Margaret Blatch

{{Short description|English chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer (1886–1963)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Margaret Blatch

| honorific_suffix = M.C.A.{{NoteTag|Member of the Cookery Association.{{Cite book |last=Haycraft |first=Frank W. |url=https://archive.org/details/degreeshoodsofwo0000hayc |title=The Degrees and Hoods of the World's Universities and Colleges |date= |publisher=Cheshunt Press |others= |year=1948 |page=[https://archive.org/details/degreeshoodsofwo0000hayc/page/106/mode/1up 106] |via=Internet Archive}}}}

| image = 101 Practical Non-Flesh Recipes.png

| caption = Cover of One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes, 1917.

| other_names = Margaret Kelcher{{NoteTag|Her maiden name was recorded as Kelcher on her marriage record.}}

| birth_name = Margaret Kelleher

| birth_date = 1886

| birth_place = Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England

| death_date = 1963 (aged 75)

| death_place = Islington, London, England

| occupation = {{Hlist|Chef|restaurateur|cookbook writer}}

| known_for = Vegetarian cookery

| spouse = {{Marriage|Joseph Francis G. Blatch|1906|1921|end=d.}}

| children =

| notable_works = {{Plainlist|

One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes (1916)
Household Non-Flesh Cookery (1936)

}}

| awards = Three gold, six silver, and four bronze medals (Food and Cookery Exhibitions)

| years_active = 1900s–1963

}}

Margaret Blatch ({{Nee|Kelleher}}; 1886–1963) was an English vegetarian chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. She and her husband became vegetarian around 1907 and focused on developing new vegetarian recipes, earning several awards for their work in the field of vegetarian cookery. She served as the principal of the Eustace Miles School of Cookery and published cookbooks, including One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes, in 1916, and Household Non-Flesh Cookery, in 1936. Blatch also managed the vegetarian restaurant Shearns in London from 1923 until its closure in 1962.

Biography

= Early and personal life =

Margaret Kelleher was born in the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, in the second quarter of 1886.{{Cite web |title=Births Jun 1886 |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=J2NG1W6AOSKYm%2FAQcsSlEQ&scan=1 |accessdate=2025-03-19 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}} She married Joseph Francis G. Blatch in 1906 at Marylebone;{{Cite web |title=Marriages Dec 1906 |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=9XXb16uaSo%2BeJicvA3DOeQ&scan=1 |accessdate=2025-03-19 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}}{{Cite web |title=Marriages Dec 1906 |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=0AoUNmrwJRo5HTlZYFCuPg&scan=1 |accessdate=2025-03-19 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}} he died in 1921, at the age of 41.{{Cite web |title=Deaths Jun 1921 |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=9RmQk4fip8u7R1aif%2BTrkw&scan=1 |accessdate=2025-03-19 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}}

= Career =

Blatch, along with her husband, became vegetarian around 1907. For the next nine years, they dedicated their time to developing new combinations of vegetarian foods, focusing on nutrition, digestibility, flavour, and presentation. Their work was recognised with multiple awards, including three gold, six silver, and four bronze medals, as well as numerous diplomas for vegetarian cookery at the Food and Cookery Exhibitions held at the Royal Horticultural Hall. Their culinary expertise was judged by some of the world's leading chefs. In addition to their achievements in competitions, they catered to the public at Blatch's Restaurant, located at 50 Cannon Street, London, and other venues.{{Cite book |last=Blatch |first=Margaret |url=https://archive.org/details/b32854377 |title=One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes |date= |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |year=1917 |edition=2nd |location=London; New York |chapter=Preface |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/b32854377/page/2/mode/1up}}

For four years, Blatch worked as the principle of the Eustace Miles School of Cookery and was frequently requested by her pupils to create a recipe book. In 1916, she self-published this as One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes.{{Cite book |last1=Aoyagi |first1=Akiko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7f9iEAAAQBAJ |title=History of Vegetarianism and Veganism Worldwide (1430 BCE to 1969): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook |last2=Shurtleff |first2=William |date=2022-03-07 |publisher=Soyinfo Center |isbn=978-1-948436-73-1 |language=en}}{{Rp|page=819}}{{NoteTag|The term "vegetarian" was well-established by the 1840s, but in the early 20th century, it was often associated with religious or ethical abstinence, and "non-flesh" or "flesh-abstainer" were preferred as less provocative alternatives.{{Cite web |date=2016-03-30 |title=Food Fight Club Round 2: Vegetable Curry v. Ragout of Squirrel |url=https://nyamcenterforhistory.org/2016/03/16/food-fight-club-round-2-vegetable-curry-v-ragout-of-squirrel/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=History of Medicine and Public Health |publisher=New York Academy of Medicine |language=en}}}} This was followed by an expanded 92-page second edition in 1917, published by Longmans, Green & Co.{{Rp|page=823}} A third edition was published in both 1917 and 1918.{{Rp|page=828}}

In the 1920s, Blatch published a pamphlet titled Conservative Cookery as part of the London Vegetarian Society's Humane Diet Leaflets series.{{Cite web |title=Conservative cookery / by Margaret Blatch. |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/t3fpvyqr |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=Wellcome Collection |language=en}} This was followed by Household Non-Flesh Cookery in 1936.{{Cite web |title=IVU Online Library - Bibliography |url=https://ivu.org/history/bibliography.html |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=International Vegetarian Union}}

In 1935, four people died after consuming nut meat brawn, with three cases attributed to botulism, prompting an inquest. Blatch, who had supervised the product's manufacture for 29 years, testified that there had never been a previous complaint. Her evidence supported the jury's verdict that there was no negligence by the manufacturers, as the germ itself was not present in the food at the time of preparation, though a toxin had developed before consumption. Experts affirmed that while botulism was a theoretical risk, British canning methods were considered safe. The coroner acknowledged the rarity of the disease and recommended additional precautions in future production.{{Cite news |date=1935-08-23 |title=Deaths Due to Botulism |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/973074069/?terms=%22Deaths%20Due%20to%20Botulism%22&match=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-03-19 |work=Evening Sentinel |pages=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}

In 1940, Blatch was described in the Daily Mirror as "London's famous vegetarian chef". She was quoted in the article discussing the growing demand for mock meats.{{Cite news |date=1940-03-09 |title=Mock Meats If You Like |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/789914855/?terms=%22Mock%20Meats%20If%20You%20Like%22&match=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-03-19 |work=Daily Mirror |pages=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} She worked as the manager of the London vegetarian restaurant Shearns from 1923 to its closure in 1962. The restaurant served around 500 vegetarian meals per day, with customers including George Bernard Shaw, the Countess of Warwick, and a number of suffragettes.{{Cite news |date=1962-03-02 |title=Hard on vegetarians |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/259695198/?terms=%22Hard%20on%20vegetarians%22&match=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-03-19 |work=The Guardian |pages=10 |via=Newspapers.com}}

= Death =

Blatch died in Islington in the third quarter of 1963, aged 75.{{Cite web |title=Deaths Sep 1963 |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=BrROlZrcTjLgBE6Y6lBW0g&scan=1 |accessdate=2025-03-19 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}}

Legacy

One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes is included in the Southern Adventist University's "Foodies' Guide to Vegetarian Cookery in 19th Century America".{{Cite web |title='One Hundred and One Practical Non-Flesh Recipes' by Margaret Blatch |url=https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/foodiesguide-1910/1/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=Southern Adventist University}}

Vegetarian cookbook writer Rose Elliot learned to cook by reading Household Non-Flesh Cookery.{{Cite news |last=Stelfox |first=Hilarie |date=1994-09-13 |title=Her finger on the Pulse |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/821604755/?terms=%22Her%20finger%20on%20the%20Pulse%22&match=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-03-19 |work=Huddersfield Daily Examiner |pages=11 |via=Newspapers.com}} Elliot's 1972 book Simply Delicious is dedicated to Blatch.{{Cite book |last=Elliot |first=Rose |author-link=Rose Elliot |url=https://archive.org/details/simplydeliciousr0000elli |title=Simply Delicious |date= |publisher=The White Eagle Publishing Trust |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-85487-008-0 |location=Liss |chapter=Dedication |via=Internet Archive}}