The Importance of a Good Cook

In the Agatha Christie's Poirot episode "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook," Mrs. Todd comes to see the great detective in his office. When Poirot shows no interest in investigating the disappearance of her missing cook, she stands up and insists that a good cook is hard to find, and hugely important to her life and happiness. Her appeal knocks Poirot out of the doldrums, and he agrees to take the case.

Once or twice during our marriage, my wife and I have been forced to live without a microwave oven. While it takes little effort to warm up leftovers in a microwave, it takes far longer to do so in a traditional oven. And if you want to cook it over the stove, that takes even more care and effort. Often, it's easier to just cook up something new, rather than reheat something that's also been prepared.

Needless to say, each time our microwave oven broke, we replaced it fairly quickly. 

A century ago, the refrigerator was a relatively modern invention. More than likely they were expensive, and few people owned one. People like Mrs. Todd might have had a wood or metal icebox, but whether (and how much) they could use it to keep food cool would depend on the cost and availability of ice. Other devices we take for granted, such as electric can openers and toasters, would likely have been just as scarce. This, along with a much more limited supply of food, due to less developed preservation techniques, and longer transportation times for food, meant that people had to devote more thought, effort, and time to food preparation than they do today. Hence, Mrs. Todd's insistence that she needs a good cook.

In E. F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia series, whenever Elizabeth Mapp or Emmeline Lucas wanted to get together with her friends, she called them over for tea, or an afternoon party, or dinner. Either way, there was a menu to plan, and food to buy and prepare. It's not until the sixth and final novel, Trouble For Lucia, published in 1939, that the ladies begin to entertain their friends regularly at a neighborhood tearoom. They do this because it becomes economically feasible, and the setting is conducive to their get-togethers. 

Obviously, there were restaurants where people could go out to eat in the 1920s, when Agatha Christie wrote "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook." In Agatha Christie's Poirot, we see Hercule Poirot and Hastings dine out in restaurants. (In the 1983 TV series Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime, we see Tommy and Tuppence dine out at teashops, small restaurants, expensive restaurants, and hotel restaurants). But there seems to be a societal change in the late 1930s, that E. F. Benson wanted to comment on, about the idea of a proper lady in society feeling like its okay to regularly entertain her friends in a tearoom or restaurant, whereas before the primary setting for such get-togethers was the home. Then again, the Mapp and Lucia novels depict everyday life in Tilling*, whereas "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook" takes place in metropolitan London. Obviously, Mrs. Todd would have more options for entertaining than Elizabeth Mapp and Emmeline Lucas did in a remote fishing village.

So while we don't know how often Mrs. Todd entertained, she would have likely eaten breakfast and dinner with her husband most days. Lunch probably depended on her plans. Then there's her parlormaid Annie, who would have eaten three meals per day. Poirot and Hastings question her, to learn about the missing cook's daily routine.

In addition, Mrs. Todd rents out a bedroom. Assuming she fed her lodger one to two meals each day, we can see the cooking duties of Mrs. Todd's household beginning to take shape. And remember, all this food preparation and cooking requires washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. This would have been a laborious process, in an age without nonstick pans, and the glory of the modern age, the electric dishwasher.

Mrs. Todd obviously didn't want to spend all day planning, preparing, and cooking food. Thus her insistence that a good cook is hard to find, and important to her quality of life. Given how particular Hercule Poirot was about the food he ate, his agreement to investigate the case of her missing cook grows a little more understandable. The only thing that seems a little odd is that, in the early seasons of Agatha Christie's Poirot, Hercule Poirot doesn't seem to employ a cook, or any other household servants. In fact, when we see him eating at home, or entertaining guests, he is doing all the cooking and cleaning up! And no one could accuse Hercule Poirot of leading anything other than a rich and full life--one that makes him fulfilled and happy.

Take that, Mrs. Todd!

Dragon Dave

* In the Mapp and Lucia books, Tilling is a fictionalized version of Rye, located in the British county of Kent, in southern England. E. F. Benson lived there in Lamb House, which he rented from fellow writer Henry James.