Egon Ronay

...an ( illegal? ) immigrant and his contribution to the food scene in Britain.

Budapest fell to the Soviet army in 1945 after the siege I wrote about in my last post. The family lost their hotel and catering businesses and Egon fled to London, reportedly, with forged papers He writes that he was ‘a penniless emigré ’ but he clearly had contacts. He found employment as a restaurant manager before scraping the capital to open his own, the Marquee, opposite the side entrance to Harrods, in 1952.

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He poached the French chef from his previous employer and, after The Daily Telegraph described it as ‘London’s most food-perfect small restaurant,’ the fashionable set flocked to their doors. In his book he describes these early days and gives various recipes - the chicken soup Le Lait de Poule de Jeanette, Country Pâté, Trout Marquee. Sadly, it’s not possible the read the price of the trout dish on the tattered menu pictured above but it was possible to enjoy the three course Table d’Hôte menu for 10/6 ( 52p) accompanied by ‘The best of wines - at intelligent prices.’

Egon himself loved to dine at the Gay Hussar where Victor Sassie presided:

His place was a nostalgic culinary centre for exiled Hungarians, and a refuge - so cheap were his prices …… His sensuous feel for food was palpable. You were lost the moment he started to explain the high concentration of celery soup: the richness of his green beans as an accompaniment for which it would be worth having the main course it came with; the wisdom of ignoring the calories in the particular case of plum dumplings. You were putty in his hands and never regretted it.

It was an institution in Soho for many years, beloved by many and the haunt of left wing politicians until it closed in 2018. It now houses Noble Rot and I wonder if the portraits of politicians still adorn the walls ?

Paid subscribers can read Victor’s recipe for celery soup below ….

It was Fanny Craddock who persuaded him to venture into journalism and for 6 years he wrote a food column for the Daily Telegraph. In 1957 he published the first edition of the Egon Ronay’s Guide to British Eateries and managed these until he sold the rights to the AA in 1985. There was clearly more money to be made in business than in hospitality and he did indeed become prosperous. At one stage he had a staff of 50 and a turnover of millions. He allowed no advertising from hotels or restaurants and inspectors had to work to strict guidelines to ensure anonymity and integrity but the guides had generous sponsors which ensured profitability.

Dennis Barker wrote in The Guardian:

He downplayed the guides' influence in making consumers more adventurous, acknowledging Elizabeth David's success in raising awareness of French and Italian cooking. In his view, the greatest single change had come through the emergence of a new class in the 1960s – "pop stars, advertising people, photographers and so on" – who found ways of making money without the benefit of a public school education. Their great love of eating out meant that food began to be a topic of conversation in its own right, an interest that was increasingly reflected in newspapers and magazines.

His inspectors included Ken Lo and the very young Simon Hopkinson. Aged just 24, Simon was the youngest chef to be awarded the Egon Ronay Guide star for his restaurant at Dinas in Wales. Simon Hopkinson wrote:

He was a great gourmet. His knowledge of food was encyclopaedic and he had a continuing love for restaurants. He also had great style and generosity. He employed me as an inspector and twice when I was caught speeding he paid for my barrister and my fines.

Egon writes warmly of Simon’s kitchen practice and menu at Bibendum and includes his recipe as one of his ‘unforgettable’ dishes.

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The recipe for Piedmont Peppers has a history. Delia Smith writes:

It was first discovered by Elizabeth David and published in her splendid book Italian Food. Then the Italian Chef Franco Taruschio at the Walnut Tree Inn near Abergavenny cooked it there. Simon Hopkinson, who ate it at The Walnut Tree, put it on his menu at his great London restaurant Bibendum, where I ate it -

Egon writes in praise of this dish and the eclectic menu at Bibendum, saying that when you indulge in:

these richly flavoured, softly textured, picturesque. pimentos Piedmontese ( which he rightly describes as Anglo-Italian ), what do you care about abstract purity?

Pimentos Piedmontese

Serves 4

2 large red peppers

2 large ripe tomatoes (they must be ripe)

2 cloves garlic

Pepper and salt

Virgin olive oil (a good quality oil is essential for flavour)

8 anchovy fillets

Split the peppers in two lengthwise. Discard the membrane and seeds. Skin the tomatoes and cut in half. Slice the garlic into thin slivers.

Divide the garlic between the two pepper halves. Cover with the four halved tomatoes, rounded side uppermost. Liberally grind pepper all over and sprinkle with a little salt.

Put the peppers into an ovenproof dish and generously pour over the virgin olive oil.

Preheat the oven to190C ( 375F) or gas mark 5 and roast for about an hour or until the edges of the peppers are slightly scorched.

Leave until lukewarm and arrange the anchovies in a criss-cross fashion over each pepper before serving.

Ed : Anchovies are clearly optional, although I love them dearly … and the dish just needs lots of good bread to soak up the copious juices.

This is the soup recipe from the Gay Hussar that, apparently, Victor Sassie was so keen to promote to his customers ….

Celery Soup

Serves 6

1 small bunch white celery, about 1 lb ( 450g )

1 small celeriac about 10 oz ( 300g )

1 small onion

2oz ( 50g ) butter

1 heaped teaspoon celery seed

1/2 pint ( 300ml ) milk

2 pints ( 1.1 l ) chicken or veal stock

1 heaped teaspoon celery salt

2oz ( 50g ) lard

2oz (50g ) flour

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

For this soup, three saucepans will be in use more or less at the same time, but from start to finish the soup ought not to boil for more than 25 minutes.

Discard one or two of the outside, rough celery sticks and the leaves, to leave about 12oz ( 350g ). Cut into 1/2 inch segments. Peel and trim the celeriac to leave about 8oz ( 225g ). Cut into 1/4inch slices, then into strips. Peel and slice the onion into thin, quartered rings.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion, celery and celery seed. Stir and cook for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, boil the celeriac in in a small saucepan in 1/2 pint (300ml) of the stock. Add the milk and 1 pint ( 600ml ) to the braising onion and celery. Bring to the boil, add the celery salt and boil for 20 minutes.

Heat the lard in a small saucepan, add the flour and cook over a low heat, while stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, for 8 - 10 minutes until light brown. Add the remaining stock gradually and beat briskly with a whisk until smooth. ( This is not a thickener, but stabilises the soup and gives it the taste and smell of freshly baked bread. )

By now the celeriac will be tender. Liquidise and pour it into the soups and stir. Add the stabiliser ( the lard and flour mix ) to the soup, season with pepper, stir well and boil for a further 5 minutes before serving.