Delve into Delia Smith, journey round Jamie Oliver, research Ramsay and you'll learn much about the way we live now - our fears, our snobberies, our hopes. We are in a foodie culture. And the person who started it all of was Isabella Beeton. The Victorian mistress of the house could face so many crises. Isabella told her readers what they had to do to produce the perfect dinner party, how to cope with teething, deal with constipation, keep the staff in check, bring up the children, deal with the domestics, check that the housekeeper was not nicking the housekeeping budget - and much else beside. Mrs Conscientious 1861 didn't need to buy another book to turn herself into the model housewife who would please her husband. She drew the line, however, at giving advice on what to do in bed.