Jamie Oliver- the naked chef bares all

[mark111757 Profile]

"....Presented by Davina McCall, this documentary charts the life of the celebrity chef,
looking back at memorable moments throughout his career: his accidental discovery at The
River Café; his rise to fame as an iconic Brit-pop chef; his restless campaigning to
improve the food system; and the recent closure of his restaurant group.....

Wednesday at 8pm UK time on channel four

No doubt this will appear on the download circuit. If you have a good VPN, you night an able to watch it on line

[Renee Profile]

Thanks Mark! I'll make a note.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Thanks Mark.
It's probably an interesting perspective.

[jeral Profile]

Thanks - logged in for tomorrow

You probably know he's written a new book, this one on vegan food, so I expect a programme series will appear soon. Certainly an easier way of making lots of money than running restaurants is in the current uncertain climate here.

A commentator did wonder if chef owners were doing themselves any favours by cooking shows as if people can make resto-quality food at home, why go out to eat?

[Stokey Sue Profile]

The programme does sound a bit like the sort of thing they record to have on the shelf when they need an obituary... he’s only 44!

Might be worth a watch

[Joanbunting Profile]

There is a double feature on JO, first part of which was on Sunday, repeated Monday on The Food Programme (radio 4). Secon prog next Sunday but can be listened to on the Sounds app.

[jeral Profile]

The programme does sound a bit like the sort of thing they record to have on the shelf when they need an obituary... he’s only 44!

Might be worth a watch

I'm not sure as an LBC radio presenter said he'd invited JO onto his show and received a "Yes" immediately so he's probably eagerly doing the promotional rounds at the moment.

[Binky Profile]

I like Jamie. He seems a nice person, and his family are a delight whenever they appear on his TV shows or in his books.

The 15 minute and 30 minute meal series were interesting to watch, not so good to actually cook (the instructions were odd, and it was clear that the camera had cut out lots of time. It was impossible to cook many of the meals plus desserts in 30 minutes).

One book I like very much is 'Save with Jamie' as it's full of traditional and not-so traditional meal ideas. He's tried to keep a budget in mind, so none of your Nigella's 'take a 2kg fillet of steak' or using a dozen eggs to make a cake.

[Pampy Profile]

I quite like the lad too. At least his heart's in the right place even if he does get things wrong sometimes.

[jeral Profile]

Re quick meals, I think JO's were filmed in real time as regards the prep and cooking. The assembling time was excluded from the timed minutes, i.e. setting out and measuring out items, rigging up gadgets and implements ready to go. Genius really as lots of meals can be cooked in 30 mins I'd say. Might need to add two hours for prepping in my case though, or a huge wad of Elastoplasts next to the chopping board

JO does have one laudable attribute that's becoming rare, i.e. self motivation and the ability to motivate others. So many newcomers just want to be famous despite having little talent and he's certainly not in that category.

[wargarden Profile]

Guess he needed something to do after his restaurants went belly up.
To bad all the dishes he bastardized, countries he offended and people he peed off have
no intention to forgive him. eEpecially his bastardization chicken Maryland which was worse
then even the standard British bastardization of the dish. Jamie if want to be forgiven go somewhere
and shell a million oysters by hand. In 5 year you might be forgiven; but better to be forgotten.

[jeral Profile]

Yes JO did come a cropper in America with his "new fresh approach". It's not so different here, i.e. equally unwelcomed, for chefs who try to change "the establishment" - it always wins. The best they can hope for is that some things might stick when the plan is simply to eat more fresh and less processed food. Typically, it's the minimal budget allowance that kills even the best intentioned plans. JO loves Italy though, so I expect the US is safe

[Binky Profile]

wargarden, you're being a bit harsh I think. Most chefs collect recipes from around the world and demonstrate them to their home audience. How else would many of us know about various pasta dishes, slumps/grunts and pandowdies?

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Guess he needed something to do after his restaurants went belly up.
To bad all the dishes he bastardized, countries he offended and people he peed off have
no intention to forgive him. eEpecially his bastardization chicken Maryland which was worse
then even the standard British bastardization of the dish. Jamie if want to be forgiven go somewhere
and shell a million oysters by hand. In 5 year you might be forgiven; but better to be forgotten.

What a thoroughly nasty post wargarden.

I have nothing but admiration for Jamie’s work ethic, for the way he has campaigned for healthy food, for school dinners and other related issues. He is a excellent role model and, on top of that, maintains an admirable family life.

My elder son uses the 30 and 15 minute books all the time - he’s 38, not so far off Jamie’s age - and reckons to get them all to work within the time scale. Maybe those who criticise aren’t in Jamie’s age bracket. My younger son, 28, continually goes to my Jamie Oliver library for inspiration when he needs to cook. My daughters use his family books all the time.

As for the restaurants going pear-shaped let’s not forget all the other chains that have collapsed recently.

I don’t get your Chicken Maryland remarks wargarden and not do I understand why you want him to go and shuck oysters - he was trained at the River Cafe for goodness sake and grew up near West Mersea. Quite good training for an oyster shucker.

[Amyw Profile]

Agreed Pepper Pug , I think that’s unduly harsh Wargarden . He may not be your cup of tea which is fine , but I think that’s an OTT response .

As Pampy said , I think his intentions are sound , though misguided at times . He was inspiring a whole generation of people to cook , myself included . He was the first chef I ever watched on TV and whetted my appetite for cooking . A lot of his recipes I tried have been lovely

[Binky Profile]

As for the restaurants failing, the majority of 'Jamie Oliver' were part of a franchise, using the celebrity pull of his name. The quality of the individual places was therefore hit-and-miss; the one in Chelmsford was dire (not his fault, but as an Essex lad you would have thought he'd have a word with them). It rapidly closed.

[Lusciouslush Profile]

Not a fan of JO at all, but was in his 'naked days' - he's become a 'Brand' like so many, & I've found a goodly amount of his recipes need a good tweeking ( not to mention his overuse of O/Oil!).

His 15min/30min recipes were proven not to work in that timescale, unless of course you have sous-chefs in your kitchen preparing all beforehand.

As for his resto's - well, only been once to the one here in Brighton - was very underwhelmed - not been back since, plus I refuse to queue for a table in a resto anywhere!

[Binky Profile]

That's the problem in a nutshell - all the time-consuming things like washing fruits/herbs, peeling veg, getting the oven up to temperature, weighing out ingredients....it was all handily placed on the counter for JO to cook with.

Wish I had kitchen fairies to help me!

[Pepper Pig Profile]

I’ve eaten twice at Fifteen and had delightful meals, made all the better because of the ethos behind it.

Jamie’s Italians were a bit hit and miss but the one at Westfield was great fun and my grandchildren absolutely loved it.

He has loads of books aside from the timesaver ones. The Italian one is particularly good.

You have inspired me to go and find my favourite Jamie recipes.

I’ll start with Jools’ Pregnant Pasta. My husband, fussiest eater in the universe, loves it but would refuse if if he knew fennel seeds were involved!

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pas ... e-fusilli/

It also featured in the 30 minutes programme.

https://hotcooking.co.uk/recipes/jamie- ... ools-pasta

[Lusciouslush Profile]

Yup Binky...………! Those fairies are hard to come by!!

And in the meantime he must have made a helluva lot of inexperienced cooks feel very inadequate...…..