My Fair Lady: 5 British Recipes to Celebrate Eliza Doolittle

May 20, 2011

Teapot and teacups

'Ello dear reader!

Happy Friday! While you may or may not know it, May 20th is Eliza Doolittle Day - the main character in My Fair Lady, the movie-musical which brought you "The Rain in Spain". The holiday, a fabrication of the movie script, is little known and even less celebrated. This pseudo-holiday champions one of Audrey Hepburn's most famous roles and the lovable, rags-to-riches Eliza Doolittle in the classic retelling of Pygmalion, so celebrate this 'istoric day with a few British-inspired recipes.

From My Fair Lady:

"One day I'll be famous, I'll be proper and prim, Gone to St. James so often I will call it St. Jim. One evening the King will say, "Oh, Liza, old thing,* I want all of England your praises to sing.
Next week on the twentieth of May, da-da-da-da-da-da-DA, I proclaim Eliza Doolittle Day!"

My Fair Lady (1964) - "Just You Wait!"


Beef Wellington Named for the Duke of Wellington, the recipe dates back to the mid 19th century and is sort of a modified pie: pate is spread across puff pastry, wrapped around a beef fillet.
Bangers and Mash This recipe uses chicken sausage as a low-fat alternative to traditional sausage, which when panfried could sometimes cook too quickly and explode with a "Bang!"
Cornish Pasties A thick puff pastry crust filled with chunks of beef, carrots, potatoes and other root veggies for a hearty meal, hot or cold. English Trifle A dessert featuring layers of whipped cream and lady finger cookies/biscuits/cake soaked in liqueur- similar in style to Tiramisu.
Bread Pudding The perfect use for leftover bread, this recipe is a cross between a pudding and a pull-apart bread, but completely tasty!
Yorkshire Pudding A traditional accompaniment to Roast Beef

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