I returned from the supermarket yesterday and unpacked the shopping, when my eye caught an additional label on something I’d bought…
A DELIA Cheat ingredient
I recoiled at the sight of this… how could I have bought something that Delia uses to ‘cheat’ with?
I’m not suggesting everything I make in the kitchen is of artisan quality, but ‘cheating’ in the kitchen is the kind of thing that makes me feel dirty.
Let’s face it, we all use ingredients that make our lives easier: tinned tomatoes, stock cubes/bouillon powder, dried herbs are even cheating, if you think about it.
For me, that’s why the recent Delia series is a bit of a con. Cooking shouldn’t be about ‘cheating’ and ‘cutting corners’.
The end result should be something you feel proud of, not ashamed of.
Given that Ms Smith has spent her life telling us the ‘proper’ way to cook things, I’m disappointed she’s ‘turned turtle’, as it were.
Anyway, what was the item I bought that is a Delia cheat?
A packet of fresh tortelloni… come on, who makes their own pasta every time?
I like Nigella Lawson’s food – it’s unashamedly lardy and it tastes flippin’ good (what I’ve made from her books anyway).