I had the opportunity to read a unique collection of menus, recipes, and party plans.
The oldest dated from the 1950s and the newest from the 1980s. They had been used in the vicarage at the Swedish Church in London for gatherings hosted by the vicar couple Ingegärd and Sven Evander during their 25 years there.
This appealed to me as a food writer because it was an interesting historical document reflecting several decades of dining habits and food trends. But there was another dimension. I knew the Evander couple. As a newly qualified home economics teacher, I served as
housekeeper in the London church's kitchen and had close contact with both Ingegärd and Sven Evander.
Now I was asked by the Evander siblings if I believed in the idea of making a book from their mother's documents. There was also a diary where the vicar's wife Ingegärd had noted everything about the meals, the guests,
and the recipes.
Ingegärd offers glimpses into the life around them. Winston Churchill's funeral, Gustav VI Adolf's death, and the wedding of Diana and Charles. It is exciting and sometimes surprising. Who was it who sat on the piano stool next to Prime Minister Erlander? Who almost
crashed into the king by the kitchen?
So, in the end, it became a diary filled with memories of meals and events over twenty-five years on Harcourt Street. The recipes are slightly adapted to modern times, and the photographs are made with a nod to the era when it all happened.
The advice and tips from the vicar's wife and home economics teacher Ingegärd Evander still hold up well today.
Birgit Nilsson Bergström, food writer and cookbook author
Title: Welcome to the Vicarage on Harcourt Street
ISBN: 9789185089765
Binding type: Hardcover
Language: Swedish