Delia's tablespoon measurement

Asked on 10 Jun 2020 by TomInS

Tablespoon (& other) measures:
Is there a universal understanding of dry & wet measuring with Tablespoons etc?
E.g.
What is the standard volume of a Tablespoon? (Delia says 20ml, but many others use 15ml Tablespoons.)
A level Tablespoon of liquid is 'self-limiting' to that which the Tablespoon will hold. BUT is a 'Tablespoon' of flour, sugar, or other dry ingredient a 'level Tablespoon', or should it be assumed that means a 'heaped/rounded Tablespoon'?
What accepted norms exist? For dry ingredients, in the absence of a description like 'heaped', 'rounded', 'level' etc. what assumptions should be made?
Thank you.

Lindsey, Food Editor replied

Hello,

A tablespoon in the UK is 15ml BUT if you are following Delia’s recipes, Delia says this in her book….

“I have to confess I have never liked measuring spoon sets because

they vary, and b) I’ve always thought they were a bit mean.
So, I use conventional, old-fashioned teaspoons (5ml), dessertspoons (10ml) and tablespoons (20ml).”

This means that when you follow a Delia recipe you should use a 20ml spoon for a tablespoon or 2 dessertspoons per tablespoon will be the equivalent.

In Delia’s recipes, spoon measures are always level unless stated otherwise.

Best wishes

Lindsey