Food in books: macaroni cheese from Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

After discovering the witty and wonderful Barbara Pym, Kate Young sets out to make a tastier take on the disappointing dish eaten by Mildred Lathbury

By Kate Young for The Little Library Café, part of the Guardian Books Network

Mrs Jubb, who might have been a good cook with any encouragement, must have lost heart long ago. Tonight she set before us a pale macaroni cheese, and a dish of boiled potatoes, and I noticed a blancmange or ‘shape’, also of an indeterminate colour, in a glass dish on the sideboard. Not enough salt, or perhaps no salt, I thought, as I ate the macaroni. And not really enough cheese.

Excellent Women, Barbara Pym

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