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Delia's How to Cheat at Cooking

by: Delia Smith

February 15, 2008
After reading the very mixed reviews on this page I was eager to see what all the fuss was about with this book. I am not overly concerned about the whole argument on whether or not it is right or wrong to cheat at cooking - although I might add that I am surprised at the anger from those who sit firmly in the latter camp (if you feel so strongly about it, why on earth would you buy a book entitled 'how to cheat at cooking' in the first place?) Personally, I bought the book on the basis that it might provide me with some after-work ideas for a quick meal. Flicking through the book, I have only really come across a couple of recipes that appealed to me and most of them contained so many specific ingredients that I felt it was not worth the bother. ... Read More:

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Delia's Frugal Food

by: Delia Smith

October 30, 2008
I bought this after reading the other reviews and I have not been disappointed. Her common sense shines through as always and of the recipes tried thus far, my hungry brood of teenagers have loved them. Thank you for re publishing it.

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Delia's Complete Cookery Course - Classic Edition: Vol 1-3 in 1v

by: Delia Smith

March 05, 1992
Everything you could possibly need to know in one handy compact book. Every cook should have a copy of this on their shelf - it is like having a mini delia in your kitchen which you can refer to as and when you need it. Fab!

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Delia Smith's Christmas

by: Delia Smith

September 15, 1994
This is a great book but if you, like me, cannot use alcohol even in cooking (Yes, I KNOW the alcohol burns off, some of us shouldn't even taste it!) then the majority of the hot recipes you simply cannot make.

Delia does state that, for the cakes, orange juice can be used instead of liquour. But, otherwise, almost all the other dishes involving meat (aside from the traditional turkey, of course) are soaked in the stuff!

For that reason I recommend Nigella Lawson's 'Nigella Christmas' a little more. Nigella always tries to provide an alternative to the alcohol, something Delia doesn't do outside of the baking section. (But then we know Delia likes a drink!)

Having said that this is THE Christmas books for nibbles, ... Read More:

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Complete Cookery Course: Classic Edition

by: Delia Smith

March 05, 1992
Everything you could possibly need to know in one handy compact book. Every cook should have a copy of this on their shelf - it is like having a mini delia in your kitchen which you can refer to as and when you need it. Fab!

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Complete Illustrated Cookery Course

by: Delia Smith

October 12, 1989
I have a library of over 100 'cookery'and recipe books. Some are classics and some are useless, but, over the years, I keep returning to just three of them (the other two are Nigel Slater's Real Cooking and Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery). Yes, she can state the obvious. Yes, she can be irritatingly twee: "What you do then is...". But the recipes work, they taste really good, and her advice is always 100% sound. If I could only have one cook book, it would be this.

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Delia's How to Cook Book One

by: Delia Smith

October 12, 1998
I already had several of Delia's books, and I didn't really think I needed another. I received this book as a gift at christmas, and like many of the other reviewers have already said, it really is fantastic.
Her recipes are as always easy and simple to follow, written in such a way that inspires, even the most novice of cooks.

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Frugal Food

by: Delia Smith

November 06, 1997
Bought this recently and a week ago tried one of the recipes- spiced chicken pilau. Just like other Delia recipes that I have tried, this did not disappoint.
Her take on frugal eating and cooking is always timely but alas, her pronouncements on freezing are out of date (see How to Cheat at Cooking for updates on freezing and how technology has made it all possible).

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The Delia Collection, Soup (Delia Collection)

by: Delia Smith

October 02, 2003
I love this book - everything I have made from it has come out as it should have! The ingredients aren't too exotic, and there's a good variety of recipes. There is a good mixture of simple and fancy things to make.
The only difficulty I had was that quite a few of the recipes contained nuts (I live with someone with an allergy) but in a lot of cases the nuts weren't a crucial part of the recipe anyway.
I love this series of books, and this is my favourite so far!

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Delia's Vegetarian Collection

by: Delia Smith

October 17, 2002
Delia has fallen into the meat-eaters' trap of thinking she has to replace meat and fish with dairy products or eggs in the same quantities. If you used this book as your main source of recipes your chloresterol levels would go through the roof. There are whole sections on cheese and egg recipes and most of the others feature a lot of full-fat dairy products as well. You would also need a palatial kitchen to house the myriad of specialised ingredients and equipment required (no wonder that she has her own range of cookware).
I admit that some of the recipes are very delicious, if somewhat time-consuming to make, and the instructions are clearly written. However, as a vegetarian cook for a vegetarian family, I found a lot of it unapproachable.