Delia's Hypocrisy

Just flicking through Farmers Market Cookbook, by Henrietta Green (2001) and I came across a quote from Delia Smith.

“I support my local farmers market because there I can buy real food with real flavour, just like it used to be. After years of the blandness of mass production it’s like a gift from heaven.”

I’m still in shock about the massive U-Turn she made when writing Delia’s How to Cheat at Cooking. Her principles on making cooking simple for the masses are still there. It seems her morals, however, have fled since her supposed retirement.

I thought Delia was about simple cooking, quick cooking, and healthy cooking. Real cooking made easy for people who lacked the confidence to cook complete meals.

It may be quick and simple to open a tin and slop its contents into a dish and cook, but it can not be healthy and it can not be cheap.

She now seems to love bland, mass produced products – favouring Aunt Bessie’s and McCains, and deserting her previously heaven sent farmers markets for faceless, impersonal supermarkets.

Maybe retirement suits her better.