Entertainment For Lively Minds
Delia or no Delia
How great is Delia Smith? 1982 I was delivered a book which changed my life:"Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course" living in a squat and being a student twat who couldn't warm up soup without a disaster occurring, Delia guided me through my formative years. Now I've seen "Delia through the decades" (parts 1 +2) I love her even more: Left school with fuck all qualifications! Couldn't find a job! Made cake for Rolling Stone's cover! Blagged her way into Daily Mirror! Blagged her way into BBC! Ousted Fanny Craddock! Looked fantastic in mini skirt! Cooked duck with black cherry sauce! Got pissed and berated Norwich supporters! This is a woman unsurpassed in modern times, and I bet she could kick the shit out of "foul mouthed" Gordon Ramsey, Jamie (boo hoo) Oliver, and that other bloke who tried to look like Sid Vicious but I can't remember his name. I'm off now to sacrifice a goat to Delia and then shove slivers of garlic up its arse.
PS What's your favourite Delia recipe? Mine has got to be Eggs, leeks and cheese from the above tome
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Same book
Chicken paprika. Magnificent.
Agreed...
bloody good.
Also
Her roast turkey system runs Christmas Day chez nous with a rod of iron.
Well what would I know?
Delia - she rocks because her recipes actually do what they say they're going to do.
Nigel - "I used to love him.......... but I had to kill him"........ He was fabulous in 1995 with his "Real Fast Food" books, but then The Observer found him, turned him into the latest Islington Yummy Mummy "I don't actually cook, but I'd quite like my Latvian nanny to sort some of this stuff out"'s favourite. And then he started believing his own hype.
Jamie - well ,apart from the lolling tongue, he actually knows what a family with 4 kids wants to eat.
Nigella - scoff ,my darling - and look fabulous while you're doing it. She cooks from the heart, and with taste and gusto and not a "nutrition list". Anyone that scoffs from the fridge in the middle of the night looking that beautiful deserves to be listened to.
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Don't know about Delia
but Nigel Slater is the best cookery writer of the lot.
His prose makes you want to cook and eat and his flexible informal approach helps you learn how to improvise rather than slavishly follow recipes.
His autobiographical book 'Toast' manages to be both laugh out loud funny and heart-breakingly sad.
Hmmm
Slater is brilliant, but I think Jeffrey Steingarten is the daddy. He's untouchable.
If Steingarten is the daddy,
M.F.K. Fisher is the absolute Momma. But they write "about" food more than recipes. And for writing about food, let's not leave off Calvin Trillin or the Gruaniad's own Matthew Fort.
Spaghetti Carbonara
....from the same book. Spaghetti with bacon and eggs...doesn't sound right....but it works.
I started with Delia's "One Is Fun" when I moved into a flat in the early '80's....then graduated to the big book.
I ate spaghetti carbonara...
in a restaurant in Tuoro by Lake Trasimeno in Italy two years ago. It was the most delicious meal I've ever had. I even went into the kitchen to tell the cook. She was very pleased.
Meatballs...
Lots of preperation, but worth the effort. Stomach like.
I can't stand Delia's
patronising approach on her programmes, and the fact that if you don't follow her recipes to the letter they never seem to go quite right.
Nigel Slater and Nigella Lawson both take a far more relaxed approach (as noted above) and have some great recipes. I know Nigella's TV style doesn't suit everyone, but "How To Cook" is a fantastic book.
However, here's the kiddy on the cooking front
Horses for courses
It just shows that we're all different doesn't it? I have no problem with Delia's approach but when the FPO was watching a Nigella Lawson show at the weekend I commented how irritating she is and that surely people wacth the show despite her personality just to see the recipes and there was general agreement. For a bit of light relief, the phrase "That's why you're so fat" tends to get shouted at the screen every 5 minutes when she's on.
Toad in the Hole
with Roasted-Onion Gravy.
Also her Butterscotch and Banana Trifle has replaced Christmas pud round ours these last five years.
Her All-in-one White Sauce
Is genius. It just works, and you don't have to sod about stirring the milk in slowly.
Big Cook
Little Cook
Life-changer
So around the time I left for college, there was a book called "Superwoman" by Shirley Conran "For Everyone Who Hates Housework", but the book that got me through was "Superpig" by Willie Rushton, the male slobs guide to survival. Taught me all I ever needed to know about ironing and cooking (e.g. start off with lamb and beef because you're less likely to kill anyone). It set quite a few priorities for me about housekeeping that lasted till I got married - and I met the FPO while I was overseas in a rented apartment, so she didn't get the full appreciation till she moved back with me......D'oh.
Rainbow spaghetti
Remains with me to this day as an amazing concept.
I love Delia
and refer to her Complete Cookery book rather a lot.
Fave recipes are probably the fried halloumi with capers and lime, followed by Pasta Puttanesca from the Summer book.