After obtaining a diploma in education, she went to live in London where she worked as a designer in print and publishing, combining this with part-time teaching.
Study trips to Italy in pursuit of lettering and inscriptions fuelled a passion for the history of Italian gastronomy which gradually took over her life.
Her illustrated translation of Giacomo Castelvetro's The Fruit, Herbs & Vegetables of Italy was published by Viking Penguin in 1989, and in paperback, text only, by Prospect Books in 2012.
Then followed three titles in the Painters & Food series for Pomegranate Books: Renaissance Recipes, Impressionist Picnics, and The Dutch Table.
She later worked on a biography of Ulisse Aldrovandi, the sixteenth century naturalist.