Last week in the U.K., British cookbook author Delia Smith (who’s a little bit like our Martha Stewart, except that she owns a football team and hasn’t done time) presented her first Christmas cooking program in 20 years, and it looks like it was a big hit. The Daily Mail entitled one of its articles, “Welcome Back, Saint Delia” and in a less effusive, but positive article, the Guardian admits “she doesn’t ponce around with all the extras Nigella [Lawson] insists on.”
What’s really interesting to me is the power Smith has with consumers. When she says she likes a certain omelet pan or praises the virtues of cranberries, she creates a run on these products. It’s called “the Delia effect,” and retailers love it. The phrase was even added to the Collins English Dictionary in 2001.
I own a couple of Delia’s cookbooks, and while I don’t use them that often, I like them. They’re homey, and what I reach for when I want to make the perfect gravy for roast beef or try my hand at a British classic like sticky toffee pudding. I’ve been eyeing Nigella’s new Christmas cookbook
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