Deliavision
I imagine lots of people will have an opinion on the new Delia smith series and fan or not, it certainly has raised an interesting debate on cookery. I can understand some people’s point of view that it isn’t using fresh ingredients, so you don’t know what you are eating and it won’t necessarily be free range or as good for you as cooking from scratch. I actually think that if it gets people cooking that were previously culinary phobic, then it’s o.k in my book and the audience she is aiming at probably won’t be so worried about the quality of the ingredients.
I have found the program interesting but watching her open tins and scooping out what looked like cat food into a bowl didn’t leave me salivating. The very thought of tinned meat brings meat out in a cold sweat but the thought of putting on an apron and sharpening a knife doesn’t, so I guess it isn’t me she is trying to convert.
The premise of the series isn’t what bothers me. Having missed the first half of this week’s program, I switched on the TV only to stumble upon what I thought was Songs of Praise. She spent at least 10 minutes of the program talking about her faith, interspersed with shots of her attending mass and swanning about with Sister Wendy Beckett. If Delia finds solace in bothering the man upstairs, then good for her but she is supposed to be doing a cookery program. Last week it was about her passion for football. Who exactly is she trying to appeal to? Does she think that if she does something to grab the attention of the religious and football fanatics as well as cookery novices, she is covering all bases and appealing to a wider audience. Surely the way to make successful television is picking your audience and trying to aim at their interests.
Not everybody was a fan of the old style Delia, she was a bit reserved and stiff and never ever tasted her food, but I quite liked her. You knew where you were with her and you didn’t expect to sit through three verses of ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ or a shot of the Norwich city lads in the showers, although that’s probably another program entirely. Bring back the old Delia, before we have to endure her banging on about her collection of limited edition Royal Doulton.
Tags: DeliaSmith, cooking, religion, football, recipes
March 27th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Hi Sarah,
My name is Shannon and I’m the editorial assistant at Foodbuzz.com. I am very impressed with the quality of your posts and to that end, I’d like to invite you to be a part of our newly launched Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program. I would love to send you more details about the program, so if you are interested, please email me at [email protected].
Cheers!
Shannon Eliot
Editorial Assistant, Foodbuzz.com
[email protected]
March 27th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
The very thought of all these pre-pack foods makes me shiver. I didn’t much care for the Old Delia either but surely that was better than this carry on.
March 29th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Hey,
I’ve been clicking through lots of links and came across your blog. loving it! You’ve some great recipes here.
Adding you to my RSS reader now.
March 29th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Thanks for the support, it’s always welcome
March 31st, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I’ve never been much of a Delia fan in the past, she always seemed a bit clinical to me, but I think her latest show is a new low. As Sam Wollaston said in the Guardian, there’s just nothing on the program that makes you go “yum”.
I suppose if it gets people cooking who wouldn’t have done before then it can’t be too bad, but I don’t think I’ll be trying any of her new recipes anytime soon. Presumably her next series will be how to select and microwave the best ready meals, followed by a series on ordering takeaways.