Delia Smith has praised an “amazing” new dessert she first tried in a fish and chip restaurant and enjoyed so much that she has added it to her restaurant.
The celebrity chef, who owns the Yellows Bar and Grill at Norwich City Football Club, has introduced deep-fried jam sandwiches to her menu after sampling them in Holt.
The recipe was developed by chef Eric Snaith, the owner of three fish and chip businesses in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, including the restaurant Smith visited.
Speaking about his encounter with Smith, Snaith told the BBC: “It was lovely to meet them for the first time and cook lunch for them.
“I’m not sure if they had any intentions of desserts that day but I suggested that they tried our unique, deep-fried jam sandwich. I obviously hoped they would enjoy them.”
After trying them in Snaith’s restaurant, Smith decided she wanted to add the dessert to the menu at Norwich City’s grounds – despite admitting that she was initially “sceptical” about it.
“When we first saw the deep-fried jam sandwich on the menu in Eric’s we were a bit sceptical, but the friends we were with ordered it and so did we. The rest is history,” the How To Cheat At Cooking author said.
“It was so amazing we cheekily asked Eric if we could serve it in Yellow Bars and Grill to bring it into the city and our customers, just like us, love it.”
Smith, 82, described the pudding as “think doughnut, only even better”.
Last year, the cookery legend opened up about continuing to work and stay fit at her age.
She told PA: “I still have a great zest for life. If everybody did what I do they’d all be the same.
“If you keep yourself occupied, it’s much better for you than thinking, ‘I’m going to put my feet up and watch the six o’clock news every day’.”
Having written multiple cookbooks and selling more than 21 million copies, Smith is one of the most influential celebrity chefs in British pop culture.
She and her husband, Michael Wynn-Jones, are majority shareholders in Norwich City football team. Smith and Wynn-Jones married in 1971 and do not have any children.