23 FEBRUARY 1962, Page 16

SOUTH WIND SIR,—Elizabeth David's article delightfully evokes Norman Douglas. As

she says, it was not his way to give lectures, but one could pick up much valuable information in his company. The first time I met him —dining in Florence with Pino Orioli in, I think, 1929—I not only learnt the secret of D. H. Lawrence but, more important, how to make a sauce for cold asparagus.

'Jealous?' he asked with a twinkle, as he saw me watching him (I was having mine hot) and handed me a stick to try.

Two or three days later, he showed me how to make. an index, an art of which he was the master. It is good to be reminded of him by his friends.