Delia Smith mania hit UK supermarkets and book stores last weekend after the celebrity chef’s first book in more than five years went on sale.

How to Cheat at Cooking is already the best-selling title at Amazon.co.uk and at bookseller Waterstone’s stores and online.

Waterstone’s promoted the title with its biggest pre-order campaign since the final Harry Potter novel and in its first weekend it proved twice as popular as the last Jamie Oliver cookbook, according to a spokesman.

He said: “We expected it to be a top seller, but we’ve been surprised at how big this is. We ordered extra stock to ensure we wouldn’t sell out and we will be promoting the book for the duration of her upcoming TV show.”

The writer’s endorsements include 24 own-brand products from Sainsbury’s, 16 from Marks & Spencer and several own- brand lines from Asda, Waitrose and Tesco.

At Asda, where the book is being sold at£8 – its cheapest price in the UK – sales of ruby salad and crab meat jumped ten-fold over the weekend. An Asda spokesman said: “It’s too early to talk about exact figures, but it’s fair to say the food she mentions is flying off the shelves.”