Some Delia classics

"They are not so much the recipes that people dream over; this is the stuff they actually cook." Nigel Slater

Indeed they do - as I did yesterday for my older son's birthday party. I made her Piedmont roasted peppers as part of an antipasti spread. I did cut out the stems - against her advice not to because:

"they're not edible, but they do look attractive and they help the pepper halves to keep their shape."

Well I was cooking for twelve and had decided to cut my large Australian peppers into smaller sections, some with the anchovies, some not. I only have two small pieces left. It's the dish - well one of the many - that made Delia a household name. Many refer to them as Delia's peppers, and yet - modest as always - she does not lay claim to them. In her introduction to the recipe she says:

"It was first discovered by Elizabeth David and published in her splendid book Italian Food. Then the Italian chef Franco Taruschio at the Walnut Tree Inn near Abergavenny cooked it there. Simon Hopkinson, who ate it at the Walnut Tree, put it on his menu at his great London restaurant Bibendum where I ate it - which is how it comes to be here now for you to make and enjoy."

And of course, Elizabeth David herself just collected it from the Italians somehow. Well that's what I assume anyway - here are hers as reproduced in the 'best of' book At Elizabeth David's Table. We all fell in love with Elizabeth David's food, and Simon Hopkinson is a big name too, and yet I'm pretty sure that these peppers are commonly known as Delia's peppers. And we all - well we who cook - know who Delia is. In fact probably everybody in England knows who Delia is. So famous that Nigel Slater is able to say:

"The single-name cookery brand is a phenomenon started by Delia." Nigel Slater

The single-name thing is reserved for a select few - Nigella, Jamie, Nigel himself and here in Australia - Stephanie. I can't think of any others, however famous they might otherwise be.

Her books sold millions, her TV shows were watched by millions and she was the 'patron saint' (along with Heston Blumenthal - perhaps also a single name guy) for Waitrose when I last visited England and for Sainsbury's before that I think. Indeed:

"So beloved were her recipes that supermarkets would frequently sell out of the ingredients overnight — something that came to be known as 'the Delia effect'. Her influence became so ubiquitous and far-reaching that the 2001 edition of the Collins English Dictionary had an entry for the word Delia: "The recipes or style of cooking of British cookery writer Delia Smith. A Delia dish." Fine Dining Lovers

Nigel tells us

"How To Cook showed a nation of incompetents how to boil an egg. When the programme was aired 58 million more eggs were sold in six weeks, and sales of an omelette pan featured on the series leapt from 200 to 90,000 a year"

And so it went until she retired when the timeline at the bottom of Nigel's reminiscences of Delia states:

"2003 - There is national consternation at the announcement that Delia is to give up cooking to concentrate on her directorship of Norwich City football club"

For a while she went all religious and wrote a couple of book about it, but her grand passion - along with her husband's is the Norwich Football Club, which she at least partly, maybe wholly? owns, and which is probably consuming large quantities of the millions she has earned over the years.

But we - the ladies of my generation who cook from her books love her:

"I get the feeling that she realises that no one can ever extinguish the warmth we hold for the person who gave us Peppers Piedmontaise and Squidgy Chocolate Cake." Nigel Slater

But this is not at all what I meant to write about. It was yesterday's Piedmont roasted peppers that started me on this - which was an idea for another occasional series, on my favourite and classic recipes of some of my favourite cooks. I decided to begin with Delia because of those peppers - and also because there are so many of her recipes that are regulars in our house. Mostly because the best thing about Delia - something she shares with many of my favourites is the no-fail aspect of her recipes - or at least very, very rare fails - and also her (and their) great desire to show people how easy it is to cook delicious food:

"We may have lunch at The River Cafe and dinner at The Wolseley but when it comes to entertaining at home it is to her recipe books that so many of us turn. Time and again. You know that her recipes are safe and workable." Nigel Slater

I have tried very hard to find what are Delia's most famous dishes, but apart from Nigel picking out the peppers and Squidgy chocolate cake - which I have never tried, but probably should, I have only found general comments and things like 'she taught me how to boil an egg.' So instead I'm going to pick out a few of my own favourites.

I'll begin with Oven roasted ratatouille which I do know made this method of cooking Mediterranean vegetables, so everyday, that probably hardly any of us realise that it was Delia, who didn't invent it, but made it famous. Well I can't really believe she invented it. Surely the Mediterraneans have been doing it since forever. But it was definitely her recipe in her Summer Collection book that made us all take to it.

It was actually that book which introduced me to Delia and it's also the book that I have used most often I think. I was a cataloguer at the State Film Centre Library and took the videos home with me to watch so that I could catalogue it properly. Well that's what I told myself. Really I just wanted to watch it. And I sort of fell in love. So here are some others of my favourites from that book:

Roasted tomato salad - another, similar to Elizabeth David recipe I confess - but Elizabeth didn't have pictures back then anyway.

Pesto rice salad - this is divine - and so simple - cook the rice with the pesto then dress with lemon juice, olive oil and more pesto before topping with basil, spring onions and shaved Parmesan. We often have this when cooking for a crowd in summer.

Chicken with sherry vinegar and tarragon sauce - This is a special occasion dish when you want to impress. Again - divine. Such an interesting taste that lifts chicken to a whole new level. And not difficult at all - but you need a fair bit of sherry and sherry vinegar.

A very easy one-crust pie - I think it was this recipe that introduced me to the notion of the galette, which is a truly wonderful way to make a tart of any kind. No need to bake blind and all that kerfuffle. I cannot now remember whether I made this particular version because it was gooseberries, but she gives a whole page of variations with other fruit - mostly with nothing but sugar to accompany the fruit.

Having fallen in love with Delia's food my next purchase was the companion Winter Collection which also contains several family favourites as well as many others that I have tried and liked, but somehow not returned to again and again. And the same could be said for the Summer Collection too. For example if you are into ice-cream and classic British dishes, you will find many examples of those in both of these books. Cakes, breads, fish ...

Roasted and sun-dried tomato risotto - I confess I have sometimes skipped the roasting of the tomatoes when I have made it for just David and I, but I shouldn't really because roasting the tomatoes adds a wonderful richness to this - a superb set-piece to present to vegetarian friends.

Pork braised in cider vinegar sauce - I confess I don't really remember this, but I see I have written against it: "can't improve on this. Simple, tasty" and I gave it 4 1/2 stars so it's obviously worth making it again.

Pork stroganoff with three mustards - this is a frequent dish on our dinner table, when I have some pork sizzle steak, mushrooms and not much enthusiasm for cooking. Delia serves it with noodles - I with rice. It's unbelievably quick, easy and totally delicious - everything you could want from a recipe.

Then Delia embarked on what was perhaps her most ambitious project a three volume set called Delia's How to Cook, full of everything a beginner cook could want to know, along with recipes after each 'lesson' (they're not lessons in a pedantic sense - just lots of valuable advice), recipes which are not 'ordinary' but also not hard. Mind you I don't have many recipes to offer here - just a couple, although as I flicked through I found at least two more that I might make sometime soon

Quick and easy flaky pastry - which taught me the trick of freezing your butter and then grating it. She is full of such tricks. Gooseberry yoghurt fool - I think I learnt how to make fulls from Jane Grigson - and really the best fool is Gooseberry yoghurt fool but you can't get them here anymore - well not easily anyway, but Delia gave us a twist of using yoghurt instead of cream, and lifted it a notch. Wonderful. Possibly the best dessert in the world.

I may have repeated myself a bit in this paeon of praise to Delia - both within and from previous posts. I fear most of her books are now out of print here, but do look out for any of them and treat yourself to a treasure trove of deliciousness. It was also a reminder to me to go back to the books and find new treasures.

YEARS GONE BY

August 3

2025 - Nothing

2024 - Egg and chips for tea

2023 - Vegetable sides - beginning with petits pois à la française

2022 - LOVE - the secret ingredient - really?

2021 - Missing

2020 - Missing

2019 - Damper

2018 - So do we keep taking the pills?

2017 - Maple syrup and bacon - in a cupcake?

2016 - Nothing