods Second Book of Recipes. Harrods Knightsbridge. 1950
Marguerite Patten’s Cake and Biscuit Book, etc. Phoenix House: London. 1952
Marguerite Patten’s Invalid Cookery Book, etc. Phoenix House: London. 1953
Learning to cook with Marguerite Patton, etc. Phoenix House: London. 1955
Cooking for Bachelors and Bachelor Girls. Robert Hale: London. 1958
Learning to cook. Pan Books: London. 1958
The Creda housecraft manual: a treasury of useful recipes and household information. Stoke-on-Trent: Simplex Electric Company. 1958
Cookery in Colour. A picture encyclopedia for every occasion. Edited by Marguerite Patten. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1960
Marguerite Patten’s Book of Cakes and Baking. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1961.
Marguerite Patten’s Book of Savoury Cooking, etc. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1961
500 Recipes for Families. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1962
500 Recipes for Quick Meals. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1962
500 Recipes for Slimmers. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1962
500 Recipes from abroad. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1962
500 Recipes from around the world. London: Hamlyn. 1962
Marguerite Patten’s Book of Fish, Meat, Poultry and Game. Main course dishes, basic and traditional, old and new, etc. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1962
Marguerite Patten’s Book of Fruit and Vegetable Cookery-and eggs, cheese, bacon, pickles, chutneys, jams, homemade wines. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1962
500 Recipes for Canned and Frozen Food. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1963
500 Recipes for Home-made Wines and Drinks. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1963
500 Recipes for Jams, Pickles, Chutneys, etc. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1963
500 Recipes for Main Meals. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1963
500 Recipes for Puddings and Sweets. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1963
500 Recipes for Refrigerator Dishes. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1963
500 Recipes for Suppers and Snacks. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1963
A to Z Cookery in Colour. 6 vol. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1963
Children’s Parties. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1963
Cookery in Colour, etc. London. 1963
Learning to cook. London. 1963
Marguerite Patten’s Book of Puddings and Desserts. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1963
Step-by-Step Cookery. With illustrations. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1963
500 Recipes for Chicken Dishes. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1964
500 Recipes for Meals without Meat. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1964
500 recipes for meals without meat. London: Hamlyn. 1964
500 Recipes for Sweets and Candies. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1964
Diets for Health. With plates. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1964
Marguerite Patten’s Family Cookbook. With illustrations. Spring Books: London. 1964
Round the World Cookery. With plates. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1964
1,000 Household Hints. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1965
500 Recipes for Bread and Scones. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1965
500 Recipes for Fish Dishes. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1965
500 recipes for fish dishes. London: Hamlyn. 1965
500 Recipes for Soups and Savouries. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1965
ABC of Simple Cooking. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1965
Cake icing & decoration. With plates. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1965
Cookery in colour, etc. London. 1965
Entertaining at Home. With plates. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1965
Marguerite Patten’s Make a menu book, etc. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1965
Quick & easy cookbook in colour. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1965
Your Wedding. Paul Hamlyn: London. 1965
500 recipes for dinners & supper parties. London: Hamlyn. 1966
500 recipes for fruit dishes. London: Hamlyn. 1966
500 recipes for meat dishes. London: Hamlyn. 1966
500 recipes from Australia. London: Hamlyn. 1966
500 recipes: eat and be healthy. London: Hamlyn. 1966
Cookery in colour, etc. London. 1966
Home making in colour. London: Hamlyn. 1966
Adventures in cookery. 2. Ginn. 1967
Adventures in cookery. l. Ginn. 1967
Marguerite Patten’s Make a menu book. Reprinted. London: Paul Hamlyn. 1967
Marguerite Patten’s Book of fruit and vegetable cookery. Fruit and vegetable cookery. London, etc.: Paul Hamlyn. 1968
Marguerite Patten’s Book of savoury cooking. Savoury cooking. Revised ed. Feltham: Hamlyn. 1968
Adventures in cookery. London: Ginn. 1969
Classic dishes made simple. Feltham: Hamlyn. 1969
Book of cakes and baking. Cakes and baking. Revised edition. London, etc.: Hamlyn. 1970
Marguerite Patten’s book of fish, meat, poultry and game. Fish, meat, poultry and game. Revised ed. Feltham: Hamlyn. 1970. 1970
500 recipes for bedsitter cookery. London: Hamlyn. 1970
500 recipes for working wives. London: Hamlyn. 1970
500 recipes, electric mixers and blenders. London, etc.: Hamlyn. 1970
The how-to-cook book. London: Hamlyn. 1970
500 recipes for jams, pickles, chutneys and preserves, etc. Revised edition. London, etc.: Hamlyn. 1971
500 recipes for suppers and snacks. Revised ed. London: Hamlyn. 1971
Adventures in cookery / Revised metricated ed. London: Ginn. 1971
Adventures in cookery / Revised metricated ed. London: Ginn. 1971
Adventures in cookery. London: Ginn. 1971
Cooking today. London: Hamlyn. 1971
Junior cook book. London: Pan Books. 1971
The care of fabrics; drawings by Sherborne. London: Ginn. 1971
Cookery in colour: a picture encyclopaedia for every occasion. Edited by Marguerite Patten. Revised edition. London: Hamlyn. 1972
Health food cookery. London: Hamlyn. 1972
Learning to cook with Marguerite Patten. Revised ed. London: Pan Books. 1972
Marguerite Patten’s international cookery in colour. London: Hamlyn. 1972
Perfect cooking. London: Octopus Books. 1972
Step by step guide to easy icing. London: Hamlyn. 1972
World cookery. London: Pan Books. 1972
Fondue and table-top cookbook. London & Glasgow: Collins. 1973
Baking for the family. London: Hamlyn. 1973
Budget meals. London: Hamlyn. 1973
Busy cook’s book. London: Hamlyn. 1973
Casseroles. London: Hamlyn. 1973
Cooking for two. London: Hamlyn. 1973
Cooking in a hurry. London: Octopus Books. 1973
Cooking with chicken. London, etc.: Hamlyn. 1973
Cuisine, santé, beauté. Paris: Compagnie internationale du livre. 1973
Dinner and supper parties. London, etc.: Hamlyn. 1973
Entertaining economically. London: Octopus Books. 1973
Family cooking. London: Hamlyn. 1973
Family favourites. London: Octopus Books. 1973
Marguerite Patten’s menu maker. London: Octopus Books. 1973
Marguerite Patten’s step by step cookery. Revised ed. London: Hamlyn. 1973
Meals in a hurry. London: Hamlyn. 1973
Party fare. London: Hamlyn. 1973
Recipes for two. London: Hamlyn. 1973
Salads and vegetables. London, etc.: Hamlyn. 1973
Second piccolo cook book. London: Pan Books. 1973
Soups and starters. London, etc.: Hamlyn. 1973
Suppers and buffets. London: Octopus Books. 1973
The play & cook book. London: Collins. 1973
Women’s Own 365 menu cookbook. London, etc.: Hamlyn. 1973
The how-to-cook book. London, etc.: Hamlyn. 1974
Books for cooks: a bibliography of cookery. London: Bowker. 1975
Marguerite Patten’s all colour cookery. London: Hamlyn. 1975
Marguerite Patten’s all-colour book of freezing. London, etc.: Hamlyn. 1975
The pure gold of Spain. London: Jupiter Books. 1975
Marguerite Patten’s menu maker Marguerite Patten’s 100 great menus. London: Octopus Books. 1976
Enjoy cooking with Marguerite Patten. London: Mills and Boon. 1976
Colourful family cooking. London: Octopus Books. 1977
Cooking in a hurry. London: Octopus Books. 1977
Marguerite Patten’s pressure cookery. Glasgow: Collins. 1977
Second piccolo cook book Cook book. London: Severn House: Distributed by Hutchinson. 1978
500 recipes for chicken dishes. London: Hamlyn. 1978
Cooking for special occasions. London: Severn House: Distributed by Hutchinson. 1978
Easy icing. Feltham: Hamlyn. 1978
Hamlyn’s family cookbook. Feltham: Hamlyn. 1978
Vegetarian cooking for you. London: Hamlyn. 1978
Cooking for the family in colour. London: Octopus Books. 1979
Good cooking step by step. London: Hamlyn. 1979
Marguerite Patten’s slimming cookbook. London: Octopus Books. 1979
The epicure’s book of steak and beef dishes. London: Barrie and Jenkins. 1979
The epicure’s book of steak and beef dishes. London: Treasure. 1979
Dear diary. London: Mirror. 1980
Marguerite Patten’s holiday cooking: a guide to self-catering at home and abroad. Glasgow: Collins. 1980
Vegetarian cooking for you. Revised edition. London: Hamlyn. 1980
Marguerite Patten’s slimming cookbook. Portuguese Cozinha para emagrecer. Lisboa: Ci´rculo de Leitores. 1981
Cooking in pictures. London: Mirror Books. 1981
Marguerite Patten’s multi-mixer cookbook. Glasgow: Collins. 1981
The A-Z of economy with Magimix: 68 recipes written for food processors. Isleworth 25 Lower Sq., Isleworth, Middx: 1CTC. 1981
The A-Z of economy with Robot-Chef: 68 recipes written for food processors. Isleworth 25 Lower Sq., Isleworth, Middx: 1CTC. 1981
Marguerite Patten’s Sunday lunch cookbook. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 1983
500 recipes for sweets and candies Sweets and candies. London: Hamlyn. 1984
New ways to perfect cooking. London: Octopus. 1984
The Country Life book of good cooking. Feltham: Hamlyn. 1984
The Piccolo cookbook. New extended edition. London: Piccolo. 1984
Good cooking: the second Piccolo cookbook, Revised and extended version. London: Piccolo. 1985
We’ll eat again: a collection of recipes from the war years. Twickenham: Hamlyn in association with the Imperial War Museum. 1985
Chocolates and sweets. Twickenham: Hamlyn. 1986
Microwave for one. Twickenham: Hamlyn. 1987
Eat well stay well. Hamlyn. 1989
The complete book of teas. Piatkus. 1989
New ways to perfect cooking Cooking to perfection. Treasure Press. 1991
Eat well stay well. Mandarin. 1991
What’s cooking?: recipes of a lifetime. London: Hawker. 1992
Marguerite Patten’s family cookbook. Hamlyn. 1993
Classic British dishes. London: Bloomsbury. 1994
The victory cookbook. London: Hamlyn. 1995
The victory cookbook. London: Hamlyn. 1995
Soups. London: Bloomsbury. 1996
Soups: the best recipes from around the world. London: Bloomsbury. 1996
Marguerite Patten’s post-war kitchen Post-war kitchen: nostalgic food and facts from 1945-1954. London: Hamlyn. 1998
Marguerite Patten’s post-war kitchen: nostalgic food and facts from 1945-1954. London: Hamlyn. 1998
Post-war kitchen. London: Hamlyn. 1998
Century of British cooking Marguerite Patten’s Century of British cooking. London: Grub Street. 1999
Spam, the cookbook. London: Hamlyn. 2000
Eat to beat arthritis: over 60 recipes and a self-treatment plan to transform your life. London: Thorsons. 2001
Jams, preserves and chutneys handbook. New edition. London: Grub Street. 2001
The basic basics baking. London: Grub Street. 2002
The Coronation Cookbook. London: Hamlyn. 2002
The healthy gut cookbook: how to keep in excellent digestive health with 60 recipes and nutrition advice. London: Thorsons. 2004

Sources

Prince, Rose. Brighton Belle (Marguerite Patten). London: Waitrose Magazine. September 1998.