In part three of How to Cook, Delia continues and completes her journey through the fundamentals of cooking, revising traditional areas that are all too often overlooked, as well as exploring more contemporary concerns for the modern cook. As ever, the principles remain the same: to rediscover the simple pleasure of food, to take beginners through many of the basic cooking techniques, and to offer inspiration to even the most accomplished cook.

With stunning photographs to accompany each one of them, the recipes range from neglected classics like Old English Apple Hat and Smoked Collar of Bacon with Pease Pudding to exciting new flavours such as Teriyaki Grilled Marinated Salmon and Sea Bass with Puy Lentil Salsa. In Book Three, the reader can learn the techniques of pickling and preserving, how to equip their kitchen from scratch, and how to get the most out of food processors, bread machines and ice-cream makers. Here, Delia also focuses on first courses (starters) and last courses (hot puddings), and introduces us to the wonderful world of pulses, from adzuki beans to pintos by way of many more familiar ones.

How to Cook Book Three contains over 120 great easy recipes, written, as always, to inspire confidence in nervous cooks and to extend the repertoire of more experienced ones. Those who already have Books One and Two cannot afford to be without this one, and those who do not can start right here.