If You Can’t Stand the Cheat

By Julie Richards

DO you cheat when cooking? You might be surprised that if you do, you’re in illustrious company.

Because the original domestic goddess, Delia Smith, isn’t adverse to cutting corners and breaking the rules when she wants to have her cake – quickly – and eat it too.

In her first series for the BBC in six years, Delia reveals how ready-made ingredients can be incorporated into her recipes to make modern, time-saving meals that taste great.

So in the words of Nigel Slater, the respected cook, TV presenter and food writer, we are getting "permission from the headmistress" to cut corners when cooking.

Delia, who taught the nation how to boil an egg, has searched the supermarket and delicatessen shelves and come up with a list of 100 recommended "hidden servants" – from a moussaka from Marks & Spencers to Aunt Bessie’s Homestyle frozen, mashed potato – that are time-saving saviours for the busy home cook.

So, why, after such a long absence from viewers’ screens, did she decide to make this series?

She reveals it’s been simmering away in the background for some time, and she’s hoping it will be something that everyone can benefit from.

"People now are very, very short of time and if you are older you can’t spend the time and effort you used to spend cooking," says Delia, left.

"Also a lot of people, especially younger people, are afraid because they don’t have any cooking instruction at all. Leaping into How To Cook (her last series) was quite a big thing, and I just felt there needed to be something in between to get people cooking in the kitchen again after a busy day at work.

"I searched quite extensively to see what kind of short cuts we could take, and I discovered to my surprise and delight there are a million and one people around the world dedicated to producing products to short-circuit cooking.

"So it was my duty to look at all this stuff, then go into the kitchen and – most important of all – produce a meal that was easy, quick and really tasted good – modern good. That was the challenge."

And for the viewers who will be at the shops stocking up on the ingredients Delia uses in the series, there are also foods she recommends as store cupboard and freezer favourites.

"I would always have a really good selection of frozen fish and frozen vegetables and fruits because if you rush home from work and you’re not able to go to a shop, you’ve always got a meal.

And potatoes!

"I definitely think keeping a whole range of potato products in the freezer means you’ve always got a staple – so even if you’re only going to have egg and chips, it means that you’ve got it."

For Welsh TV chef Dudley Newbury, the idea of picking frozen over fresh is a somewhat half-baked idea. "I believe most people use short cuts in their cooking today such as a tin of tomatoes or tinned fish," he said.

"But I think anybody who recommends purchasing frozen (food) is undermining all that chefs and commentators have been doing over the past few years and that’s encouraging people to get back in the kitchen and cook.

"Despite what Delia says, it is far cheaper to buy a good selection of seasonal, fresh vegetables than bags of frozen food and it doesn’t take a lot of time to prepare and cook a meal from scratch.

"There is no comparison between frozen, mashed potato and homemade, mashed potato, the quality and taste is so different.

"I think she has gone one step too far – Mrs Beaton would be turning in her grave."

Top chef Matt Tebbutt from the Fox Hunter in Nantyderry, near Usk says Delia’s new style will help eradicate culinary snobbery.

"It should take some of the stress out of learning to cook and encourage young people and other novice cooks to have a go," he said.

"There’s such a lot of pressure on people to buy organic and free range and eco-friendly. We’ve got to be careful not to take all the enjoyment out of food and people shouldn’t feel too guilty for using time-saving options every now and again.

"I often cheat when I’m at home with the family. I wouldn’t make my own puff pastry at home; frozen is fine… I don’t have a problem with it."

But Nerys Howell, of Cardiff-based Howel Food Consultancy, a food consultant for the Welsh Assembly Government, thinks Delia hasn’t weighed up the consequences.

"What concerns me is that she is promoting foods that can be expensive.

"My other concern is that we have been trying to encourage children to cook and this type of (format) will do nothing to give anyone the new skills to prepare food. I haven’t got a problem with using frozen vegetables but many prepared foods have a higher sugar, salt and fat content which is another problem."

She added, "One thing that is important to me is that I promote fresh and seasonal produce from Wales.

"But I don’t think it’s a crime to use frozen berries, frozen pastry or some tins.

"That said, the most important thing is to know how to cook."

Delia is on BBC 2 at 8.30pm on Monday

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