Minerva Scientifica Birthday Celebration: Doris Grant
23rd January 2026
Doris Grant
Nutritionist
BORN 23rd January 1905, Alvah, Banff, Scotland
Let’s celebrate this forgotten scientist with a bit of baking!
Our researcher, Catherine Booth, tried out the recipe for the Grant Loaf first made almost by accident by Doris Grant during WW2.
Herbie Clarke was our STAR BAKER as we tested Catherine’s adaptations to the recipe during lockdown – and very tasty and easy it all was…! Download the recipe here
The music was especially written for the occasion of Grant’s Birthday
“No Need To Knead” by FRANCES M LYNCH
for String quartet, speaker and 2 female singers, written & recorded on January 21st – 22nd 2021.
The music is essentially a recipe for the famous “GRANT LOAF” which needed no kneading! (You can find out more on her page link ) The voices are all performed by the composer and currently the strings are simulated until a live recording is possible.
Grant was ahead of her time, advocating for organic whole foods and against chemicals (she called them “chemical dragons”) and some of the nasty things then added to flour like chalk and agene (nitrogen trichloride, used for bleaching white flour). She was an early voice shouting about the evils of white sugar and white bread – or “murdered bread” as she called it. She was a firm believer in the Hay diet and generally encouraged a healthy approach to eating, starting during WW2 and continuing into her 90’s.
