Dame Mary Berry DBE
Dame Mary Berry DBE is one of Britain’s most well known and respected cookery connoisseurs. As the author of over 80 best-selling cookery books, Mary is a regular contributor to TV and radio food programmes and is often in the public eye. With her personality and knowledge on the subject. Mary is an experienced and highly entertaining dinner speaker as well as event host.
About Mary Berry DBE
Dame Mary Berry DBE is the doyenne of family cookery, specialising in Aga cookery and cakes and desserts. Her television career has spanned more than six decades, and she has written over 80 best-selling cookery books. From an early age Mary knew she wanted to pursue a career in food, and at 18 she trained at the Bath College of Home Economics, followed by Paris Le Cordon Bleu. Mary is a patron of Child Bereavement UK.
Dame Mary Berry DBE became Cookery Editor of Housewife in the 1960’s and later of Ideal Home Magazine. She was also a member of the Council of Food from Britain. 1966 saw Mary publish her first cookery book, The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook. Since then her books have sold over five million copies around the world. In addition to cookery books, Mary has also written her autobiography, Recipe For Life, published September 2013 by Michael Joseph.
Mary shared her culinary secrets with the nation, initially appearing on Judith Chalmers’ Afternoon Plus show in the 1970s, and also having a regular cookery slot on BBC Radio 2’s Debbie Thrower Programme. She then hosted seven cookery series for Thames Television as well as several series for the BBC including Mary Berry at Home and Mary Berry’s Ultimate Cakes. During this time Mary continued to host Aga cookery classes from her home in Buckinghamshire as well as raising her young family.
More recently, Mary was part of the highly successful The Great British Bake Off (BBC2) with viewing figures peaking at 7.8 million, some of the highest on BBC 2 in 2013, for its fourth series.
Mary is well known for other shows including The Great Sport Relief Bake Off, Great British Food Revival (BBC2), Food & Drink, The One Show (BBC1) and often makes guest appearances on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show and the Graham Norton Show (BBC Radio 2), and Woman’s Hour (BBC Radio 4). In January 2013 a two part documentary, The Mary Berry Story (BBC2), followed Mary as she revisited Bath and London, and shared memories from her childhood and early career. Her most recent TV series was ‘Mary Berry Cooks’, on BBC2 in March 2014.
In 2012 Mary was awarded a CBE for services to culinary arts, and in 2014 she received the Freedom of the City of Bath, where city officials said she had “always been an exemplary ambassador” for her home city, and was a deserving recipient of their highest and most prestigious award.
In April 2014 the Mary Berry Bakes app was launched for iPad and iPhone. Her latest book is Mary Berry Cooks, published by BBC Books on 27th February 2014 to accompany her new prime time television series. The book went straight to number 1 in the hardback non-fiction chart and remained there for 11 weeks, and also reached number 1 in the top 50 books across all UK sales by its 3rd week.
