 Kathryn Hughes , writing in The Guardian , observes that Acton has been set up as " the saint to Mrs Beeton 's sinner " , " an <unk> heroine : a stylish Regency spinster , a poet rather than a journalist , a committed cookery writer rather than an opportunistic hack . " She notes that Elizabeth David created this image , supported by Jane Grigson , and Delia Smith : " in short , anyone who wants to be in the kitchen cool gang knows that the name to drop is Acton 's . " She agrees that Mrs Beeton " pinched " Acton 's recipes , along with those of other authors , because they were " rather good " . She notes the " elegant tilt of Acton 's writing " and its " sly humour " , as well as the accuracy of the recipes , very unlike eighteenth @-@ century vagueness , and calls Acton " an admirable pioneer " . 
