Eliza Acton

Eliza Acton (1799–1859) was an English poet and cookery writer. Born in Sussex and raised in Suffolk, she published a volume of poems in 1826. According to a story told later, when she offered more verse to the publisher Longman, he suggested she write a cookery book instead. Modern Cookery for Private Families (1845) was the result, the first English cookery book to list the ingredients and cooking time with each recipe, a method Isabella Beeton later borrowed along with many recipes. Acton's last book, The English Bread Book (1857), attacked adulterated bread and argued for baking at home.