Product Description

Autumn 2003 sees the launch of the first four titles in The Delia Collection a series currently planned to contain eight titles in all. In compiling the Collection, Delia has chosen her best and most popular recipes updating old favourites and adding some that are completely new. These are books aimed both at experienced cooks and at newcomers to homecooking who can be sure that, with Delias friendly and approachable style, they will be guided by a trusted hand through her fail-safe recipes. The third book in the series is a collection of over 50 recipes using chocolate. According to Delia, patience is essential when melting chocolate for cooking. Follow the instructions to the letter and never rush it, and you'll get it right, every time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60673 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Few would argue that chocolate is the indulgence of choice for most of us and that the irresistible cocoa-based product is something that we're happy to enjoy in all kinds of recipes. So who better than Delia Smith to guide us down some interesting byways? Chocolate is one of the most attractive volumes in the four-volume set The Delia Collection and it's difficult to imagine a better collection of recipes than those offered here.

No space is wasted on lengthy introductions telling us how wonderful chocolate is (and who needs reminding of such a truism?); Delia plunges us right into the choccie fray with a very serviceable recipe for Chocolate Fudge Cake, with wholemeal flour used to give an extra special moistness to the cake. Typically, the recipe gives us just the bald, unvarnished facts--Delia's speciality as a chef. Similarly, even more indulgent recipes perform a canny balancing act--describing the most outrageous of recipes in simple, unaffected prose. How about Squidgy Chocolate Cakes with Prunes in Marsala? This most seductive of treats is surprisingly made without flour. Very little in this volume will do much for your waistline, but don't we all deserve a little indulgence? These are not recipes for every day, after all.

In fact, one of the few criticisms Delia has received over the years is her lack of attention to calories, but weightwatching is not what one goes to her recipes for. Chocolate (with its totally delectable recipes) is as dangerous to the figure as it is mouth-watering. But this is a book that belongs on most cookery shelves. --Barry Forshaw

Review
Delia Smith is a household name and as far as many people are concerned, she is THE goddess of the kitchen. With her foolproof recipes and clear instructions you are guaranteed 100per cent success and it is never a problem to make a dish for a dinner party for the first time, wondering if it will turn out alright or not. It always does. Moving on from her phenomenally successful previous titles, she has amalgamated her recipes into four new cookery books grouped by subject - chicken, chocolate, fish and soup. Lavishly illustrated, they are Delia's personal choice of what she views as the best and most popular recipes. And combining them into individual volumes ensures fast access to a particular recipe rather than ploughing through half a dozen in search of that elusive favourite. Chocoholics will revel in the chocolate fudge cake, four nut chocolate brownies, squidgy chocolate log and frozen chocolate bananas. Comfort eaters will find soups to die for with scallop cream soup, smoked haddock chowder with poached quails' eggs and watercress and buttermilk vichyssoise. For chicken fanciers there is chicken jambalaya, coq au vin and chicken cacciatore and for fish lovers there is chargrilled squid with chilli jam, salmon in champagne sauce and luxury smoked fish pie. These are sure to become bestsellers and it is to be hoped that the collection will grow to include other culinary collections and make it a definitive guide to cooking no cook should be without. - Lucy Watson

About the Author
Delia Smith is Britain's bestselling cookery writer, whose books have sold over 21 million copies worldwide. Delia's first job as a cookery writer was for the Daily Mirror in 1969 - numerous phenomenal best sellers and television series followed including Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course in 1978 and Delia's Christmas, Summer & Winter Collections in the 1990s. Towards the end of the decade Delia commenced work on a new major project - Delia's How to Cook, publishing three separate volumes and the accompanying tv series. The Vegetarian Collection and The Delia Collection followed. After a five year break concentrating on Norwich City Football Club (where she is a director) and Canary Catering, Delia returned triumphant in 2008 with a new BBC TV series and the fastest selling cookery book of all time 'Delia's How to Cheat at Cooking' - which has sold over 800,000 copies to date. Delia is married to the writer and editor, Michael Wynn Jones. They live in Suffolk.

Customer Reviews

Good ... yet not so good
I own ALL of Delia Smith's books along with 223 other cookery books by various experts all over the world. What I like most about Delia is her "no nonsence" approach to food, although she can be a little "mumsy' at times. But then, that is part of her appeal.

This book and all the others in its series (Soup, Fish, Chicken) have been very difficult to review because they can be simply fabulous or down right rip-offs.

The recipes themselves are typical of Delia - straightforward and designed to work - and as such these books are indispensible for those who do not own any of her other books. On that basis alone I would have given this book (and its siblings) a 5-star rating.

BUT, for those wanting to buy this book, I would warn that there are no great culinary revelations here. These are recipes published by Delia in her previous collections - Summer, Winter, Christmas etc - just a rehash of old hits. If you buy this book and others in this series, you might just be tempted to ask for your money back- but not before giving a 1-star rating!

However, if like me, you have several bookshelves groaning under the weight of countless cookery books, Delia offers a wonderful filing system for her recipes. Personally, I find this to be a time saver when faced with organising dinner for 8 at short notice. No more flipping through pages looking for Delia's Chocolate Mouse or Delia's Mini Chocolate Muffins or Delia's Chocolate Truffles etc etc

For those thinking about buying this book, I suggest that you first ask yourself if you have so many Delia books that you now need more books of neatly organised Delia delights.

For an average person, this book and the others in the series get an average 3-star rating.

A gentle introduction to cooking!
At 30 years old I thought I ought to start cooking some proper food instead of heating up ready meals!
So finding Delia's beautiful collection of books has been a godsend.
I started with the 'Soup' and 'Fish' ones and so far have been making a fresh soup every week.
The instructions are easy to follow and the ingredients are easy to find in your local supermarket. The lovely pictures help to show you what your creation is supposed to look like too!
Delia has given me the confidence to move onto more complex recipes and I am planning to do some baking this spring....!
Good luck. Hope you find the book as inspiring as I have.

Excellent
If like me you only know how to roast a chicken and to chuck a chicken breast in with a jar of sauce then this is for you.

Some excellent and easy to make recipes that really surprised me in their simplicity and their taste.

I love Delia and this is one of a suite of new books that enforce her reputation as the queen of the kitchen.

Highly recommended!!!