Marguerite Patten facts for kids

Marguerite Patten (born Hilda Elsie Marguerite Brown; 4 November 1915 – 4 June 2015) was a famous British expert in cooking and household management. She was known as a home economist, a food writer, and a broadcaster. She was one of the first celebrity chefs, even though she didn't like that term at first.

Marguerite Patten became well-known during World War II. She had a radio show on BBC Radio. On this show, she shared clever recipes. These recipes helped people cook tasty meals using the limited food available due to war rationing. After the war, she helped make pressure cookers popular in the UK. She wrote 170 books, and over 17 million copies have been sold!

Early Life and First Jobs

Marguerite was born in Bath, Somerset. She grew up in Barnet, Hertfordshire. She won a scholarship to Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Girls. When she was 12, her father passed away. Her mother became a teacher, and Marguerite started cooking for her mother, younger brother, and sister. She became very interested in cooking from that age.

After school, she worked as an actress for nine months. This was in a repertory theatre, where actors perform different plays often. Then, she worked for a company called Frigidaire. She was a senior home economist there. Her job was to show people how useful refrigerators were.

Cooking During World War II

During World War II, Marguerite worked for the Ministry of Food. This government department helped people manage food during the war. She created nourishing and creative recipes. These recipes used the rationed food that was available.

She shared her cooking ideas and advice with the whole country. She did this on a BBC radio show called the Kitchen Front. When the war ended, she gave cooking demonstrations for Harrods, a famous department store. She showed how to use the pressure cooker, which became very popular because of her work.

Television and Radio Appearances

After her wartime radio shows, Marguerite Patten appeared on many BBC radio programmes. One of these was Woman's Hour, which she was on from 1946 until the 2000s.

She also appeared regularly on early TV shows. These included Designed for Women (1947 - 1960) and Cookery Club (1956 - 1961). She was one of the first TV 'celebrity chefs'. However, she didn't like this title. She often said, "I am NOT! To the day I die I'll be a home economist." She presented her first TV cooking show on the BBC in 1947. Later in her life, she seemed to accept the title more. She even described herself as "the first Television Cook in Britain."

Marguerite appeared on TV about eight years before another famous TV cook, Fanny Cradock. Marguerite did not get along with Fanny Cradock, but she respected her cooking skills. Marguerite also gave many live cooking demonstrations. She even toured the world doing them. She performed at the London Palladium 12 times, which is a very famous theatre.

Best-Selling Cookbooks

Marguerite Patten wrote many cookbooks that sold millions of copies. In 1961, most cookbooks had only black and white pictures. Her publisher, Paul Hamlyn, created a colorful book called Cookery In Colour. This book was very important and influenced many cookbooks that came after it.

Her book, Everyday Cook Book in Colour, sold over one million copies by 1969. Overall, she sold 17 million copies of her 170 books. Marguerite continued to work on TV and radio food programmes even into her late nineties. She had briefly retired in her seventies.

Her cooking lessons taught people important kitchen skills. Her advice and books greatly improved British cooking after the war. During rationing, it was hard to make fancy dishes. She influenced other well-known cooks like Nigel Slater and Gary Rhodes. Gary Rhodes called her one of his two cooking heroes. In 2006, an artist named Martin Slidel made an art piece from her 1972 cooking guide, 'Perfect Cooking'.

'Balanced Menus for Beauty Using the Mixer' art installation by British artist Martin Slidel, a paper-weave of Marguerite Patten's 1972 part-work.

Awards and Recognition

Marguerite Patten received several important awards. She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1991. This was for her "services to the Art of Cookery." In 2010, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In 2007, she received the Woman of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2000, she was featured on the TV show This Is Your Life. She was surprised by the host, Michael Aspel, at a food show in Birmingham.

Later Life and Death

Marguerite Patten passed away on 4 June 2015, at the age of 99. Her family announced her death on 10 June 2015. They said she died "from an illness stoically borne," meaning she bravely dealt with her illness. In June 2011, she had a stroke, which made it hard for her to speak. Towards the end of her life, she could no longer stand, which meant she could not cook.