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Delia
Smith is Britain's best-selling cookery author. UK
sales of all her cookery books total over sixteen
million. She has been writing recipes for thirty-four
years, having become cookery writer for the Daily
Mirror's new magazine in 1969. By that time she had
already worked in a restaurant in London, spent a
summer working in Italy and researched traditional
English recipes in the British Library Reading Room.
Her first book was How to Cheat at Cooking
(1971) and the following year she started writing
a column in the Evening Standard. From the beginning,
hers has been a practical and inspirational approach
to cooking healthy, delicious food.
In
1973 Delia began her television career with a BBC
1 series entitled Family Fare. During this
time she wrote several books, including Frugal
Food (1976) and
Delia Smith's Book of Cakes (1977). Delia's
appetising, easy-to-follow recipes were gradually
transforming Britain's eating habits.
Delia
Smith's Cookery Course,
first shown and published in three parts between 1978
and 1980, began a television and publishing phenomenon.
Since then the hardcover omnibus edition has sold
over two million copies. Delia followed this with
three more highly acclaimed television series and
accompanying books: One is Fun! (1985), Delia
Smith's Christmas
(1990) and Delia Smith's Summer Collection
(1993). The latter broke all her previous records
and continues to be a top bestseller all year long.
In
autumn 1995 Delia Smith's Winter Collection
was published, accompanied by a twelve part
BBC 2 television series. By January 1996, it had sold
2.4 million copies, becoming the fastest selling book
on record.
1998
saw the publication and transmission of the first
part of the landmark book and TV series Delia's
How to Cook in which Delia gathers together all
the techniques, information and recipes she believes
people need in order to cook successfully.
Delia's How to Cook Part Two
followed in 1999 / 2000 and Delia's How
to Cook Part Three
in 2001 / 2002, with combined sales of all three titles
reaching more than 3.5 million. Delia's Vegetarian
Collection (2002)
has sold more than 170,000 copies.
Delia
is Consultant Food Editor for Sainsbury's The Magazine
which she and her husband launched in 1993. The magazine
has won numerous awards and now has an official readership
of three million. In 1980 Delia put together a Food
Aid cookery book
as her contribution to the Band Aid charity. And in
1997 Delia's Red Nose Recipes
raised over £1 million for Comic Relief.
One
of Delia's great passions in life is football. She
has been a Director of Norwich City Football club
since 1996, and in 1999 established Delia's Canary
Catering at the Club, which offers a range of business,
consumer and conference catering services. In 2001,
Delia launched her own website www.deliaonline.com,
enabling her to be directly in touch with her readers.
Delia received an OBE in the Queen's 1995 New Year's
Honours List.
