The Pleasures of the Table – Rediscovering Theodora FitzGibbon

Theodora FitzGibbon was born in London and educated in England and France. She was the author of more than 30 books, most of which were about food, and included her encyclopedic Food of the Western World, which took her 15 years to complete and covered some 34 countries and 32 languages. It won the Glenfiddich Special Gold Medal in 1976, and in 1987 she was awarded the Prix Choucroute First Prize for European Food Journalists at Bonn. Her best-known book is A Taste of Ireland. She also published two volumes of autobiography, With Love in 1982 and Love Lies a Loss in 1985. She was married to the distinguished film-maker and photographic restorer George Morrison and they lived in Dalkey, County Dublin until she died in 1991.

Donal Skehan has written four cookbooks, Good Mood Food, Kitchen Hero: Bringing Cooking Back Home, Kitchen Hero: Great Food for Less and Homecooked, and has presented three television cookery series. Donal’s recipes and food photography are regularly featured across the world and have appeared in many publications. He is a regular contributor to the Irish Independent Weekend magazine, Food & Wine magazine and delicious. magazine in the UK. He presents BBC1’s ‘Junior Masterchef’ and launched his first food magazine, Feast: A Dinner Journal in 2013.

Theodora FitzGibbon’s column in The Irish Times was once essential reading for anyone with an interest in cookery. Infused with wit, a lust for life, and a genuine love of good food, classic recipes like her Christmas Cake and Barm Brack became legendary and were well used in homes in Ireland and abroad for decades.

Now, Ireland’s most exciting young food writer, Donal Skehan, discovers the art of Theodora in this beautiful new collection in which he selects her very best dishes and lovingly brings them to life through his glorious photography.

Life-long fans will be delighted with this replacement for their battered and much-used books (or ancient newspaper clippings), and a new generation of food lovers, just like Donal, will discover the delight of Theodora FitzGibbon for the very first time.

‘Theodora FitzGibbon ought to be remembered as a giant in Irish culinary circles’ Darina Allen

‘Established fans will be delighted with this updated version of their battered cookbooks, and a whole new generation of food lovers will be introduced to the pleasures of Theodora’s table, just like Donal was’. Easyfood 01 June 2014