City food fans queue to meet Delia

Cookery queen Delia Smith was in Birmingham last night to promote her new book How to Cheat at Cooking.

Fans queued round the block to meet Delia and video journalist Victoria Hoe was there to speak to Delia and her disciples.

Maria Cusine writes: It's the Delia effect. The queen of the kitchen is in town with her latest book and scores of her fans are forming a long queue in and outside Waterstones waiting to meet the food guru.

"They trust me," says the woman who, after decades of showing us how to cook, is now telling us it's ok to cheat.

That's her enduring appeal. Trust. And no doubt her no-nonsense approach. The 66-year-old is the very opposite of the celebrity chefs with their gimmicks, gadgets and soundbites.

She was at the Birmingham bookstore yesterday to sign copies of her latest - and some what controversial - offering, Delia's How To Cheat At Cooking.

It's already one of the fastest-selling non-fiction titles ever, but because it promotes the virtues of ready-made ingredients - such as tinned mince and frozen mashed potato - it has taken some flak from critics.

"I think the first thing I need to stress is that I'm not telling people to cheat all the time - just some of the time," she says during a quick chat before meeting her fans.

"My book is about showing people how to cook when they are pushed for time. And it's also for those people who are afraid to cook."

That's why after five years away from the spotlight, she decided to return with this cookery book - as well as a new TV series, which hits our screens next month.

"I've been plugging away for 37 years now but there are still people out there who are afraid to cook," she says. But surely that shouldn't be the case with so many food and cookery programmes on television today?

"Well because there are so many shows on TV I think it actually makes things worse for the public. These programmes make it look so difficult. And home cooking is very different to the chef style of cooking," says Delia.

"Today many people really struggle to find time to cook. Which is why I'm telling people that there are quality ingredients to help you cook at home.

"I'm not saying eat tinned mince as it is, I'm saying use it in a shepherd's pie, moussaka and bolognese."

When she's not cooking, she spends much of her time at her beloved Norwich City football club, of which she is a director - who can forget her infamous "Let's be having you" rallying cry to fans.

And of course she also gets to visit Wolverhampton when her team are playing the Wolves - but she also spends time in the city visiting relatives who live here.

"I've got an aunt and uncle who live in Wolverhampton, so I do like visiting them when we are in the city for the football," she said.

And what are her plans for the future?

"I strongly believe in this book and what I do in the future will depend on its success and the success of the TV show.

"If the public tries one of my recipes and it works, I'm delighted," she said.

And it obviously does work, judging by the scores of people at Waterstones last night.