Food fans have been savouring the flavour of Springs smoked salmon for decades.

Now the smokery at the foot of the Downs has won the ultimate accolade - personal approval from the queen of cuisine, Delia Smith.

The TV cook, who is re-educating the nation in cookery basics like how to boil an egg, has heaped praise on the family-run business and is recommending it as part of her "thinking person's Christmas".

Delia has devoted a full page of her glossy magazine, Delia's Christmas Easy, to Springs.

Martin Harris, who runs the business with his brother David, said: "Delia has bought her own salmon from us for years but to be publicly recognised by someone like her is very nice."

Hidden in the leafy lanes of the village of Edburton, you smell the smokery before you see it.

It is eight miles from the coast but that doesn't stop them from selling more than 200 types of seafood or discourage customers coming from far and wide to stock up on gourmet goodies.

As well as wild salmon, there is Iranian caviar, tiger prawns from Madagascar, clam chowder from Denmark and fish soup from Le Touquet.

And, although Delia wouldn't approve, for those who don't want to spend hours slaving over a blender, there is everything you need to cheat at dinner parties, from garlic snails to lamb, beef, partridge and pigeon dishes and jams, jellies, ice creams and gateaux.

There are also unusual finds like Gentleman's Relish anchovy paste, duck and goose cassoulet, chilli jam and Thai jelly.

Delia buys wild sides of Scottish salmon from Springs for £19.50 a kilo and is recommending her readers do the same.

In her Christmas menu, she sets aside December 27 for a supper of hand-sliced smoked salmon with Irish soda bread, capers, cayenne pepper and Isigny butter.

Martin believes his firm has tickled Delia's taste buds because of its attention to detail.

"Our salmon swims from Scotland to Greenland and back again, feeding on natural food and building muscle. Farmed salmon you get in most supermarkets is in a cage.

"And our smokers, which were designed by my grandfather and use oak logs rather than sawdust, are unique. They make our business what it is."

The exact technique for cold smoking, which flavours the fish without altering its texture and translucence, remains a closely guarded secret.

However, it is one that is appreciated by thousands of wholesale and retail customers every year, including some famous names.

Former Olympic golden girl Sally Gunnell, TV presenter Jimmy Hill, Dame Vera Lynn and actor Chris Ellison are fans, as were the late Michael Bentine, Lord Olivier, Douglas Bader and Earl Spencer, father of the Princess of Wales.

Wednesday October 29, 2003