From queens to divas, skilled cooks, bakers and cherished family members, women have been celebrated and memorialised in dishes for centuries. For those who love food, having a dish named in your honour must feel like a special kind of accolade or, at the very least, a bit of fun! Many of us might never have heard of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova had it not been for the eponymous billowy meringue. While it’s not as romantic, mapo tofu is said to be so named for the age and pockmark scars of Mrs Chen who invented the dish which, in my opinion, is one of the best dishes of all time.

I have been inspired by some of these wonderful, evocative dishes to create my own versions of them, remembering and honouring a few of these remarkable women.