Recipe for profit

British chef Jamie Oliver has become the country’s biggest selling author after sales of his cookbooks leapt by more than 20 per cent last year. With his latest cookery book, Jamie’s Ministry of Food, Oliver pipped Khaled Hosseini, James Patterson and J.K. Rowling by pulling down more than 11.5 million pounds in sales in 2008. However, things were not so bright for Nigella Lawson, who saw revenue from her books drop by 35 per cent, reports The Telegraph.

Philip Stone and Tom Tivnan from The Bookseller magazine, who compiled the figures from market research company Neilsen Bookscan, said: "Nigella Lawson’s seasonal title Nigella’s Christmas was never going to match the huge 2007 hit Nigella Express and her sales slumped accordingly." Delia Smith’s How to Cheat at Cooking was also a success of 2008. The success of Delia’s and Jamie’s titles could mark a move away from cookbooks that offer elaborate but time-consuming food. — ANI

HOME