Mary Berry launches Everyday with Mel and Sue

Mary Berry last night (24th January) dazzled attendees in a sequin dress at the launch for her new book, Everyday (BBC Books), in Fortnum & Mason's Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon in London. 

To celebrate the new book - a TV tie-in featuring all the recipes from Berry's new BBC2 series of the same name - Berry was joined by her former Great British Bake Off co-hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins [pictured below], in additon to her publishers at BBC Books, retailers and press.

"We haven't seen each other for such a long time," said Berry of her reunion with Giedroyc and Perkins, who also walked away from GBBO following its acquistion by Channel 4. "They are my guardian angels and they're firmly with the BBC too."

Rebecca Smart, m.d. Ebury Press, thanked staff at BBC Books, including publishing director Lizzy Gray, who commissioned the book, and the book's editor Charlotte MacDonald, who she described as "the guiding force" behind the project. 

Berry also extended her thanks to her long-time team, Lucy Young, who has been with Berry 26 years, and Lucinda, who has been with Berry 15 years. "So I'm really not a dragon; nobody leaves, they all seem to stay," she said.

Food stylists Lisa Harrison and Isla Murray were also credited, along with the book's photographer Georgia Glynn Smith. 

"Everyday", the TV programme, is scheduled for February, Berry revealed. She said she had had " enormous fun" filming it. The book, is about making everyday cooking "special" using ingredients that are "easy to prepare", complemented by detailed method and tips, "with a little bit of a twist to it too".

Highlights from the series include a trip to the Scottish Highlands visiting acclaimed chef Tom Kitchin to talk about venison and whisky cream in howling winds by a loch, cooking langoustine on the beach with "a very dishy fisherman" and milking goats with her five-year-old grandaughter to make cheese.

"And I promise you there is no sign of something called Clean Food," quipped Berry, refering to controversy over the "fad" term in recent weeks.

Everyday publishes tomorrow (26th January), priced £26.