The Lady Cook
One of these cooks a woman was,
direct and forthright, and because
her eyes of brown and auburn hair,
lips of red and complexion fair
and steely nerve and smile so tight
and giving orders left and right
made all who worked there live in fright.
No-nonsense style, and assertive too,
while delegating work to do,
should any cook show tardiness
and fail to prove his real finesse,
she would at once her work forsake
and scold him for his laziness.
Yes, brash and bossy she was at times,
wanting to install some discipline
in all her comrades in the kitchen,
and to give to them some sense of pride
in their work and occupation.
Her cooking was plain, no elaboration,
no garlic for her or similar spices,
salt, pepper and mustard were her devices.
direct and forthright, and because
her eyes of brown and auburn hair,
lips of red and complexion fair
and steely nerve and smile so tight
and giving orders left and right
made all who worked there live in fright.
No-nonsense style, and assertive too,
while delegating work to do,
should any cook show tardiness
and fail to prove his real finesse,
she would at once her work forsake
and scold him for his laziness.
Yes, brash and bossy she was at times,
wanting to install some discipline
in all her comrades in the kitchen,
and to give to them some sense of pride
in their work and occupation.
Her cooking was plain, no elaboration,
no garlic for her or similar spices,
salt, pepper and mustard were her devices.
-- From The Adventures of George
Thatcher Cutting up Britain -- Roger Law
Margaret Thatcher was the UK’s prime minister from 1979 to 1990, the longest-serving of the 20th century. In January 1976 she was dubbed the “Zheleznaya Dama” (Iron Lady) by Captain Yuri Gavrilov in the Soviet newspaper “Krasnaya Zvezda” (Red Star) in response to a speech she gave soon warning of Soviet ambitionsafter she became Conservative Party leader and 3 years before becoming prime minister. Gavrilov claimed the jibe was an allusion to the19th-century “iron chancellor” Otto von Bismarck, but (at least in English) the reference is to a device believed to have been invented in Nürnberg in the 14th century: The “Eiserne Jungfrau” was an iron cabinet with a hinged front and a spike-covered interior in which humans were placed to be tortured and executed. However, modern historians doubt their authenticity. Thatcher became the leader of the Conservative Party in February 1975; in December Steve Harris formed the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, though he claimed the name was inspired by “The Man in the Iron Mask,” a film adaptation of the last section of Alexandre Dumas’ French novel ”Le Vicomte de Bragelonne ou Dix ans plus tard,” his sequel to “Les Trois Mousquetaires” (The Three Musketeers).
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