The legacy of Devon’s women food writers
Paul Cleave, who spoke at our 2025 Annual Conference on Women and Food, explores the varied aspects of Devon women’s cookery books and what they tell us about women’s role in society. My research interests reflect a long term and ongoing investigation of Devon’s food history – its traditions, customs, recipes, rituals, and ingredients. More recently I have become interested in the food writers, and the women who, through their recipes and narratives, were important in recording Devon’s food story and wanted to give them a voice through food . Devon is a county well known for its traditions of agriculture and food production, from meat, fish, fruit, and of course dairy produce – milk, clotted cream, butter, and cheese. For generations these have been documented by visitors, scholars, and academics who were attracted to the landscapes and antiquities of the county where they often encountered and enjoyed rural hospitality. The structure and focus of my research draws on a ri...