Jump to content

Margaret Blatch

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Margaret Blatch
M.C.A.[a]
Cover of One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes, 1917
Born
Margaret Kelleher

(1886-06-22)22 June 1886
Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England
Died15 August 1963(1963-08-15) (aged 77)
Islington, London, England
Occupations
  • Chef
  • restaurateur
  • cookbook writer
Years active1900s–1963
Known forVegetarian cookery
Notable workOne Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes (1916)
Spouse
Joseph Francis G. Blatch
​
​
(m. 1906; died 1921)​
AwardsThree gold, six silver, and four bronze medals (Food and Cookery Exhibitions)

Margaret Blatch (née Kelleher; 22 June 1886 – 15 August 1963) was an English vegetarian chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. She and her husband became vegetarian around 1907 and developed vegetarian recipes for competition and restaurant use. She served as principal of the Eustace Miles School of Cookery and published cookbooks including One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes (1916) and Household Non-Flesh Cookery (1936). Blatch managed the London vegetarian restaurant Shearns from 1923 until its closure in 1962.

Biography

[edit]

Early and personal life

[edit]

Blatch was born Margaret Kelleher on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, on 22 June 1886.[2][3] She married Joseph Francis G. Blatch in 1906 at Marylebone;[b][4][5] he died in 1921, aged 41.[6]

Career

[edit]

Vegetarian cookery and early restaurant work

[edit]

Blatch and her husband became vegetarian around 1907. Over the next nine years, they developed vegetarian dishes with attention to nutrition, digestibility, flavour, and presentation. Their entries in Food and Cookery Exhibitions at the Royal Horticultural Hall received three gold, six silver, and four bronze medals, as well as diplomas for vegetarian cookery. They also catered for the public at Blatch's Restaurant, 50 Cannon Street, London, and at other venues.[7]

Eustace Miles School of Cookery and first cookbook

[edit]

For four years, Blatch worked as principal of the Eustace Miles School of Cookery. According to the preface to One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes, requests from pupils led her to prepare a recipe book.[7] In 1916, she self-published One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes.[c][9]: 819  A 92-page second edition was published by Longmans, Green & Co in 1917.[9]: 823  A third edition was published in 1917 and again in 1918.[9]: 828 

Pamphlets and later cookbooks

[edit]

In the 1902, Blatch published the pamphlet Conservative Cookery as part of the London Vegetarian Society's Humane Diet Leaflets series.[10] She published Household Non-Flesh Cookery in 1936.[11]

Botulism inquest

[edit]

In 1935, four people died after eating nut meat brawn, with three cases attributed to botulism. At the inquest, Blatch testified that she had supervised the product's manufacture for 29 years and that there had been no previous complaint. The jury found that there was no negligence by the manufacturers. The evidence stated that the germ itself was not present in the food when it was prepared, although a toxin had developed before consumption. Experts stated that botulism was a theoretical risk, but that British canning methods were regarded as safe. The coroner noted the rarity of the disease and recommended further precautions in future production.[12]

Shearns and media coverage

[edit]

In 1940, the Daily Mirror described Blatch as "London's famous vegetarian chef".[13] She was quoted in the article on the demand for mock meats.[13]

Blatch managed the London vegetarian restaurant Shearns from 1923 until its closure in 1962. The restaurant served about 500 vegetarian meals a day. Its customers included George Bernard Shaw, the Countess of Warwick, and a number of suffragettes.[14]

Death

[edit]

Blatch died at the Royal Northern Hospital, Islington, on 15 August 1963.[15]

Reception and later use

[edit]

One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes is included in Southern Adventist University's "Foodies' Guide to Vegetarian Cookery in 19th Century America".[16]

Vegetarian cookbook writer Rose Elliot learned to cook by reading Household Non-Flesh Cookery.[17] Elliot's 1972 book Simply Delicious is dedicated to Blatch.[18]

Publications

[edit]
  • One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes. London. 1916.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Bell, Ernest, ed. (1902). Conservative Cookery. London: London Vegetarian Society.
  • Household Non-Flesh Cookery. London: G. Gladding & Co. 1936.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ Member of the Cookery Association.[1]
  2. ↑ Her maiden name is recorded as Kelcher on her marriage record.[4]
  3. ↑ The term vegetarian was well established by the 1840s, but in the early 20th century it was often associated with religious or ethical abstinence, and "non-flesh" or "flesh-abstainer" were used as less provocative alternatives.[8]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Haycraft, Frank W. (1948). The Degrees and Hoods of the World's Universities and Colleges. Cheshunt Press. p. 106 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ↑ "Births Jun 1886: Kelleher, Margaret". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  3. ↑ "Margaret Blatch". 1939 England and Wales Register. Ancestry.com. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Marriages Dec 1906: Kelcher, Margaret". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  5. ↑ "Marriages Dec 1906: Blatch, Joseph Francis G." FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  6. ↑ "Deaths Jun 1921: Blatch, Joseph F. G." FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  7. 1 2 Blatch, Margaret (1917). "Preface". One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes (2nd ed.). London: Longmans, Green, and Co.
  8. ↑ "Food Fight Club Round 2: Vegetable Curry v. Ragout of Squirrel". History of Medicine and Public Health. New York Academy of Medicine. 30 March 2016. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 Aoyagi, Akiko; Shurtleff, William (7 March 2022). History of Vegetarianism and Veganism Worldwide (1430 BCE to 1969): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook. Soyinfo Center. ISBN 978-1-948436-73-1. Archived from the original on 19 August 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  10. ↑ Bell, Ernest, ed. (1902). Conservative Cookery. London: London Vegetarian Society.
  11. ↑ "IVU Online Library - Bibliography". International Vegetarian Union. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  12. ↑ "Deaths Due to Botulism". Evening Sentinel. 23 August 1935. p. 7. Retrieved 19 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. 1 2 "Mock Meats If You Like". Daily Mirror. 9 March 1940. p. 2. Retrieved 19 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Hard on vegetarians". The Guardian. 2 March 1962. p. 10. Retrieved 19 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Blatch, Margaret" (National Probate Calendar). Principal Probate Registry. 1963. p. 586.
  16. ↑ "'One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes' by Margaret Blatch". Southern Adventist University. Archived from the original on 31 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  17. ↑ Stelfox, Hilarie (13 September 1994). "Her finger on the Pulse". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. p. 11. Retrieved 19 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Elliot, Rose (1972). "Dedication". Simply Delicious. Liss: The White Eagle Publishing Trust. ISBN 978-0-85487-008-0 – via Internet Archive.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Margaret_Blatch&oldid=1357975108"