Fanny Cradock

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Fanny Cradock (February 26 1909 - December 27 1994) born Phyllis Primrose Pechey, in Leytonstone, London, was a British writer, restaurant critic and television cook who mostly worked with John "Johnnie" Cradock, whose surname she adopted long before they married. She was the daughter of novelist and lyricist Archibald Thomas Pechey.

[edit] Early Career

Fanny worked at various restaurants and was introduced to the works of Auguste Escoffier, whom she would adopt as a God of cookery. She later wrote passionately about the change from service à la française to service à la russe and hailed Escoffier as a saviour of British cooking - although she would fiercely defend the fact that there was no such thing as British cuisine; "Even the good old Yorkshire Pudd'n comes from Burgundy". It is believed that Fanny met Johnnie Cradock at a food exhibition but this is uncertain. They began writing a column under the pen name of "Bon Viveur" which appeared in the Daily Telegraph from 1950 to 1955. This sparked a theatre career, with the pair turning theatres into restaurants. Cradock would cook vast dishes that were served to the audience. They became known for their roast turkey, complete with stuffed head, tail feathers and wings. Complete with French accents, their act was one of a drunken hen-pecked husband and a domineering wife. At this time, they were known as Major and Mrs Cradock. She also wrote books under the name "Frances Dale".

[edit] Television

In 1955, Fanny recorded a pilot for a television series. It was a winning format and each series came with a printed booklet that gave a detailed account of each recipe Fanny demonstrated. In later years, she would simply say, "You'll find that recipe in the booklet so I won't show you now". Cradock's TV programmes were extremely popular in the late 1950s. Fanny advocated bringing Escoffier-standard food into the British home and gave every recipe a French name. Her food looked extravagant but was generally cost effective and Fanny seemed to truly care for her audience. Regular catchphrases were; "This won't break you", "This is perfectly economical", "This won't stretch your purse". She insisted that "Everyone [was] entitled to a piece of really good cake at least once a year".

As time went on, her food became outdated. Her love of the piping bag and vegetable dyes meant that her television show began to border on farce. As she got older, she applied more and more make-up and would wear vast chiffon ballgowns on screen. She became a figure of fun and the BBC was aware of it.

Fanny had always included her relatives and friends in her television shows. Johnnie suffered a minor heart attack in the early 1970s and it was the perfect opportunity for the BBC to request "Fanny-only" shows. Johnnie was replaced with the daughter of a friend - Jayne. Another was Sarah and there was a series of young men who didn't last very long.

Her series "Cradock Cooks for Christmas" is the only one of her programmes to have been shown in the past decade - enjoying an annual Christmas re-run on the UK digital television channel UKTV Food.

[edit] Later Years

Fanny and Johnnie became regulars on the chat show circuit and appeared on programmes such as The Generation Game and Blankety Blank. Fanny appeared alone on Wogan, Parkinson and TV-AM. In earlier years her husky voice and larger-than-life personality lent itself to mimicry: for example, on the 1960s BBC radio comedy show, Beyond Our Ken, Betty Marsden could regularly be heard in the guise of "Fanny Haddock".

In 1987, Johnnie died. She wrote several novels, the Castle Rising series which had recipes as footnotes but they were not well received. Her last appearance on television was on Parkinson. Her co-star was Danny La Rue who was dressed as a woman. When it was revealed that he was actually a female impersonator, Cradock stormed off set. She would never appear on television again ^{[citation needed]}.

As her health failed, Fanny was forced to go into a nursing home. She died on December 27th 1994.

[edit] Gwen Troake

In 1976, Cornish housewife Gwen Troake won a competition called "Cook of the Realm", the prize being to organise a banquet to be attended by Edward Heath, Earl Mountbatten of Burma and other VIPs. The BBC filmed the result as part of a series called The Big Time, and asked Fanny Cradock to act as one of a number of experts giving Troake advice on her menu. The result would bring about the end of Fanny Cradock's TV career. Mrs Troake went through her menu of Seafood Cocktail, Duckling with bramble sauce and Coffee Cream dessert. Fanny told her that her menu was too rich, and while accepting that her dessert was delicious, insisted it was not suitable, declaring: "You're among professionals now". She grimaced, acted as if on the verge of retching, and pretended not to know what a bramble was. She suggested that Troake use a small pastry boat filled with cream and covered with spun sugar. It was completed by an orange slice and a cherry through a cocktail stick, giving the dish the look of a small boat, which Fanny thought was quite suitable for the naval guests.

In the event, the pudding was a disaster and couldn't be served properly. Sheridan Morley had also been consulted on the menu and had said that he felt Troake's original coffee pudding was perfect. However, so insistant was Cradock that she won. When the pudding failed to impress, the public were annoyed that Cradock had seemingly ruined a potential success for the Cornish housewife. Coupled with the rude manner in which Fanny had spoken to Troake, the public demanded her shows be axed from the BBC. Fanny wrote a letter of apology to Troake but the BBC terminated her contract just two weeks after the programme was broadcast. She would never present a cookery programme again.

[edit] Legacy

Marguerite Patten has spoken about Fanny Cradock being the saviour of British cooking after the war. Brian Turner has said that he respects Fanny's career and Delia Smith has attributed her career to early inspirations taken from Cradock's television programmes. Despite her extravagant appearance and novelty value, her recipes were extremely well used and her cookery books sold in record numbers. Fanny's huge legacy was not multi-coloured foods - rather, she is attributed with the creation of the modern prawn cocktail which became extremely popular in 1970s Britain.

She and Johnnie would be parodied by The Two Ronnies, Benny Hill and most famously by Betty Marsden in Beyond Our Ken with the character "Fanny Haddock". Fanny's life has been the subject of two dramas; Doughnuts like Fanny's written by Julia Darling and Fear of Fanny written by Brian Fillis. The latter was turned into a televised drama with Julia Davis playing Fanny Cradock and was broadcast in October 2006 on BBC Four as part of a series of culinary-themed dramas.

[edit] Books

[edit] Autobiography

• Something's Burning (1960)

[edit] Novels, as Phyllis Cradock

• Gateway to Remembrance (1949)
• The Eternal Echo (1950)
• The Lormes of Castle Rising ISBN 0-8415-0437-7
• Shadows Over Castle Rising (1985) ISBN 0-491-03184-X

[edit] TV shows

• Kitchen Magic (1955)
• Fanny's Kitchen
• Chez Bon Viveur
• The Cradocks
• Dinner Party
• Fanny Cradock Invites
• Cradock cooks for Christmas

[edit] Cookbooks

• Common Market cookery - France (1973) BBC, ISBN 0-563-12586-1
• Fanny & Johnnie Cradocks' cook hostess book
• Fanny & Johnnie Cook's Essential Alphabet
• Fanny & Johnnie Cradock's Freezer Book
• The Daily Telegraph Cook's Book by Bon Viveur (Johnnie and Fanny Cradock)
• Bon Viveur Recipes A Daily Mail Publication (Fanny and Johnnie Cradock)

[edit] Works about Fanny Cradock

• Doughnuts like Fanny's - play by Julia Darling, 2002. Later renamed Fanny Cradock - The Life and Loves of a Kitchen Devil
• Fear of Fanny - play by Brian Fillis, 2002, adapted for BBC4 in 2006 starring Julia Davis as Fanny Cradock