An imagined gathering
1982 · Wiltshire, England
Grigson sets a long country lunch for David and Floyd, and the talk turns to markets, authenticity, and wine.
Grigson and her husband Geoffrey live in a Wiltshire village, and when the garden is at its best she sets a long table under the trees. Elizabeth David, who has known her for years, arrives from London with a basket of olives; Keith Floyd, between television series, comes down in a borrowed car with several bottles and no plan.
The lunch begins with Floyd's mussels and a bowl of brandade, then a Basque chicken that Grigson has made her own. David is exacting about the seasoning and Floyd is cheerfully careless about it, and the two of them get on better than either expected. They talk about markets and about whether a recipe should be a set of orders or an invitation, and nobody wants the afternoon to end.
Host: Jane Grigson
Elizabeth David — Old friend and the writer who taught Britain to cook from the market.
Keith Floyd — Television cook, between series and happy to be out of the studio.
This gathering is an editorial recreation grounded in the biographies of those present; it did not necessarily take place as described.