" .............. nor custom stale her infinite variety"
No I am not talking about Cleopatra.
I am talking about the Blessed Delia, St Delia of Smith who was on the Beeb last night for the first time in years and oh what joy to see her using cranberries again (and no doubt adding to the cranberry shortage that happened the first time we saw this recipe - the supermarket shelves were swept bare), making her sausage rolls, stuffing a turkey and making bread sauce. Forget Gordon Ramsey with his effing and blinding, forget Jamie Oliver with his fake cockney and his 'pukka' grub, ditch Nigella Lawson ogling the camera, sucking the icing off her finger and asking us to take a look at her cup size cakes, give me Delia any day. No pretensions, no gimmicks nothing, just good old fashioned explanation of how to cook in a language that we can all understand.
Last night she showed us all how to make a 'real' custard with cream and eggs and explained how the mixture could curdle so she put a spoonful of cornflour in to stop this happening. She grinned at the camera and said 'I know chefs won't like this but we are not chefs, we are home cooks' and I wanted to stand up and cheer. I have SO had it with Celebrity Chefs poncing around the TV studios and flogging us their over priced books, and yes I know, Delia has a book out as well, but somehow this is not so in your face.
Back in the 1970s when Delia first appeared on TV with her cookery course, it revolutionised my cooking life and, in fact, she taught me to cook. Every recipe that I have tried be it her chicken liver pate, meat balls in tomato sauce, beef in pale ale, chicken drumsticks in sticky barbecue sauce, has turned out well. I have yet to have a failure with Delia. If you read this earlier post on this wonderful lady, here, then you will see I have mentioned these recipes already and they are still marvellous and I am still cooking them.
I think she blotted her copy book last year with a cook book telling us how to cut corners and use instant and convenience food which did not go down well with her fans as for years she had been telling us to use the best and freshest ingredients and now she was contradicting herself. A lot of these recipes were tried and costed out and the results were not good and more expensive than if they had been cooked fresh. So, we won't mention this book any more, but forgive her this momentary aberration and last night she was back on form and she even made me feel rather Christmassy. That is no mean feat I can tell you as I am Mrs Scrooge at this time of year try though I might to get in the festive spirit.
So welcome back Delia and I hope it won't be too long before we see you again.
