Delia Smith
From Free net encyclopedia
Delia Smith (born 18 June, 1941, in Woking, Surrey) is a British TV chef, known for her interest in food and teaching basic cookery.
She is Britain's best-selling cookery author, with more than 18,000,000 copies sold. She is a prominent Roman Catholic.
In 1969 Delia became cookery writer for The Daily Mirror, with her first piece featuring kipper pâté, beef in beer and cheesecake. In 1972 she started writing for London's Evening Standard. She rose to fame teaching cookery on a television show, Family Fare (1973–75).
Her How to Cook series (1998) reportedly led to a 10% rise in egg sales in Britain and her use of new ingredients, such as dried cranberries, or utensils can cause sell-outs overnight. Because of this fame, her first name has become sufficient to identify her to the public, and doing a Delia is the phrase used when preparing a dish according to one of her recipes.
Although she announced her retirement from the TV cooking scene in early 2003 (she will continue to produce cookery books), she has other business interests, including a majority shareholding of Norwich City Football Club, (also known as the Canaries) with her Welsh-born husband, Michael Wynn Jones.
She has developed something of a cult status amongst football fans in the UK after an enthusiastic (and possibly a little drunk) half-time appeal to Norwich fans to get behind the team, shouting "Where are you? Where are you? Let's be having you!" over the public address system after the Canaries had thrown away a two-goal lead before half-time. Her outburst won the support of Chelsea F.C. manager José Mourinho:
"Sometimes, I would like to do what she did because I always feel that crowds can help the team. The lady did it because she was trying to help her team. I cannot criticise ... I only take a bottle of wine for managers but why not take one for her this time?"
Reports on many British entertainment sites have her fronting a British version of the short-lived Martha Stewart version of The Apprentice series, with the working title of Delia Smith's Apprentice.
Trivia
Delia Smith baked the cake seen on the front cover of the Rolling Stones LP Let It Bleed.
Publications
Cookery books
- How to Cheat at Cooking (1971)
- Recipes from Country Inns and Restaurants (1973)
- The Evening Standard Cookbook (1974)
- Frugal Food (1976)
- Delia Smith's Book of Cakes (1977)
- Delia Smith's Cookery Course (3 volumes: 1978, 1979 & 1980)
- One is Fun (1985)
- Delia Smith's Christmas (1990)
- Delia Smith's Summer Collection (1993)
- Delia Smith's Winter Collection (1995)
- Delia's How to Cook – Book 1 (1998) (based on the television series)
- Delia's How to Cook – Book 2 (1999)
- Delia's How to Cook – Book 3 (2001)
- The Delia Collection (2003) (several themed volumes)
- Delia's Kitchen Garden: A Beginners' Guide to Growing and Cooking Fruit and Vegetables (2004)
Religious works
- A Journey into Prayer (1986)
- A Journey into God (1988)