'The Delia Effect'

Delia Smith, a woman who has graced our television screens and appeared on our kitchen bookshelves for more than 40 years has announced this week that she will be retiring from television because she is fed up of being asked to ‘entertain’ the nation, rather than teaching the skills and techniques of cooking. Delia first made her debut teaching the nation how to boil an egg and roast a chicken, and has since taken the culinary world by storm with her award-winning cookery books ‘Delia’s Complete Cookery Course’ and ‘Delia’s Winter Collection’, whereby she’s sold 21 million copies, accompanied by her own television series. She has been an inspiration, a role model and even a ‘second mother’ to the nation and on occasion can be credited for preventing culinary catastrophes with her straightforward step-by-step recipes, injecting confidence to numerous kitchens across the country.

Whereby Mary Berry is referred to as ‘The Queen’ of baking, Delia is known as ‘The God’ of the culinary world, placing her in the running alongside Whoopi Goldburg. Delia has become so highly regarded that her achievements have earnt her name a place in the Collins English Dictionary with the meaning: “style of cooking of British cookery writer Delia Smith". Now I must say, that is cool - you definitely know you’ve made it when your name is mentioned enough times to earn yourself a definition in the British language. I personally think, having devoted most of her career teaching the nation how to cook, which, come on, is a pretty big job, she should be awarded  the title ‘Dame Delia’ – this has a ring to it don’t you think?!

With so many achievements under her apron, her retirement from television has come as a secondary blow to her fans after it was announced she would no longer be the face of Waitrose recipes, alongside creative scientific chef, Heston Blumenthal. She may not have made the nation laugh, she may not be as entertaining as Paul Hollywood, she may not have as much appeal as Lorraine Pascale, but she HAS taught us how to cook, when was this not enough?

But, this is NOT, I repeat NOT the last we will see of ‘The Delia Effect’. She may not have entertained the nation, but she is however, savvy when it comes to technology and keeping up with the times. She might be leaving our television screens, but turn on your laptops and Ipads and there, in her apron, she will be - launching her new online cookery school later this month.  

In the meantime, until she’s back in our lives and kitchens once more, let us look back  and appreciate some of her achievements…

Phrase for photography: The Guardian BBC Waitrose dotcomgiftshop.com