Who is Mary Berry and why is she famous?

If you are a fan of cooking and baking reality television programmes, then you won't have missed the hugely successful show, The Great British Bake Off. And if you are a fan of the show, then there’s no doubt that you will know who Mary Berry is. In this article, we look at her achievements through the years and discover how she earned herself the title of the First Lady of baking.

Synopsis

Mary Berry is one of the world’s most famous food writers and television cookery hosts. She has written more than 60 books related to food and baking over the past few decades and has hosted programmes such as Woman’s Hour and Saturday Kitchen. But perhaps her most famous role to date has been as a judge on the hugely successful British reality show ‘The Great British Bake Off’.

Early Life

Mary Berry, whose real name is actually Mary Rosa Alleyne Hunnings and was born on 24^th March 1935 in Somerset, England. She was not considered a particularly good student at school until she started taking domestic training with her teacher, who soon realised that she had a natural talent when it came to cooking.

Mary contracted polio at the age of 13 which left her with a weak left arm. After completing school, she enrolled on a  catering and institutional management course at Bath Domestic Science College.

Beginning of Career

Mary Berry started her professional career working for the Bath Electricity Board showroom, where her role was to teach people how to use the electric ovens. Not long afterwards, she shifted jobs and started working for the Dutch Dairy Bureau where she convinced her boss to let her go and study French cookery at Le Cordon Bleu School in France. Her boss agreed to pay for the scholarship, and upon her return, she took up a job working for a Personal Relations firm called Benson’s, where she first started writing about food.

Recipe Tester to Magazine Editor

From writing about food as a PR officer, Mary joined the Housewife Magazine team as a food tester, and started writing recipes for the things she tried. It was after this that she got her first big breakthrough when she was appointed editor of the ‘Ideal Home’ magazine in 1970, where she stayed for almost three years.

Publishing of Her First Book to Dozens More

It was during this time that Mary started working on her first book, which was published in 1970. The name of the book was The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook, and it was an instant success. Since then, Mary has written more than 70 cookery books, on a variety of different cuisines, baking and food topics. In total, she has sold more than 5 million copies of her combined books worldwide, making her one of the most successful food writers in the world. Some of her most famous titles include The Baking Bible, which was included among the top ten best baking books of all time by The Independent newspaper, Foolproof Cooking, My Kitchen Table, Cakes and Bakes, Mary Berry's Absolute Favourites and Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook. She regularly updates her books to keep them relevant for a new audience with the help of her assistant Lucy Young.

The Great British Bake Off and Rise to Fame

Although Mary had done considerable work in the field of cookery and baking and had many years of experience working at the top of her profession, it was when she took a role as a judge on the popular British programme 'The Great British Bake Off' in 2010 that Mary really became a household name. The show was an overnight success, proving to be one of the most popular shows on television in recent years, and is credited with reviving the baking trend in Britain. It is shown in many countries around the world and has seen several spin offs and localised versions in places such as  the United States and Australia.

Own television adventures

Mary Berry left the programme in 2016 when it moved from the BBC, but she almost immediately started work on a new show called Mary Berry Everyday, based on the name of her famous book, in which she shares different food tips, traditional recipes and family dishes with the audience and the show is still running successfully. During her time as a judge on The Great British Bake Off, she also presented a show called Mary Berry Cooks, a six-part series which focused on recipes that were easy to make for the family. Some of the other shows she was a part of include The Great Sport Relief Bake Off, The Great British Baking Show and The Great Holiday Baking Show.

Mary Berry: In Mary We Trust

A few years ago Mary introduced her official app called ‘Mary Berry: In Mary We Trust’ which has more than one hundred step-by-step recipes and which covers events and celebrations including Christmas, Easter, and weddings. There are tips for shopping and the option of creating lists and reminders. It also includes favourite recipes such as orange and honey roast chicken, beef wellington, vegetable strudel, as well as her trademark cakes and puddings.

Awards and Recognition

In 2012, owing to her services to the field of culinary arts she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and in the same year, she was also awarded an honorary degree by her hometown University of Bath in recognition of her lifelong services to the culinary arts. Two years later, Mary was given the Freedom of the City of Bath, the city’s highest award, and the Freedom of the City of London later that year. Her last year as a judge on The Great British Bake Off also resulted in her winning the award for the best judge in a reality television show at the National Television Awards.

Mary Berry has become a household name in Britain and around the world, and for good reason. Known for her outstanding contribution to the nation’s understanding and love of food, she is an icon who has earned her place in the baking hall of fame.