Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course (A New Edition for the 1990s) - Delia Smith

Delia and me go back a long way. In an effort to domesticate me my parents bought me my very first hard backed Delia when I was 18. As far as I was concerned it was just another cookery book with a strange woman on the front holding an egg.

I never actually opened Delia until I got married five years later when I thought bloody hell; I’d better learn to cook now (and wash, clean and iron, etc). My Delia was a godsend, I learnt so ...
...last year to finally consign Delia to the kitchen bin, as she’d become so soiled over the years. I have wonderful culinary memories through flicking through the well-thumbed pages of that book. There was cake mix on a few, curries on others and many other spilt ingredients (I’m a bit messy), I could even smell some of the spices used embedded into the leaves of the book.

We soon realised that we could not manage without Delia in our ... more

Delia and me go back a long way. In an effort to domesticate me my parents bought me my very first hard backed Delia when I was 18. As far as I was concerned it was just another cookery book with a strange woman on the front holding an egg.

I never actually opened Delia until I got married five years later when I thought bloody hell; I’d better learn to cook now (and wash, clean and iron, etc). My Delia was a godsend, I learnt so much from those pages and it was my constant kitchen companion. It was quite upsetting last year to finally consign Delia to the kitchen bin, as she’d become so soiled over the years. I have wonderful culinary memories through flicking through the well-thumbed pages of that book. There was cake mix on a few, curries on others and many other spilt ingredients (I’m a bit messy), I could even smell some of the spices used embedded into the leaves of the book.

We soon realised that we could not manage without Delia in our lives – my husband had taken over all the household duties and he was now one of Delia’s most ardent fans. So we bought a brand new one, paperback this time, to carry on our worship of our heroine.

It’s a weighty tome with a picture of Saint Delia on the front (minus egg) and contains everything that our old Delia had in it but updated. Lots of useful information and recipes, conversion charts and even a section concerning what equipment Delia thinks is vital in any kitchen (and how to use it). Delia explains everything comprehensively so much so that she has in the past been accused of being condescending, but to be quite honest I’d rather be taught how to cook from scratch to avoid making a culinary disaster (and I’ve had a fair few). As far as I’m concerned Delia’s word is law.

Each chapter has an introduction to the subject matter; sometimes with a bit of a history or geography lesson thrown in. She also includes references to other recipes containing each chapter’s main ingredients at the end of each chapter. The chapters are as follows:

Eggs
Everything you have ever wanted to know about eggs is here. How to tell if they’re fresh, how to store, how to cook them in various ways, it’s all explained. Delia’s scrambled egg technique is the one I always use, its luxurious and extremely fattening but absolutely gorgeous (an occasional treat). I have now converted my husband to it as he once made me scrambled egg using olive oil, yuck, yuck and double yuck.

Bread and Yeast Cookery
Again a comprehensive approach, all the processes involved are explained fully. She even includes recipes on making pizza dough and chapattis. I used to love baking bread with Delia; the smell of it in the oven drove me wild with hunger.

Stocks and Soups
Delia is a great advocate of home-made soups and stocks, she even includes a rant against using stock cubes. I am a great fan of her Leek, Potato and Onion Soup, simple but effective (like me).

Pates and Starters
This section even tells you how to make the perfect croutons as well as all the traditional starters.

Fish
Again Delia explains it all. From buying, preparing and storing to actually cooking your fish. As a recent convert to eating fish I find this section invaluable as to timing, etc, there’s nowt worse than overcooked fish. My husband has become an expert at creating the Italian Baked Fish, which is a family favourite. A sub section deals with shellfish, everything from cleaning to peeling. This is a foreign subject to me as I am not a great fan of this type of seafood, but the recipes look nice.

Meat
Delia splits meat into two sections, roasting and casseroles. Within the roasting section, she tells us how to make perfect Yorkshire Puddings (unfortunately even when I follow her recipe my are cack, thank God for Aunt Bessie) as well as explaining precisely how to roast your meat to perfection. I had never realise how different joints of meat are more suitable to different methods of cooking (bit thick) but Delia (Queen Delia) explains why and how to use your meat to get the best taste possible.

Poultry
Again Delia’s advice on the principle methods of cooking poultry are spot on and I can now cook perfect roast chicken without even having to refer back to her. Her sausage meat stuffing for the Christmas turkey is a tried and tested recipe in our household and I sometimes get the sneaky suspicion that if I gave my family a dish full of cooked stuffing they would be quite happy with just that.

Offal
According to my husband who eats this stuff, Delia is queen of tripe (and liver, kidneys, etc). Yuck, I say yuck. Haven’t read this section, never will.

Vegetables
Quite amazingly vegetables don’t just come in tins or out of the freezer. Delia’s methods of vegetable preparation and cooking are fantastic, but usually simple. She alphabetically lists each vegetable and has inspired me to try many new (to me) products such as asparagus and mange tout. Potatoes have their own sub-section as there are so many recipes concerning them, but even her method of mashing was new to me (but mine are still lumpy –adds character, I say). This is a chapter I often dip into to get new ideas.

Rice and other Grains
Delia provides us with a lesson on all the various types of rice and grains and how best to cook them. I can honestly say I have never had any rice based disasters since using her methods. Good on you Delia!

Vegetarian Cooking
Two of my favourites are contained here, stuffed vine leaves and cucumber and yoghurt salad – Delia goes Greek. Oh, I’m drooling just at the thought.

Pulses
Delia says that if dried beans are properly soaked and carefully cooked, they shouldn’t cause flatulence, but we haven’t noticed a difference. Can’t imagine Delia farting though! There is a Pease pudding recipe in this chapter that I have tried and is very scrummy, unfortunately when I made it I could have fed a family of 16 for a month on it cos I got my quantities a bit wrong.

Pasta and Pancakes
This chapter includes recipes on homemade pasta but advises that it is very hard work, ta Delia, I won’t bother than. You don’t realise how much you don’t know about cooking pasta until you read this. It contains many useful techniques and recipes.

Herbs/Spices and Flavourings
Again a comprehensive, informative couple of chapters, everything you’ve ever needed to know about these ingredients.

Sauces
It’s taken Delia a long time but she’s finally got through to me how to make sauces properly, I now despise packet cheese sauce as mine is far superior. I still can’t do custard though.

Cheese
Delia includes the cheese making processes in this section along with all the different types of cheese available. The recipes are lovely especially the cheesecake ones, mmm.

Salads and Dressings/Barbecues and Picnics
Fantastic recipes included here, including all the salad dressings you could ever wish for. Her All-in-one Banana and Walnut loaf is another family favourite.

Cream, Ice Cream and Yoghurt
Here we get a lesson as to what cream actually is and all the differing types, some nice recipes are included including how to do the homemade stuff. I find supermarkets quite handy for ice cream and yoghurts, can’t be bothered to make it myself.

Pastry
Again it took Delia many years to teach me how to make the perfect pastry; she says you have to be assertive with it (maybe shouting at it wasn’t what she meant). She gives a step-by-step guide on how to make it and I now find after many years of practise that I’ve cracked it. Good old Delia.

Cakes/Scones and Biscuits
In my old book these were the chapters that had icing and cake ingredients sticking the pages together. I find I can’t go wrong following a Delia cake or biscuit recipe, her instructions are so thorough and precise.

Fruits and Puddings
Delia has tried to reduce the sugar content in this section so that we can indulge a little more often. She has a bit of a rant concerning the falling standard of chocolate and who can blame her. Only the best for our Delia.

Preserving
I thought preserving was just about jam, but no its also pickling, she even tells us how to make pickled onions, ooh, might have to try that one day. I have tried her toffee recipes and although it’s a bit of a faff getting to the right temperatures and things it is well worth the effort.

Leftovers
This is the section of the book where Delia has put all the leftover stuff; you know the spare meat from the Sunday roast and whathaveyou, bubble and squeak and bread and butter pudding. Nothing goes to waste, some great recipes there.

You may have gathered I am quite a Delia Smith fan. I think the appeal of this book is that she assumes you know nothing about preparing and cooking food (which I didn’t at first). Her explanations are clear and precise and above all she is personal. Reading the book and following the recipes is like watching her programmes, you feel like she is talking directly to you. She doesn’t have arty-farty fancy recipes, just wholesome good food suitable for all different types of occasions. I don’t need any other cookery books; I’ve got my Delia.

Price £9.99 from all good bookshops. Nothing from your local library.
ISBN 0-563-36249-2

 

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