My family was northern and complicated – but food was our way of expressing love

‘Tea at Granny’s was a proper high tea and always the same. It began with cold ham with salad …’ Illustration: Pencil on Paper/The Observer

I was born and grew up in Sheffield, the city of steel and, more importantly, the city of Bassetts Liquorice Allsorts and Henderson’s Relish (which is almost exactly like Worcestershire sauce, except if you say so, you will likely be run out of town). Mine was one of those families, relatively common in my childhood but less so nowadays, which encompassed, at moments rather starkly, more than one social class. My grandparents had all left school at 13 (my paternal grandfather was even younger), but their children – my parents – had both gone to university, the first in their families to do such a thing, thanks to the education provided by their grammar schools (or so they would say).