Background
Eliza was born in Battle in 1799, daughter of a brewer. Her family soon moved to Ipswich where she grew up and where with a friend she opened a school for girls. This enterprise was short-lived and due to her delicate health Eliza spent some time in France where, it is thought, she had an unhappy love affair and began writing poetry.
Career
A volume of her poems was published by subscription in 1826. It contains 52 poems, all romantic in tone. They deal with aspects of love, particularly unrequited love and disillusionment. Several mention flowers and moonlight; there is one about Venice and another on Paris.
Eliza's cookery book was significant in being the first cookery book in which detailed instructions are given, ingredients listed and possible problems discussed. The personal experience of the author in using the recipes is immediately clear. Eliza was also one of the first cookery writers to aim her recipes specifically at small households. The range of her recipes is wide, and in the later editions she included a chapter on Jewish cookery and foreign recipes, especially Indian ones. The popularity of Eliza's cookery book was somewhat eclipsed when in 1861 Mrs Isabella Beeton produced her famous Book of Household Management, which sold millions of copies. In fact Mrs Beeton borrowed 150 recipes from Eliza. Among modern cooks, Delia Smith openly acknowledges her debt to Eliza in her rediscovery of traditional recipes; 'Eliza's English Salad Sauce' appears in Delia's Complete Cookery Course.