Customer Reviews
Don't Knock This - By: Claudia Jay, 30 Jan 2008 
I rather tire of hearing how 'boring & uninteresting' Delia Smith is perceived to be. For those who do not, or, indeed, cannot cook here is the finest set of 3 books (this being the last of the trilogy)that offer basic explanation of all cookery terms & ingredientsin the simplist form which is easy to understand. The recipes are absolutely accurate - (never ever make the mistake of thinking that you'll leave something on the hob orin the oven for a moment longer than Delia tells you).
For my part I cook well. I use many of the recipes foundin this (and the other 2 books)and the compliments I receive belie the simplicity of her perfect instructions.
A must have for all cooks & the perfect gift for anyone just setting up home!
A book too many - By: N. Spencer-jones, 01 Apr 2003 
I'm a huge Delia Fan. She is not a 'fad' chef & she presents good recipes & techniques that give a high changes of succeeding.
I had been bought the previous two books & thought they were great really going back to basics but ending up with some pretty top notch recipes. Well presented & well explained.
However, I think this is one book too many & seems to stretch the concept too far. I particularly feel the the chapters on gadgets is a complete waste of time. I don't want to use the latest must have gadget that look goodin the kitchen. And none of the recipes really need the gadgets.
this book bought tears to my eyes - By: , 17 Feb 2002 I forget why I bought book two, but I do know I learnt a lot from it. I'd always thought of buying Book 1, but thought I probably knew most of the basics. When Book 3 became available, I thought I'd wait for the price to come down, & then I saw one of the TV episodes & tried one of the recipes copied from Ceefax. No turning back, must have this book! When I saw Amazon's prices I couldn't believe my luck, what the heck, & bought books 1 & 3 at the same time. They came next day, amazing service, & I scanned them. I haven't stopped scanning them since.A wealth of information; for instance, we all know bread tastes better home-made. Book 1 tells you how easy it is, Book 3 tells you to buy a Breadmaker machine. You wouldn't have seen this advice 2 years ago. But it goes on. Anyone can boil an egg, well that's what I thought. Book 1 tells you things you should have known years ago, but didn't. Book 3 tells you how easy it is using modern methods. Delia has certainly done good research. When I tried some of the recipes, they worked first time. When I discovered how "simple things" can make a world of difference, it bought tears to my eyes. I've wasted 25 years doing it the hard way. I've wasted 25 years not getting the best from my ingredients. Don't hesitate: buy & read, don't waste any more time.
Reliable but definitely not boring! - By: s8heg@aol.com, 27 Jan 2002 In the midst of the Nigels & Nigellas & the Jamies & Garys, it's good to see Delia still up there with the third millennium media cooks. I lost track of her for a while but have always used my grease-sparked edition of the Complete Cookery Course as a no nonsense volume where the recipes are always reliable. After the fuss broke over How To Cook Book 1 when she was teaching us how to cook eggs, it looked like Delia had reinvented herself - a bit like Madonna - well, maybe not quite.
The intriguing thing about Book 3 is that it starts out by looking structured around themes which are quite different from the first two volumes : Books 1 & 2 adopted the traditional approach of chapters relating specifically to food groups, hence chapters on egg, bread, pastry, fish, beef, etc. Then suddenlyin Book 3 we start out with almost one third of the book under headings like "equipment for cooks" & "gadgets that work". Fear not, there are great recipesin there under these headings - making the first part of the book perhaps not as immediately browsable as some of her other books when planning a dinner party. But never mind, the approach is interesting - the recipes are still there & we have delightful texts about the cook's hardware as a prelim to those excellent recipes & valuable tips which, yet again, relieve us of the fear of cooking. Soon we are into more familiar territory as we discover food-specific chapter titles including pulses, jams, low cal & puddings. And it's all illustrated with tasteful photos by Miki Duisterhof who worked on Books 1 & 2.
As a longstanding fan, Delia still figures prominently on my cookbookshelf. She may not have Nigel's mouthwatering panache when it comes to writing but it's all very sound, good, reliable - & definitely not boring - stuff. It's a shame she seems to be stopping at Book 3. Surely there's room for a Book 4, Delia, on vegetarian recipes - why limit yourself to just the 30 pagesin Book 2? Delia is a cook of our time & will surely come back to offer us more. As a friend of mine put it : Nigella may be a goddess... but Delia is still the queen.
great book if you're planning a dinner party - By: , 09 Jan 2002 
I found Delias book to be very interesting, & while I had no intention of cooking when I bought the book I was whipped into a frenzy of frying pans & wooden spoons!!!! The pictures are extremely helpful when cooking & I can see exactly what my creation should look like. I think that delia is a good cook & though the ingredients are sometimes impractical Delias instructions are clear as an egg white before beating!!!!
