Podcasts Culture Desert Island Discs Delia Smith, CH, CBE, cookery writer and broadcaster

Delia Smith, CH, CBE, cookery writer and broadcaster

Published: Jan. 21, 2024, 12:28 a.m.

Delia Smith CH CBE is one of Britain\u2019s most popular and successful cookery writers and broadcasters.

Her first book, How to Cheat at Cooking, was published in 1971 and she presented her first television series, Family Fare, two years later. Since then she has presented many more series and her books have sold more than 21 million copies in the UK alone. Her widespread influence has led to the phrase \u2018the Delia effect\u2019, when large numbers of shoppers sought out her recommendations.

Delia was born in Woking in 1941, and grew up in Bexleyheath. She attended the local secondary modern school, but left without any qualifications. She eventually found work as a pot washer and then a waitress in a French restaurant in London, where the chef encouraged her interest in cooking and food.

In 1969 she landed the job of cookery writer on the Daily Mirror\u2019s new colour supplement. There she honed her simple, no-nonsense instructions and met her husband, Michael Wynn-Jones.

She hung up her apron in 2013 to spend more time on her other passion - football. Delia and Michael have been long-standing supporters \u2013 and, since 1996, majority shareholders - of Norwich City FC. She lives in Suffolk countryside in the same cottage she and Michael bought as their first home.

DISC ONE: The Sound of Silence - Paul Simon\nDISC TWO: Within You Without You - The Beatles\nDISC THREE: Gnossienne No 1. Composed by Erik Satie and performed by Alexandre Tharaud \nDISC FOUR: Caruso \u2013 composed by Lucio Dalla and performed by Luciano Pavarotti \nDISC FIVE: Kyrie: Call To Prayer \u2013 Muezzin from the Muhammad Ali Mosque, Cairo. Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, Choristers of St. George's Chapel, Windsor and composed by David Fanshawe\nDISC SIX: This Woman's Work - Kate Bush\nDISC SEVEN: He Moved Through the Fair - Sin\xe9ad O'Connor\nDISC EIGHT: Happy - Pharrell Williams

BOOK CHOICE: Sister Wendy\u2019s 100 Best-loved Paintings by Wendy Beckett \nLUXURY ITEM: The Desert Island Discs archive \nCASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Kyrie: Call To Prayer \u2013 Muezzin from the Muhammad Ali Mosque, Cairo. Composed by David Fanshawe and performed by Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, Choristers of St. George's Chapel, Windsor

Presenter Lauren Laverne\nProducer Sarah Taylor