Delia's Vegetarian Collection

Delia has cast her net widely, both geographically and, as it were, chronologically. While Vegetarian Sausage Rolls , "Not Pork" Pie and a variety of hefty vegetable gratins, such as Roasted Vegetable and Brown Rice, evoke a time of wholefood earnestness, before vegetarian food lightened up, most of the recipes belong to a more modern era, characterised by the flavours of the Mediterranean and the Pacific Rim, where vegetables play a more central role in the cuisines. Pasta and noodle recipes, for example, include the wonderful Trofie with Pesto, Green Beans and Potatoes, together with many other classic Italian dishes; while the East contributes Singapore Stir-Fried Noodles and Soba Noodles with Soy and Citrus Dressing. One of the pleasures of this book is the presence of many classic recipes, included simply because of their deliciousness. This is plainly the case in the Puddings chapter. Suet aside, puddings can't cause vegetarians too many problems. But here are Crepes Suzettes, Bananas Baked in Rum, Crème Brûlé and Strawberry and Balsamic Vinegar Ice Cream to remind us that some of the best things to eat have always been meatless. --Robin Davidson

Reader Reviews:

Not fully vegetarian (0/0 people found this helpful)

Delia knows her cooking, however, she hasn't researched vegetarianism properly. She is using parmesan. All vegetarians know that parmesan is not vegetarian, so she should mention to use the substitute cheese. It is misleading new vegetarians into thinking parmesan is ok. That's why only 2 stars.
If one reads the recipes carefully and alter it accordingly then there are some very nice new ideas in this book..

NOT AS GOOD AS IT LOOKS (5/5 people found this helpful)

My initial reaction to this anthology of recipes from earlier Delia Smith books was much the same as that of earlier reviewers. The recipes are generally inventive, and the book itself is well laid out, and visually attractive. But the more I use it, the more irritated I get. First, the colour photographs are a 50 per cent waste of space. There are typically four pictures on each illustration page, two of them of one of the dishes, which is fine, and two of pretty arrangements of a few ingredients. This is OK if you're a fan of photographic still lifes, but not much use if you want to see how a given recipe is meant to look. Second, Delia's style is execrable. Every step in a recipe is prefaced by wholly unnecessary phrases like "after that you do X.." or "the next thing to do is...". Given the price of the book, it would have been nice if someone could have converted Delia's telly-speak into good plain English instructions. Third, and most important if you are trusting her to take you through a recipe for the first time, she is sometimes ambiguous or downright wrong. Take, for example, her basically admirable recipe for mushrooms in Madeira in puff pastry cases. She specifies "900g of both oyster mushrooms and chestnut mushrooms". 450g of each, or 1800 g in total?. She then goes on to tell you how to roll out 500g of ready made pastry into 6 13 cm squares 2 cm thick. Try it - she obviously hasn't. You'll be lucky to get three squares out of this quantity of pastry. So do you roll it out more thinly or double up the quantities? You can probably work it out what she means by going to something like the magnificent Mastering the Art of French Cooking; but should you have to?

In short, a nice book to look at, with some creative ideas, but marred by sloppy writing, arty production values, and some glaring mistakes.

Delia's Bandwagon Book (2/8 people found this helpful)

This is Delia jumping on the Vegetarian bandwagon, thinking that she can do it right. The answer is an indigestible NO.

Not all Veggies can wallow in gluts of cream. Some of us are Galactosemic - no that does not mean we are Vegan, you can choose to be Vegan - but Delia wouldn't care about that.

This is a total rip-off. Avoid if you want to be healthy.

Even non-veggies will love this book (3/3 people found this helpful)

Before I got this book, I'd never cooked a lentil or chick-pea, and had little interest in doing so, it's now the mainstay of my cookery shelf.

Have several vegetarians in the family so I started using this book to try and get recipes that would allow us to have a meal where everyone ate the same food, so I needed vegetarian recipes that were attractive to non-veggies. This book came up trumps.

Everyone I feed from the book ends up wanting their own copy!

I don't agree with the cheese and egg gripe in one of the other reviews, the dishes are well balanced and so far the only cheeses I've used are mozzarella and parmesan, both in moderation.

My favourite cookbook! (3/3 people found this helpful)

To sum this book up in one word...excellent! I asked for this as a Christmas present and wasn't disappointed. I've already tried several dishes from it and all of them have been a success, which is unusual for me! It's very easy to use, recipes are of simple, good food you want to eat and even my boyfriend who isn't vegetarian has thoroughly enjoyed the dishes i've cooked for him so far. The best (and most used) vegetarian cookbook I own!

Delia's Vegetarian Collection

Delia Smith

Editorial Review: