What else is left to say about England's favourite cook? How does she do it, eh? Ever since she first captivated British audiences with her no-fuss TV cooking series back in the seventies, Delia has been the darling of every kitchen in the country. Over 14 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Not for nothing is she called the Mrs Beeton of our age.

Yet she appears so ordinary. And that, surely, is the secret of her success. Fame and fortune seem to have troubled her not one bit. Hardly glamorous, nervous under the lights, she stumbles over her words, sometimes even gives the wrong instructions. Yet her very imperfections just endear her even more to Mr & Mrs Cook and TV audiences everywhere.

Sensible, reliable, dependable, she'll happily absorb the latest fashions or fads - as long as they work - yet she has firm opinions of her own on what's right or wrong in food preparation and isn't afraid to lash out at the food producers and retailers if they use techniques or products of which she disapproves. For all her views and talents, you never get the feeling she's talking down to you or patronising. Even the Cooks' student sons and daughters, striving for creativity, have been known to help strip supermarkets bare the day after some vital ingredient was mentioned in her programme.

Let's face it, most of us lack confidence when tackling a new recipe for the first time. We don't need lecturing, we need someone who's on our side, ready to lend a hand. Her books come across as simple transcripts of what she's just said on TV. No frills, no cheeky charm or flamboyant gestures, just really great cooking advice. Good on yer, gal!

Seen the Delia Smith site? Stunning! Well deserves to meet its ambition of being the Number One UK food slot on the web. You'll find a link at the foot of this page.

How to Cook - Book 3

After the phenomenal success of the Second Series, Delia announced she would take a year out from making BBC cooking programmes to improve her football(!). The sudden appearance of How to Cook 3 therefore came as a welcome surprise, just in time for Christmas 2001. Now, of course, we know why. The Third Series began on British TV in January. I hope you didn't miss it.

In part three of "How to Cook" Delia continues her journey through the fundamentals of cooking, revisiting traditional areas that are often overlooked, as well as exploring more contemporary concerns for the modern cook. Recipes range from neglected classics such as Old English Apple Hat to the exciting new flavours of Teriyaki Grilled Marinated Salmon and Sea Bass with Puy Lentil Salsa. Here too, learn the techniques of preserving, how to equip your kitchen and get the most out of food processors, bread machines and ice-cream makers. Click here for the book; payment in £'s only, with the usual excellent Amazon discounts. You won't find it cheaper, even in Tesco.

How to Cook (US edition)

English books always have to be revamped before they can appear in America it seems. Perhaps it has something to do with those funny measuring techniques you use over there. When are you guys going metric?

Click here to buy the Dorling-Kindersley version in $US.

How to Cook - Book 2

The second series was a phenomenal success - and bang up to date, with all those fashionable Thai and oriental ingredients.

Whether it's cheese-on-toast or some exotic dish from the other side of the world, Delia always seems to have a new angle on mixing the goods. I work in a wholefood grocery and whenever Delia opens her mouth, our shelves are stripped of rice noodles, creamed coconut and shoyu sauce, not to mention Bouillon powder, canellini beans, balsamic and cider vinegar. Sorry, you'll have to go elsewhere for the animal products but if you're in the Northampton area, why not call in to Daily Bread for some of the vegetarian ingredients?

Doubt there's a home in the country that doesn't possess this book, but if yours is one, you can order Delia Smith's How to Cook - Book 2 here for payment in £'s only, with the usual excellent Amazon discounts. Buy it on VHS video by clicking here.

Delia's How to Cook - Book 1

This was top of the bestseller charts at Christmas 1998, based on the TV series. Just repeated as a prelude to Book 2, it covers all the basics for anyone, like me, who's culinarily challenged.

Want to know how to boil an egg? Make perfect gravy? Bake potatoes? Prepare great pasta? Cook rice that doesn't always look like pudding?

I thought I knew most of these really basic steps in cooking till I saw this series. How wrong I've been! Basically, if you were shown how to cook by your mum, as I was, forget it. Even simple things like how to poach an egg, boil rice or peel spuds have a right and a wrong way. I tried Delia's recommendation for soft-boiled eggs (boil for one minute then leave to stand for six minutes) and couldn't believe how much creamier and nicer they tasted than any of my old leathery efforts.

This is not just for beginners either. It takes you through all the classic first steps, like how to make a white béchamel sauce, and then adds some wonderful new ideas. How does the thought of watercress and caper mash grab you? Or goats cheese, onion and potato bread with thyme? All the household favourites like old-fashioned sweet rice pudding, and toad-in-the-hole are here, but there are also some fabulous recipes for real (yes real) English custard, as well as thai green rice, tiger prawn jambalaya and other mouth-watering delights from around the world.

No wonder this book was in every Christmas stocking. What a superb gravy train!

You can ORDER this book in the UK now! for payment in £'s (sorry, no US edition available yet!)

The Winter Collection

A real winner for those long, dark winter days when cooking for the family becomes a serious business. It contains splendid advice on how to make the best use of autumn fruits and winter vegetables. The emphasis is on traditional indoor food preparation: baking, roasting, pastry, preserves and so on, but Delia always aims to bring a little sun into the winter kitchen. Old favourites like bread-and-butter pudding mingle with 'stars from the east' like hung shao pork and stir-fry greens. You can order this one here for UK payment in £'s or possibly here if you're in a mood to spend $'s (but see below anyhow).

Winter Collection: Comfort Food

Delia doesn't translate well to American taste, it seems. Some of her ingredients are hard to come by and then there's that problem with the different measuring techniques. Maybe there's too much cholesterol and not enough sugar for American tastes, I don't know. Anyway, judging by the rave reviews on Amazon, this special edition seems to have been launched in an effort to overcome the culture barrier. It contains illustrations by Flo Bayley. Sorry, we don't honestly know how it rates or compares with the orthodox version, though I'd be grateful to anyone who can enlighten us.

This version is ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE US. Find it by clicking here.

Complete Cookery Course

A modern classic if ever there was one. This was the first real cookbook we ever owned. My wife, Jo, is already well qualified in the culinary arts and no mean cook herself. Whether experimenting with something new or just seeking confirmation for some well-tried recipe like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, Delia's book was the one and only bible necessary to achieve new heights of perfection.

That copy (or was it the first replacement?) went off to university with our middle son and never returned. We did catch glimpse of it once, in dreadful state, hiding amongst the piles of greasy pots, pans and plates that served fourteen bright young things on a Telford campus. We were assured by some it was the only book students ever found remotely useful.

We have upgraded to her Illustrated Version (A new edition for the 1990's!). My first step was to laminate the dust-jacket for added protection. It just about made it to the millennium.

My own cooking exploits are notorious but, joking apart, I once single-handedly cooked a roast turkey dinner with six fresh vegetables and all the trimmings, including homemade bread sauce, to near perfection thanks to this book. No self-respecting cook should be without it.

If you're in the UK, you can ORDER Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course now. Or click here if you're in North America (paperback version).
For the illustrated version (same recipes, larger typeface and you get a better idea how they should turn out!) click here for payment in £'s, or here for the same version in $'s.

Delia Smith's Summer Collection

Summer 2002 may still seem a long way off but here's another bundle of gems to remind us what we could be enjoying before long. Never let it be said that Delia is just a stick-in-the-mud afraid to experiment. This one even includes a recipe for real lemonade. There are plenty of exciting new ideas here, though we're not quite so happy with this book as some of her others. Delia has not enjoyed the same level of adulation on the other side of the Atlantic as she has in Great Britain. Perhaps that's why this book contains recipes for American muffins, Californian grilled fish and Debbie Owen's Iced Tea for 4th July parties. Obviously, in a summer collection many of the ingredients are seasonal, but some fruits are exotic and a little difficult to obtain. Many of the recipes are from the Mediterranean or even further east. There was a fashion about the time this book was launched for raspberry coulis and dishes with long exotic names. Some of them now look just a little precious. Still, if the sound of pork saltimbocca turns you on, or if you fancy pile-it-high orange and rhubarb merinque pie for a change, this might be the book for you. You can order it here for payment in £'s.

And, what d'yah know, it was re-released in the States in August 2000 and can be ordered by clicking HERE.

Frugal Food

Delia's appeal is not just to those with large purses. In this book, first published in 1997, you'll find lots of cost-saving ideas for recipes on a budget. Order it here for payment in £'s only.

Book of Cakes

For those of us with a sweet tooth. Jo's copy of this fell apart some years ago, but not before she'd used it to come up with 'Cheat's Lemon Cake', an excellent no cooking version involving trifle sponges, eggs, lemon and butter. Order Delia Smith's Book of Cakes here (UK only).

One is Fun

Why compromise on cooking just because you're on your own? This book shows you how to organise your budgets and ingredients to make cooking for one a true delight.

Order One is Fun here for payment in £'s only, with the usual Amazon discounts.

A Feast for Advent

Advent 2002 is still a long way off as I write this but when it comes, why not try this one for some interesting ideas to brighten up the lean period before Christmas?

Order Delia Smith's Feast for Advent here for payment in £'s. Sorry, it doesn't appear to be available in the US.

Delia Smith's Christmas

We own this one. It's brilliant. From Last minute Christmas mincemeat cake to Roast Seville orange-glazed duck with port wine sauce, you'll find 130 imaginative recipes to suit all palates, including vegetarians. She gives some really good tips on buying the best provender and how to get well organised in advance of big events. This book raced up the charts in the early '90's. A reader from Hitchin even wrote to tell me she has been using the mincemeat cake recipe every year since 1993. Ours was dusted down and opened up for the millennium celebrations and promises to be a winner this year too.

You can order Delia Smith's Christmas in paperback here for payment in £'s. Sorry, there's no US edition available, but there is an alternative UK hardback version called Delia Smith's Complete Christmas.

How to cheat at cooking

This was Delia's first published book. We think it's about to be re-released. You can try to be amongst the first to own it by clicking here. Then you can use our guestbook to tell us what you think. Order How to Cheat at Cooking for payment in £'s only.

Delia Smith - the Biography

Once you become a national monument, what do they do? Why, write a book about you, of course. At first glance, you wouldn't think she'd done enough exciting things to warrant a life story. Left school at sixteen, trained as a hair-dresser. How ordinary can you get? Yet behind that bland exterior lurks a very interesting character. Delia is a committed Christian, she's written books about her faith, she's also on the board of Norwich Football Club. That's got to be worth a book, hasn't it?

Order Delia Smith's Biography by clicking here (UK only).

We'd like to turn this page into a source of authoritative recommendation for any of Delia Smith's books. One day, even our transatlantic cousins may wake up to how good she is.

If you have comments of your own you'd like to include, why not visit our guestbook below?

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