Annabel Abbs on the story of Britain's first great cookery author in 'The Language of Food'

In 1845 Eliza Acton produced the first cookery book for domestic use, 'Modern Cookery In All Its Branches Reduced to System of Easy Practice for the Use of Private Families'. It revolutionised cookery in the home and introduced the concept of the recipe as we know it. But the details of Eliza Acton's life are a mystery. Her recipes, informed and styled by her poetry, are the narrative of her life. Annabel Abbs has reimagined this extraordinary life as a work of historical fiction bringing together not only the food but the facts and the fiction to create a story of great social change and female emancipation.In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Annabel Abbs about Eliza Acton's landmark contribution to the culinary arts and how new ingredients transformed British food, exactly why Eliza Acton's recipes read so beautifully and the grand story of imagination and invention Annabel Abbs weaves around them.