Elisabeth Luard is a much acclaimed food writer with a long list of books, memoirs and journal articles, and a former Trustee Director of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. In 2016 she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Guild of Food Writers. Elizabeth started life as a natural history artist. Her interest in landscape and its influence on the cuisine of the area led to the writing of her first book, European Peasant Cookery.