FROM OUR GRANNY'S TABLE
There’s little more comforting than a family recipe, and for private chef Hilary Lester, unearthing her great grandmother’s old cookbooks in her Campsie Fells farmhouse was like taking a step back in time, finds Rosie Morton
Cordon Bleu-trained private chef Hilary Lester shares
Waking up to fresh pancakes made on your grandfather’s old griddle or coming home to the smell of homemade mince and tatties – it’s the family favourites that form the true essence of home.
For Hilary Lester, a freelance home economist and Cordon Bleu-trained private chef, fond memories came flooding back when she unearthed her great grandmother’s cookbooks that had been out of sight for years.
Little did Hilary know that her ancestor, Grace Campbell Cameron – who was born in Perthshire in 1894 and lived in The Campsie Fells in Stirlingshire during her married life in the early 1900s – had been professionally trained at the Edinburgh School of Cookery in 1913. The books, full of Grace’s own concoctions, have allowed Hilary to fill the air with familiar baking aromas that took her straight back to her childhood.
Now on a mission to recreate and photograph the recipes in a project named ‘From our Granny’s table’, Hilary has set about unravelling her great grandmother’s notes, adding methods and timings that were engrained in Grace’s memory, not written down.
‘We found her recipe books in the kitchen cupboard a few years ago, underneath the ironing blankets,’ Hilary laughs. ‘It was a really lovely surprise to find them.
When you open the book up it’s literally threadbare now, and there are stains on the recipes and people have added to them through the years. There are also a few recipes from my great aunt in there, and you can see where people have slipped newspaper cuttings in of recipes they’ve found.
‘I’ve always loved food, and I’ve always cooked with the family. Great granny’s daughter – my granny, Grace Cameron, later McGowan – would pick us up after school and we would go back and cook with her. I’ve got really fond memories of making rock buns in the kitchen with her. I can visualise walking into her pantry and seeing all the cake tins ready for us. When we found the cookbook it was just lovely to see the recipes we’ve grown up with.’
With a family history traced as far back as the 1700s originating in rural Perthshire as hard working sheep farmers, it comes as no surprise that many of Great Granny Grace’s recipes are humble staples, designed to feed the hungry masses and be cost effective. Some recipes have just a handful of ingredients, including the likes of porridge, scones and shortbread, which would have been made fresh every day.
‘For lots of farmers, porridge was the key to making sure you could keep going during the long days on the farm,’ says Hilary. ‘All my uncles and cousins remember it sitting
Great grandmothers know best: Hilary is recreating as many of her ancestor’s recipes as possible.
there bubbling away for hours on the AGA before they were ready to eat it.’
Other recipes are far more elaborate and include more exotic ingredients like pistachios and ginger – foods that Hilary was surprised to learn they had access to in those days – while some are unique takes on classics.
‘There’s a recipe called the Paradise Cake which has a shortcrust base with sticky dried fruits,’ says Hilary, talking of her own personal favourite. ‘It’s really delicious. I’ve got really strong memories of that being in my granny’s pantry, and Mum can remember it from when her granny made it too.’
Of course, in her great grandmother’s day it was rather unusual for a woman to have been formally trained in cookery, so Hilary was keen to piece together the story of Grace’s time at the Edinburgh School of Cookery, which is now part of Queen Margaret University. By 1913, the school had expanded and gained government support as it aimed to give students high quality education in several domestic subjects.
‘To get into the cookery school you had to take exams,’ explains Hilary. ‘For women to do that in 1913 was quite amazing. They called it the “Women’s Movement” – it was to make sure there were equal opportunities for girls coming from school, so that if they weren’t married there was something for them. It was equipping these women to provide for themselves.’
As well as completing a gruelling 840 hours of cookery instruction and practice, Grace would have undertaken additional courses in laundry work, housewifery, needlework and millinery.
Not only delighted to learn that culinary skill ran in the blood, Hilary has revelled in the opportunity to remake these recipes, and has been reminded of how far she has come in her own cooking career. After graduating from the University of Gloucestershire where she studied photojournalism, Hilary was accepted to the Tante Marie Culinary Academy in Woking near Surrey. Launching her own business, Salt of the Earth, five years ago, she now sources local, seasonal fare to cater for the likes of shooting parties, private dinners, celebrations and fitness retreats as far away as Portugal.
‘I hope this project encourages people to look back at what their own grannies were cooking,’ says Hilary. ‘For me, it’s been really nice to have something of my Great Granny’s that I can pass on to the next generation.’
Though she is currently based just outside of Cambridge, and her parents now live near Essex, Hilary sees herself moving back to her roots in Scotland. ‘My partner Sam and I love it up there. It’s the one place we switch off and relax. It’s heaven.’
Thanks to Hilary’s efforts to safeguard these homely recipes, they will remain at the heart of her family for years to come.
Now, let’s get the kettle on...