A very great honour, says Delia

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

But the TV chef said she did not feel her work deserved special recognition.

She said: "I've been writing recipes for 40 years now and so I imagine it's recognition of that. It does feel special.

"It's difficult for me because what I do - I write recipes and demonstrate them on TV - feels just like regular, everyday work. It doesn't feel like it deserves any special honour."

Smith, 67, is one of Britain's best-loved chefs and has been hailed for teaching the nation how to cook. Over a career lasting 40 years, she has acquired the nickname "Saint Delia" for her reliable and easy-to-follow recipes that have proved a hit at dinner tables across the country.

Her cookery books - including Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course and How to Cheat at Cooking - have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

Smith, who already had an OBE, was born in Woking in Surrey and grew up in Bexleyheath in Kent. Having left school at 16 without any O-Levels, she first took jobs as a hairdresser, a shop assistant and a travel agent. It was not until she started working at a tiny restaurant in Paddington, central London, called The Singing Chef that she discovered her passion for food.

In 1969 she became a food writer for the Daily Mirror, where she met her future husband, journalist and publisher Michael Wynn Jones.

Smith brought out her first recipe book, How to Cheat at Cooking, in 1971, and began her TV career two years later with a BBC series called Family Fare.

She is currently working on a new BBC2 cookery show to be broadcast in the autumn that celebrates her 40-year career. The series features a number of celebrities, including fellow Norwich City fan Stephen Fry.