I  have mentioned my mother often in food writing, but this is the first time since she died that I do so. It is no longer about what she does in a kitchen, but what she did. I have found it extraordinary how, in the last few days, her influence has become stronger. In my case, I guess that this is because daughterly defiance or even rebellion against the parent is extinguished when they die, and you are left only with what was impressed upon you.Her legacy in relation to food is manifold. It’s not simply as in how she made a sponge, or whether she put flour in gravy (she didn’t) – it is a philosophy. To sum up, our mother cared about food more than many. In the Seventies, when all the other mums went to Safeways supermarket in the local town to do the weekly shop,