Mary Berry Quotes

Mary Berry

Profession : Chef

Birth : March 24, 1935

When I was paralysed by polio at 13, I went into an isolation hospital and couldn't sit up, so I only took liquid food from spouted cups which the masked nurses would bring in and feed to me. I saw my parents only through glass; we couldn't touch.

Mary Berry

At 17, I went away to Pau in the south of France for a few months to study domestic science - including cleaning windows with newspaper and water - while living with a Catholic family with 10 children.

Mary Berry

I don't go to fancy Michelin-starred restaurants often.

Mary Berry

I love Michel Roux, Jr., and James Martin - the chefs who are experts in their own right, like Rick Stein on fish. But I don't watch them very much because I don't think it's fair for my husband to be in a total food environment all the time! So we watch programmes about gardening more.

Mary Berry

I don't want food all over the place, down the sides of the sofa... When I shared a flat before I got married, we would always eat around the telly, but not now!

Mary Berry

I was born in 1935, so I was quite young when the war started. I remember we were in Bath, and it was 1942. We went down into the cellar of our house, and when we came up, I remember seeing all the glass on the floor where all the windows had been shaken out by the bombs.

Mary Berry

As I was growing up, all meals, including breakfast, were family occasions, and you all sat down to eat together - and you had to finish everything as well.

Mary Berry

Having children is the greatest thing that can happen to you as a husband and wife. They are infuriating at times when they're little, but on the whole, they're such a joy. I don't think I was the most brilliant mother when they were young. I had quite a bit of help because I was working and I enjoyed my work.

Mary Berry

I was brought up to believe that it's family first. Of all the people my parents knew, the family was most important. You always turn to your family, and the family supports you. We do what we can to support our young and go and see the grandchildren if they're doing plays at school and their sports events.

Mary Berry

I hope that I dress for my age. Because there's no need to be dowdy, is there? But I don't go with all the colours that everybody is wearing. I'm not very fond of lime green or orange, so I don't do that. I read all the fashion magazines, but most things are totally unsuitable for somebody of 79.

Mary Berry

I'm just very grateful that the media has been so kind to me, because there's nothing unusual about me. I'm just a mum and a granny who is teaching cookery on TV. Basically, I'm very ordinary.

Mary Berry

I'm really boring. I think about cooking all the time. I have a little book, so when I go out or see something, I jot it down and try to include it in a recipe or do a variation of it. I even have a notepad by my bed, which is usually saying we're running out of mango chutney.

Mary Berry

Some of my fondest memories are holidays by the seaside.

Mary Berry

It helps to have a happy home life to keep up alongside your career.

Mary Berry

When you're on the way up, you have to take all the jobs because bills have to be paid.

Mary Berry

My husband is not in the slightest bit domesticated, but as the years go, by he's getting better. He can make an excellent omelette.

Mary Berry

It's so comforting to have a small piece of cake. Just one slice.

Mary Berry

The biscuit tin shouldn't be handy - move it about a bit. Try to keep it out of the way.

Mary Berry

When I thought I couldn't write recipes, my boss at the time advised, 'Write as you talk.'

Mary Berry

I eat carefully because people don't want to see a large person judging cakes. They'll think to themselves, 'That's what happens when you eat cake.'

Mary Berry