Lee Miller: A Life with Food, Friends & Recipes

Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, Lee Miller was, in the words of this book, "a woman of many lives and a mistress of her own re-invention." 

A model for Vogue and Vanity Fair, a protege of Man Ray, and a groundbreaking photographic correspondent who helped document the American advance across Europe during WWII, she married and settled in England after the war's end. There she became renowned as a cook and hostess.

Drawn from the Lee Miller Archives, this book documents her work and her life, building around the framework of an unpublished cookbook of menus, recipes, and essays. The food reflects the experiences of a well-traveled cook who had lived in Cairo and Paris, entertained and cooked for Picasso and James Beard, and developed an assured confidence in the kitchen.

The recipes reflect a mix of sophistication and a desire to be a relatively carefree hostess: roux prepared in the oven, champagne and camembert soup, kipper pate, tomato charlotte, marshmallow-cola ice cream. Her recipe notes are quite engaging, and a photograph of her cookbook collection reveals she drew on cooks as varied as George Bernard Shaw, Claudia Roden, and Irma Rombauer.

Fascinating without any need to be practical. The publisher's choice of sample images does not do justice to the character of the book.

Paperback. Color and black and white photographs throughout.