Bexleyheath School

Bexleyheath School

Bexleyheath School

Delia Smith’s new show will reinvigorate her most popular recipes with modern ingredients and a modern budget. The 5-part a series of half-hour shows on BBC2 has a working title “40 Years of Delia”.

The show would "combine cookery with social history" BBC2’s Janice Hadlow said.

Delia B.C. (Before Cooking)

Delia Smith was born 18 June 1941 in Bexleyheath, southeast London, UK. She left school at 16 with no qualifications to work as a trainee hairdresser. From there she worked as a shop assistant and later at a travel agency. At 21, she started work in a tiny restaurant in Paddington, The Singing Chef. Washing up and waitressing finally led to her being allowed to help with the cooking. She says it was when a boyfriend kept praising his former girlfriend's talents in the kitchen that she got fed up and started cooking seriously. She began to wonder, if French food was so good, why is English food so awful.