Delia Smith’s How To Cheat At CookingIt is causing a bit of a brouhaha is Delia’s new cookery book – How To Cheat At Cooking.

Not only have the critics lambasted her for failing to join in the with the anti-supermarket crusade and her recommending using products that come with excessive packaging but the results are decidedly lacklustre.

The Times today, for example, has recreated one of the new recipes, “good old shepherd’s pie”. After having to visit several different supermarkets to locate the required ready made and ready cut ingredients they write that

“The result was… okay. That did surprise me, as it had looked like a concoction of cat food and ice hockey pucks to begin with. But not only does my normal recipe (involving meat that I fry myself, a good slosh of red wine and potatoes I peel, boil and mash to a Delia recipe with creme fraiche, butter and milk) taste nicer; it was also a lot quicker to shop for – and takes no longer to make. I was left wondering what the point of cheating was.”

Delia Smith’s How To Cheat At Cooking is available from Amazon.co.uk for £9.