Few television chefs could produce a curriculum vitae quite as colourful as Jennifer Paterson who died on 10 August, 1999, aged 71.

The chain-smoking, hard-drinking and slightly eccentric Ms Paterson came to television late in life - but when she hooked up with Clarissa Dickson-Wright to form the Two Fat Ladies cooking partnership they were an instant hit.

In the show, the pair would travel around the countryside on Ms Paterson’s Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle and sidecar, whipping up culinary delights and taking great pleasure in good-humoured mocking of vegetarians and teetotallers.

The path that Ms Paterson, who claimed she had never taken a cookery lesson, travelled on the way to stardom was unconventional.

Jennifer Mary Paterson was born on 3 April, 1928, in Kensington, London . Her father was an officer in the Seaforth Highlanders and she spent the first four years of her life in China before the family returned to live in Rye, East Sussex .

She was educated at the Convent School of the Assumption in Reigate but she was something of a show-off and her behaviour eventually led to her being expelled at the age of 15.

Her first job was as a stage manager at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, but by 1946 she had moved to Berlin where her father had been posted. Her father managed to requisition a piano and in post-war Berlin, she learned how to enjoy herself.

The next job she took was looking after children in Portugal and it was here that Ms Paterson was able to indulge her love of cooking. She developed a passion for Mediterranean cuisine that she retained for the rest of her life.

She next moved to Sicily where she fell in with the party set of Truman Capote. A strong swimmer, she was nicknamed the “Mermaid” and proved an invaluable party guest because of her memory for song lyrics and lack of inhibition in performing them.

After a spell in Libya looking after the children of an aunt and uncle, she returned to London. She found employment at magazines and had a stint working behind the scenes on the television show, Candid Camera .

A fixture on the capital’s party scene she worked as the matron of a girl’s boarding school in Reigate and as a cook-housekeeper for the Ugandan Legation in London before landing a job as the cook on the Spectator magazine in 1977.

She met Clarissa Dickson-Wright in 1991 but it was not until 1996, at the suggestion of television producer Patricia Llewellyn, that the Two Fat Ladies hit the small screen. The show was an instant success.

The chemistry between the ladies was perfect and their political incorrectness a breath of fresh air. The show ran for four and a half years until Ms Paterson ’s death from lung cancer and earned them fame as far away as America and Australia .

Ms Paterson, who never married, remained a committed Roman Catholic throughout her life and, during filming, would often travel many miles to attend mass.

It is fair to say that Jennifer Paterson was unique – loud, eccentric and opinionated – a natural for television. Her wide circle of friends spoke of her loyalty and generosity.

After her death, Clarissa Dickson-Wright said: “Jennifer was a good friend, a great trooper, and a constant source of surprise. I shall miss the fun of working with her more than I can say.”