Felicity Cloake

• Name — Felicity Cloake • Birthplace — Hertfordshire • Occupation — Food writer • Language — English • Education — St Peter's College, Oxford • Notable Works — How to cook the perfect... (column in The Guardian) • Website — felicitycloake.com

Cloake grew up in Hertfordshire; her father was a John Lewis executive and her mother taught French. She has Irish heritage on her maternal side. Cloake attended Rugby School before studying English at St Peter's College, Oxford. She began her writing career in the Oxford Student.

Cloake is best known for her weekly How to cook the perfect... column in The Guardian, starting online in 2009 and then in print, where she attempts to create the best possible version of a popular dish. She sparked a minor controversy in 2022 when she recommended garnishing bacon butties with marmalade rather than the traditional condiments of brown sauce or ketchup. She has published a series of cookbooks based on her Guardian column, including Perfect, Perfect Too, Perfect Host, and Completely Perfect. In 2019 she published her first travelogue, One More Croissant for the Road, describing her 3,500 km bicycle journey around France in search of the perfect croissant. In 2022 she published a sort of sequel, Red Sauce, Brown Sauce, in which she cycles around Great Britain sampling breakfast foods. She has also appeared on television as guest host on Great British Menu in 2015. In October 2020, Cloake hosted an online livestream event in conversation with food writer Grace Dent for The Guardian.