A precocious child of the 1970s feels stifled by her dull life in a small English seaside town. The only glamour in her world is Fanny Cradock's weekly TV cookery programme with its exotic concoctions of Tournedos Rossini, Crepe Suzette or Provencale octopus stew with mauve duchesse potatoes, which speak to our heroine of escape, foreign climes and sophistication. When she finally makes it abroad, however, the earthy, picaresque realities of Spain cause her to question who she really is. As her sense of self begins to curdle, she is forced to deal with unpleasant truths about her past.