Delia's Complete How To Cook: Both a guide for beginners and a tried & tested recipe collection for life

Brought this for my niece as a 13th Birthday present and she loves it. It's an awesome 1st cook book so all good 👍

I like Delia for basic common sense cooking. There is a lot of basic stuff in here that isn't easy to find anywhere else - such as how to poach an egg or make perfect jacket potatoes. There is also valuable information about different types of fruit and veg and the best way to cook them This is a brilliant book just for browsing as well and the photographs are marvellous - you can almost taste and smell the food. The presentation of all the recipes is unfussy and simple. I really hate cookery books which show photographs of finished dishes with delicate drizzles of sauce round an artistically arranged heap of meat and vegetables. With this book you know you will be able to reproduce what's in the photograph even if you've never used the recipe before. I know I'm going to get lots of enjoyment and marvellous meals out of this book. If I have a reservation it is its sheer size - which is large and heavy. I'm also not sure how long the binding will stand up to constant handling - but then cookery books in daily use are meant to look a little worn!

This is a fairly comprehensive cookery book recommended when I did some training at Tante Marie School. I have to say I have been very impressed by the scope of the recipes and the way they are decribed and most important the way they turn out. Nothing is worse than trying a new recipe which does not deliver the goods, but this book is really great(both in size and content) and you get what the recipe says you will get. A good book for the beginner and the expert alike. There are a number of recipes that use ingrediants which I do not like - ginger for example, but by reducing the amount slightly so that one has the hint rather than the full blast of the ginger the result is great. Surely this is what cooking is all about - using a tried and tested recipe but changing very slightly to suit one's likes and dislikes. A great cook book from a great cook. Worth every penny.

I have been cooking for over 50 years (crikey!) During that time I have seen an enormous amount of changes in what we expect in our daily meals. I have also seen an awful lot of TV cooks and chefs come and go, and, although some might be sexier (I am a bit of a Gordon Ramsay fan) no one, but no one, in my opinion, comes anywhere close to Delia Smith in giving both the would-be and the experienced cook a rock solid grounding that will stand them in good stead for life. So, we have established that I like Delia. This book is an absolute masterpiece. Even to a keen and competent cook like me it offers a huge amount of inspiration. Beautifully presented, every page is packed with wonderful recipes, tips and information that will, because it is all explained so well, stick in the mind and offer a springboard to creating new recipes of your own. And the recipes all work. It is the only book you need.

You can't beat Delia. Bought this for my niece. I have the 3 volume version at home. Delia is my starting point for any recipe. Hers work. I may then tweak them but she makes sure I understand why I have to do something a particular way when I do. I don't have Delia disasters.. Delia doesn't assume I know it all (My mum didn't cook so I didn't learn at home). She may seem a bit "school teacher" in her approach but I don't need my cookery books to tell me jokes and entertain me. I just need the recipes to be enticing and work. Whilst my dinner parties aren't quite page 5 followed by page 56 followed by page 98, I do use her recipes a great deal. And I am vegetarian so many recipes/chapters in this book aren't for me. This isn't the trendiest cookery book, it isn't sexy, but it is likely to be the one you will use the most.

This book is a really great accompaniment to anyone's kitchen. I have tried out about 10 recipes from this book and everyone have turned out great. When i got the book initially, I was sceptical that I'd be able to give some of the recipes a go, but after only a week with the book, I was trying things I couldn't have imagined the previous week. I love the explanation, the detail around how to perform each task. I began reading material in the book that doesn't even interest me, but started to once I picked this book up e.g. how to buy fish when i don't eat much fish.

I have always used 'Delia' recipes as I have found that you always end up with something that is edible, even if it doesn't always look quite like it does in her photos. So this book is a real must as it will appeal to very modest cooks (I use this term very loosely) but also those with far more skills as some of the recipes are quite detailed and challenging as well. Not exactly cheap but there are enough recipes and basic advice to keep me going for another 10 years at least so on that basis it is a real steal and worth every penny. Move over Mrs Beaton!

This was a wedding present for a young couple who had no experience of how to cook,and they tell me it was so useful to them on the start of there married life. Up to the day of there wedding they relied on there parents to prepare and cook food for them.Now they are able to give dinner partys and to eat a healthy diet using this cook book.Delias complete how to cook certainly is a wonderful guide for beginers and is so basic and simple anyone can understand it. My Granddaughter has found it to be the most useful wedding present,and informs me that it is used every day in the kitchen,even her new Husband can make lovely meals using this cook book.it is well written and laid out...highly recommended for all, however there experience and age.

Saw it on a cooking program. Received in good condition happy with purchase

A very easy book to follow for beguiners and with lots of recipes and techniques for the more advanced cook... I have been following Delia for a long time, and for me she is the best!

The title is somewhat misleading as although the book is very informative , I do not think it is for the absolute novice in the kitchen.

I love this cookbook! I have the three book format and they are a staple in my kitchen. I have never had a recipe not turn out well or not look like the picture, if there is one. I consider myself a seasoned cook but have learned many new things in their pages. I have even begun giving these as shower presents to brides-to-be and have received great feedback from a new generation. I have many cookbooks in my kitchen, but if I could have only one I would choose this one. They are that good.

Great cookbook.