Career Awards Personal life

Mary Berry (food writer)
Plan:

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  1 Early life and career
  
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  2 Career
  
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  3 Awards
  
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  4 Personal life
  

Mary-Rosa Alleyne Berry, CBE (born 24 March 1935) is an English food writer and television presenter. After being encouraged in domestic science classes whilst at school, she went to college to study catering. She then moved to France at the age of 21 to study at Le Cordon Bleuschool, before working in a number of cooking related jobs. She has published more than 70 cookery books (her first being The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook in 1970) and hosted several television series for the BBC and Thames Television. Berry is an occasional contributor toWoman's Hour and Saturday Kitchen. She has been a judge on the BBC Two television programme The Great British Bake Off since its launch in 2010. Early life and career

Mary Berry was born on 24 March 1935, the second of three children, to Alleyne and Marjorie Berry. Alleyne was a surveyor and planner who served as Mayor of Bath in 1952 and was closely involved in establishing the University of Bath at Claverton Down. Her mother Marjorie was a housewife, who, on occasion, helped Berry's father with bookkeeping. Her mother died aged 105. Aged 13, Berry contracted poliomyelitis and had to spend three months in hospital. This resulted in Berry having a twisted spine, a weaker left hand and thinner left arm. Berry has said that the period of forced separation from her family whilst in hospital "toughened [her] up" and taught her to make the most of every opportunity she would have.
Berry attended Bath High School, where she described her academic abilities as "hopeless" until she attended domestic science classes with a teacher called Miss Date, who was particularly encouraging of her cooking abilities. Her first creation in the class was a treacle sponge puddingwhich she took home, and her father told her that it was as good as her mother's.
She then took a catering course at Bath College of Domestic Science.
Career
Berry's first job was at the Bath electricity board showroom, and then conducting home visits in order to show new customers how to use their electric ovens. She would typically demonstrate the ovens by making a Victoria sponge, a technique she would later repeat when in television studios in order to test out an oven she had not used before. Her catchment area for demonstrations was limited to the greater Bath area, which she drove around in a Ford Popular supplied as a company car.
Her ambition was to move out of the family home to London, something which her parents would not allow until she turned 21. At the age of 22, she applied to work at the Dutch Dairy Bureau, while taking City & Guilds courses in the evenings. She then persuaded her manager to pay for her to undertake the professional qualification from the French Le Cordon Bleu school. The temporary move to France came as a culture shock; she could not help but cry all the way through her first meal, consisting ofhorse meat, reminding her of the pony she had left behind at home in Bath.
She left the Dutch Dairy Bureau to become a recipe tester for PR firm Benson's, where she began to write her first book. She has since cooked for a range of food related bodies, including the Egg Council and the Flour Advisory Board. In 1966 she then became food editor of Housewife magazine, and by the time she had children only took five weeks leave on each occasion, as there was no set maternity leave at the time and each time she risked her post being filled by someone else by the time she was scheduled to return. She then became food editor ofIdeal Home magazine from 1970 to 1973.
Her first cookbook, The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook, was published in 1970. She launched her own product range in 1994 with her daughter Annabel. The salad dressings and sauces were originally only sold at Mary's AGA cooking school, but have since been sold internationally around Britain, Germany and Ireland with retailers such as Harrods, Fortnum & Mason andTesco each stocking the product ranges.
Since 2010, she has been one of the judges on BBC Two's The Great British Bake Off alongside baker Paul Hollywood who specialises in bread and Berry says that since working together, she has learnt from him. However, some viewers were outraged during the first series when a decision was made to make the contestants use one of Hollywood's recipes for scones instead of one of Berry's. Her work on the show with Hollywood has led to the The Guardian suggesting that it is the best reality TV judging partnership ever. She has also appeared on a BBC Twoseries called The Great British Food Revival and her new solo show, Mary Berry Cooks, began airing on 3 March 2014.
In December 2012, Berry became the first President of the new Bath Spa University Alumni Association.
In her own kitchen, she uses a KitchenAid mixer which she describes as being the one gadget she could not live without. She has always had an AGA cooker, and used to run cooking courses for AGA users. She describes Raymond Blanc's restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons as one of her favourites as well as the Old Queen's Head, local to where she lives inPenn, High Wycombe.
Awards
She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to culinary arts. In July 2012, she was given an honorary degree for her lifelong achievements in her field by Bath Spa University which incorporates the former Bath College of Domestic Science.
Personal life
Berry married Paul Hunnings in 1966, who after working for Harvey’s of Bristol and latterly selling antique books is now retired. The couple own two dogs, Millie and Coco, and have three children: Thomas, a tree surgeon; Annabel, a mother of three herself who went into business with her mother to market salad dressings; William, who died in a car accident aged 19 whilst a student at Bristol Polytechnic. Berry is a patron of Child Bereavement UK.
In March 2013, Berry was listed as one of the fifty best-dressed over 50s by The Guardian. She came second.
Publications

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