[FOsen]

Toast to Isabella

One-hundred-fifty years before the brood
Of modern Delias, Jamies and Nigellas,
One woman wrote the book on English food;
The first words in the void were Isabella’s.

Her Beeton’s Book of Household Management
Gave recipes for truffles with champagne
And other dishes much less opulent.
Although Toast Sandwiches sound rather plain,

They’ve been acknowledged by the RSC,
Who’ve challenged others to create a treat
As nice, for less than seven-one-half p.
The author taught a nation how to eat

And also manage house and life and health;
It’s poignant, then to realize her fate
Today would be to have a mogul’s wealth,
Not die while giving birth at twenty-eight.

So, brown a slice of white, and raise a toast
That’s wrapped in buttered bread, to Mrs. Beeton.
And savor. Though it’s not a marbled roast,
No better comfort food was ever eaten.

Frank