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When did she start thinking about these ideas? “Well, they were always bubbling around, and I did write some religious books at one stage [a Catholic convert, she used to go to mass every day; the books in question were published in the 1980s]. But I found they just went to religious people, and I wanted to write for those who don’t have any religion. The main thrust of it is that there is a whole part of our lives that is left unexplored, and this is the crucial time in our history to get into that. Things are very bad. How could we not want to look at the world and say: we’ve got to change?” A pause. “Have you seen Don’t Look Up?” she asks. I shake my head. (In case you don’t know, it’s a Netflix film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, about a comet that’s heading towards Earth, a calamity that is an allegory for the climate emergency]. “Well, it’s brilliant, and it’s also saying what I’m saying, which is that we don’t realise the power we have when we work together.”
In 1985 Delia wrote a book which her readers had been requesting for some time - a collection of recipes for the single person entitled ONE IS FUN! This became a BBC Pebble Mill television series, repeated six years later in 1991, and the book has sold over 650,000 copies. It has been translated into German, Swedish and Italian. What has the response to the book been like so far? Michael scrutinised each section as she completed it. “He would say: ‘OK’. Or: ‘I don’t think you’ve got that quite right.’” But You Matter was turned down by no fewer than six publishers, in spite of the fact that Delia has sold more than 21m copies of her cookbooks. “It was tough. At one point we were looking at self-publishing.” Finally, it went to a small press: Mensch. “And thank God those six did turn it down. I couldn’t have done better.” I’ve no idea how her latest editor feels about self-actualisation. But he or she will surely have relished the glimpses its author gives of herself on the path to enlightenment. How surprising (and cheering) to find that she loves Pharrell Williams; that she marched against Brexit; that she idolises Greta Thunberg; that it is her great pleasure to take the Norwich apprentices to the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia to look at paintings by Bacon and Picasso. (“In the cafeteria, these guys of 16 were collecting up the cups; they’ve been trained to think of others because you can’t become a team if you’re only interested in yourself,” she says, when I bring this up.) From 1993 to 1998 Smith worked as a consultant for Sainsbury's. In May 1993 she and her husband Michael Wynn-Jones launched New Crane Publishing to publish Sainsbury's Magazine; the company also published several of Smith's books for BBC Worldwide. Although Smith and Wynn-Jones sold New Crane Publishing in 2005, Smith continues to be a consultant for Seven Publishing which now publishes the magazine.
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At 21, she started work in a small restaurant in Paddington, initially washing dishes before moving on to waitressing and eventually being allowed to help with the cooking. She started reading English cookery books in the Reading Room at the British Museum, trying out the recipes on a Harley Street family with whom she was living. Delia received the Guild of Food Writers prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at its 25th Awards Ceremony in June 2023. The award was given in recognition of her imagination and creativity, her dedication to good, honest food and her uncomprimising attention to detail. Smith's first television appearances came in the early 1970s, as resident cook on BBC East's regional magazine programme Look East, shown on BBC One across East Anglia. Following this, she was offered her own cookery television show, Family Fare which ran between 1973 and 1975. Usborne, Simon (5 February 2013). "Delia Smith goes digital – but who else is on the menu?". The Independent. Smith became a recognisable figure amongst young people in the 1970s and early 1980s when she was an occasional guest on the BBC's Saturday morning children's programme Multicoloured Swap Shop, giving basic cooking demonstrations.
A year later, in response to numerous requests to collect her vegetarian recipes in one volume, DELIA’S VEGETARIAN COLLECTION was published with new recipes to reflect changes in modern day cooking. It has sold over 400,000 copies.
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In February 2005, Smith attracted attention during the half-time break of a home match against Manchester City. At the time Norwich were fighting an ultimately unsuccessful battle against relegation from the Premier League, and to rally the crowd, Smith grabbed the microphone from the club announcer on the pitch and said: "A message for the best football supporters in the world: we need a 12th man here. Where are you? Where are you? Let's be 'avin' you! Come on!" Norwich lost the match 3–2. [16] Smith denied suggestions in the media that she had been drunk while delivering the speech though she did concede that "maybe in the heat of the moment I didn't choose the best words". [17] [18]
The recipes are wonderful, because they *work*. I don't have to tinker with them at all to get great results. Enchiladas, wheat bread, the leek and chevre tart... every recipe I've tried has turned out delicious and as beautiful as the photos promise. That is a rare and wonderful thing in a cookbook. DELIA’S HAPPY CHRISTMAS, was published by Ebury Press (October 2009). She made a 1 hour Christmas special capturing an audience of nearly 4 million viewers. In February 2013 she announced that she had retired from television cookery programmes, and would concentrate on offering her recipes online. [13] The "Delia effect"Grimmer, Dan (11 August 2011). "Delia Smith steps down from Norwich City catering role". Eastern Daily Press . Retrieved 15 December 2017. In March 2010, Smith and Heston Blumenthal were signed up to appear in a series of 40 commercials on British television for the supermarket chain Waitrose. [12]
DELIA’S KITCHEN GARDEN, written with Gay Search, was published in the Autumn of 2004. Inspired by her new kitchen garden at home in Suffolk, Delia wanted to create a book that told people, not only how to grow their own fruit and vegetables month by month, but also how to incorporate them into seasonal recipes.
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Born to Harold Bartlett Smith (1920–1999), an English RAF radio operator, and Welsh mother Etty Jones Lewis (1919–2020), [4] in Woking, Surrey, Smith attended Bexleyheath School, leaving at the age of 16 without a single O-level. [5] [6] Her first job was as a hairdresser; she also worked as a shop assistant and in a travel agency. [7] [8] Cookery career The 1990s were to prove hugely successful for Delia. DELIA SMITH'S SUMMER COLLECTION, published in May 1993 and accompanied by a 10-part BBC2 television series, broke all her previous records. The book has so far sold over 1,600,000 copies. In autumn 1995 DELIA SMITH'S WINTER COLLECTION was published, together with a 12-part BBC2 television series. It has sold 2,300,000 copies, and at that time became the fastest selling book on record. It has also appeared in America. DELIA’S HOW TO CHEAT AT COOKING was published in Spring 2008 by Ebury Press and became the fastest selling title in Random House’s history. Six related programmes appeared on BBC2.
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