“One summer I was made housekeeper to my own family, making menus and shopping lists. It was my mother's idea of teaching me to be a grown-up. The main thing I remember is my father being so delighted to get roast duck.”

Dame Prudence Margaret Leith is a South African and British restaurateur, broadcaster, cookery writer, businesswoman, television personality, novelist, chef, and former university chancellor. She is best known as Prue Leith. Her work spans food, media, and writing. She has built a public career around cooking and cookery publishing, while also appearing on television and working in business. As a novelist and broadcaster, she is known for communicating clearly and practically, with a reputation shaped by her long presence in British public life.