Margaret Thatcher at the table

The English table of the 20th century was organized not by starter-main-dessert, but by moments that marked the day: breakfast in the morning (eggs, toast, tea), a light lunch, afternoon tea with biscuits and tea, the grand family Sunday roast at midday, then supper in the evening and, for some, a final nightcap before bed. In the Roberts household, a Methodist and frugal family from Grantham, these moments were sober, punctual and without waste.

The daughter of a Methodist grocer, Margaret Thatcher made frugality a moral principle. At her table as in her budgets, the rule was the same: simple products, proper portions, no waste. Strongly brewed tea, bright yellow English mustard (Colman's) and Grantham gingerbreads are the recurring flavors of this frugal and upright universe.