Product reviews

although written years ago and not as snazzy looking as the jamie/nigella books...a classic book which will always have the answer to basic cookery queries... her steamed syrup pud is lovely ... and yorkshire puds are absolutely perfect... a must for any kitchen!...

It feels a bit old-fashioned now but this was a fantastic introduction to cooking for a complete novice when I bought it 14 years ago. She is prescriptive, descriptive and reassuring in her level of detail, and she covers the basics and much more so you can usually find something on whatever you are looking for. Ingredients and equipment have changed a bit since this was written, and I supplement this with Nigella's 'How to Eat' when I'm checking how to make the basics but I still think that you won't go far wrong if you let Delia show you the way round your kitchen to cook some standard recipes.

The recipes are basic but dependable. They are, though, too prescriptive and Delia's instructions are too detailed for someone like me, who likes to experiment with recipes.

Her steps are long-winded, and go into such painstaking detail that you could almost believe she thinks you are too stupid to differentiate between an egg and a carrot. It's hard to keep your place in the recipe because each step is so long and detailed that it takes ten minutes to find your place again every time you take your eye off the book. This can become annoying unless you are the sort of cook who likes to have her/his hand held through every step and who has a panic attack at the thought of changing anything about the recipe.

I am trying to give this book 3/10 but Tech has obviously been meddling again and the bit for adding marks out of ten doesn't work.

This is a really good, basic cookery book to have. It is suitable for many levels of experience but I mainly use it for basics such as yorkshire puddings, and for helping me to work out the time for cooking various joints of meat. It's a book all cooks should have.