Topic: That egregious c*nt, Jamie Oliver

[rob1966]

Some very valid points, however I was astounded by how cheap fruit and vegetables are in Ireland/UK compared to Australia.

As an alternative to fresh blueberries @ £2.60 for 150g why not buy frozen from £2.50 for 400g. Longer shelf life and much better value.

If the government wanted to help families via affordability and reducing childhood obesity they should remove all VAT from fresh food (vegetables, fruit, meat, cheese, fish, chicken, pulses) and throw that VAT onto junk food/soft drinks.

If you have the freezer capacity then that is a viable option but if you only have a tiny freezer then there are other foods going in there. Not mad on frozen fruit myself as it always turns to mush.

Totally agree on what you say about VAT, they should be doing everything they can to make healthy food cheap. You can make decent healthy meals in the same time it takes to cook a frozen pizza, so it's not hard. I'm not having this no time argument as my ma worked full time and still cooked, I can make a chili in 30 mins and just leave it to cook while I do other things and then that makes two or three meals, we just need to make it affordable.

[redbyrdz]

Where do you people shop? 150g blueberries, 99p on offer at Lidl. £1.39 regular price. But berries are always quite expensive and I mostly buy them in-season when they're cheaper.

Maybe this should go into the unpopular opinions thread, but "healthy food" doesn't have to be expensive, or complicated. There's nothing really unhealthy about food made from things like potatoes, carrots, cabbage, etc (as long as you don't fry them). But it's not fancy and a celebrity chef couldn't make money from inventing mash or stew.

[Sangria]

Where do you people shop? 150g blueberries, 99p on offer at Lidl. £1.39 regular price. But berries are always quite expensive and I mostly buy them in-season when they're cheaper.

Maybe this should go into the unpopular opinions thread, but "healthy food" doesn't have to be expensive, or complicated. There's nothing really unhealthy about food made from things like potatoes, carrots, cabbage, etc (as long as you don't fry them). But it's not fancy and a celebrity chef couldn't make money from inventing mash or stew.

My favourite cookery programmes are Wartime Farm and Wartime Kitchen & Garden. Insight into a time when want was a matter of fact, and people learned to make do.

[Hedley Lamarr]

Jamie Oliver's restaurant group broke labour laws over the absolutely appalling way he treated his staff before making them redundant.  The same restaurant group collapsed leaving suppliers, mainly local small suppliers, out of pocket to the tune of £80m leading to some (including one a friend of mine owned) to go bust.  Obviously big companies can hit the wall, but Oliver is worth £220m and not once offered these companies any help.

The man is an arsehole of epic proportions.

[rob1966]

Where do you people shop? 150g blueberries, 99p on offer at Lidl. £1.39 regular price. But berries are always quite expensive and I mostly buy them in-season when they're cheaper.

Maybe this should go into the unpopular opinions thread, but "healthy food" doesn't have to be expensive, or complicated. There's nothing really unhealthy about food made from things like potatoes, carrots, cabbage, etc (as long as you don't fry them). But it's not fancy and a celebrity chef couldn't make money from inventing mash or stew.

Aldi. All they had in the other day was the 400g tub, they had no wonky berries or the small packs in. Aldi really don't have much in the shops a lot of the time these days. Its a 10 mile round trip to the nearest Lidl, so that is out for me, as we walk when shopping.

I agree you can make cheap food from spuds, turnips, carrots and cabbage, but fucking hell its plain, boring as fuck food. With Brexit though, its the future, so we need to learn to not only cook with it, but to make it taste nice. Cheese makes sprouts taste a lot better, as it does with mash, or just mixing beans in with mash gives it flavour. Chili powder, curry powder, paprika etc can all be added too. I make a meal with chciken, peppers, onions, mushrooms mixed with cumin, chili powder, curry powder, paprika and mango chutney.

[Barneylfc∗]

Gordon Ramsay's Scrambled eggs recipe is the work of a madman, watch it and you'll genuinely be scratching your head in disbelief, one of the most simple things you can make, and he makes it into a poncey ego trip.

It's fucking tasty though 

[Jm55]

Just had a look. What the fuck was that? Peas and garlic?

It’s nice with green vegetables, goes well with peas, asparagus and courgettes.

It’s not as if every recipe has to be the purist form either ffs, the whole point of watching these people cook is to give you ideas which would be fairly pointless if everyone just cooked the same thing.

On Oliver, it’s probably poor timing but I don’t disagree with his point generally. Of course healthy food should be more accessible but there does need to be a cut down on shite buy one get one free food, it shouldn’t be the case that people that can barely afford to eat have to buy that shite only to then end up developing obesity, diabetes and heart problems.

[BarryCrocker]

It's fucking tasty though 

If you're trying to impress anyone for brekkie its the only scrambled egg recipe worth doing. I call it epic eggs.

[Billy The Kid]

Would I be a c*nt for pointing out that a brand new fridge freezer can be purchased for less than the cost of an Android/iPhone? And that while the cost of living is a very real issue for many people, perhaps it's time we reviewed our relationship with consumerism and how it can often negatively affect our lives negatively without us even realising it

P.S Sian I'm in no way suggesting that your frustrations are misdirected. I'm simply suggesting that socio-economic issues are complex by nature and go far beyond the disproving ramblings of TV chefs



 

[Sangria]

Would I be a c*nt for pointing out that a brand new fridge freezer can be purchased for less than the cost of an Android/iPhone? And that while the cost of living is a very real issue for many people, perhaps it's time we reviewed our relationship with consumerism and how it can often negatively affect our lives negatively without us even realising it

P.S Sian I'm in no way suggesting that your frustrations are misdirected. I'm simply suggesting that socio-economic issues are complex by nature and go far beyond the disproving ramblings of TV chefs 

Space is probably more of a problem re: a new freezer.

[Snail]

Would I be a c*nt for pointing out that a brand new fridge freezer can be purchased for less than the cost of an Android/iPhone? And that while the cost of living is a very real issue for many people, perhaps it's time we reviewed our relationship with consumerism and how it can often negatively affect our lives negatively without us even realising it

P.S Sian I'm in no way suggesting that your frustrations are misdirected. I'm simply suggesting that socio-economic issues are complex by nature and go far beyond the disproving ramblings of TV chefs

Would we have had space for a bigger one, would our landlord have allowed us to buy a new one? The answer to both of those questions is no (the same landlord left us without hot water for nine months.)

[Jiminy Cricket]

My favourite cookery programmes are Wartime Farm and Wartime Kitchen & Garden. Insight into a time when want was a matter of fact, and people learned to make do.

Perchance, are you angling for a ministerial post with the Government?

[Jiminy Cricket]

Yep..

Quite good at what he does but is a fucking blert, can't stand how he waves his hands everywhere & drop a few grains of salt from 3m.

Ha ha ha haaaa! I was going to comment on this very point, but with the highly affected way he drops salad leaves from - as you say - a great height, as though it makes any fucking difference to the substance or appearance of the dish.

[ToneLa]

Tinned veg is underrated

My favourite cookery programmes are Wartime Farm and Wartime Kitchen & Garden. Insight into a time when want was a matter of fact, and people learned to make do.

I prefer how the Italian people learned to make do

Stanley Tucci Searching for Italy. One of the most inspiring food shows I've seen. As it's this boss fella wandering about learning.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0bncl3n/stanley-tucci-searching-for-italy

[gazzalfc]

His holier than thou approach to food is just a bit hypocritical. Working with Waitrose and Sainsburys and shoving his 'Italian serve it all on a platter in the middle of the table' down your throats.

But he's not the only one. TV chefs nowadays don't know what lane to be in. Tom Kerridge went viral last week by making a posh Raman with a pack of Super noodles for £1.50. He'll still go back to his Michelin star pub charging £150 for a 6 course tasting menu with £200 wine parings 

Gordon Ramsey recently opened his restaurant in Liverpool in ironically enough Jamie Olivers old place. Serving his beef wellington for £100 (for 2). But still does his tiktok critiques to appeal to the everyman

Jack Monroe getting shit from the tories for trying to hold supermarkets to account for increasing prices of 'value' food and proving that things should be better.

[Jiminy Cricket]

I'm going to attempt a partial defense of Jamie Oliver - but not because I like him; I don't - and his attack on supermarkets BYGOF (or similar deals) on unhealthy food.

If supermarkets are barred from offering such enticements (loss leaders) on shit food, they will almost certainly begin to offer similar enticements on other (healthier) foods. Of course people with little money will seek out cheaper food. Wouldn't it be nice if better (healthier) food was the better deal?

Supermarkets do not offer cheap (shit) food because they are trying to help their more economically disadvantaged customers. They offer these loss leaders because it makes good economic and marketing sense to do so. Competition and market forces will encourage supermarkets to come up with similar inducements to shop at their store.

We should not conflate the present problems with (food) inflation and the state of food for sale. Something akin to this was attempted in NY (on large soda drinks) a few years ago, only to be struck down as beyond the authority of  the regulatory body. As a society, should we allow the promotion (and sale) of food stuffs which barely count as 'food'? We already regulate such things of course. So, really, this is about where to draw lines. And, before anyone asks - although I try not to - I am as prone as your average consumer in buying and eating crap food.

But yeah, the timing is not great. Can't argue with that. At the same time though, the timetable was not of Oliver's making - the government dropped their plans to prevent BOGOF sales of shit food.

[RedSince86]

Never liked him, I remember the Naked Chef episodes and it looked like he had rent a mates in it every episode, just something about him seems all fake.

Pompous C* nt.

[Jiminy Cricket]

Never liked him, I remember the Naked Chef episodes and it looked like he had rent a mates in it every episode, just something about him seems all fake.

Pompous C* nt.

I vaguely recall seeing his show for the first time - it might have bean the very first episode. My only real memory of the show was the feeling of relief that he wasn't actually naked. Well, that, and finding him very irritating.

[ToneLa]

Most everyone here has had fish n chips yeah?

Maybe even made it yourself.

How is this recipe a "cheat" version. What. Read it. It's mad
Bacon. Higher welfare bacon only. Pestle and mortar. Cheat? What?

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/cheats-fish-and-chips/

You can mix things up on the veg front. I like to add frozen edamame and broad beans to the peas before smashing them, or roughly chopped fresh asparagus or green beans would work a treat, too. 

He also recommends adding anchovy. To fish and chips. THIS MAN MUST BE STOPPED

-

Also carbonara cake anybody? As a devotee of Marcella Hazan myself, this bloke has lost the plot. The recipe is not bad but what the hell is wrong with bowls and plates? Just look at the thing. It isn't a timballo mate.

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/carbonara-cake/



Ironically I think one reason people buy ready made food is chefs like Jamie Oliver.

[Dench57]

"Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spend it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. Here the tendency of which I spoke at the end of the last chapter comes into play. When you are unemployed, which is to say when you are underfed, harassed, bored, and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty'. There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you."

George Orwell, 1937

[Dench57]

If that makes you angry then check out the carbonara that Gordon Ramsey made in that show he was doing from home during lockdown. Absolute disgrace.

Jamie's egg fried rice

[Sangria]

Jamie's egg fried rice

Mein Gott, adding water to fried rice. The whole point of using day old rice is to allow it to dry out. The whole point of using MSG is to add umami without adding moisture. The only liquid used in fried rice is oil, and not olive oil or any other strong tasting oil. The only water present is that still in the rice, and in the egg. Idiot.

[Snail]

Mein Gott, adding water to fried rice. The whole point of using day old rice is to allow it to dry out. The whole point of using MSG is to add umami without adding moisture. The only liquid used in fried rice is oil, and not olive oil or any other strong tasting oil. The only water present is that still in the rice, and in the egg. Idiot.

[ToneLa]

Jamie's egg fried rice

That recipe is sh*t for c*nts

[rob1966]

Jamie's egg fried rice

Holy fuck - what a fucking pile of wank. My 13 yr old makes better fried rice than this wankstain

[ToneLa]

I don't know how you fuck up a recipe where the recipe is included in the name but here you go folks lovely jubbly jools escape from Essex whole you can love send us a PM but you're eating BIR curries and Hazan instructed pasta for a year

YOU CAN BE FREE

[Jiminy Cricket]

Jamie's egg fried rice

That was fun. I do enjoy a good take-down of celebrities. All the more so when taken apart for what they are apparently 'celebrated'.

Uncle Roger: You hear sizzling; I hear my ancestors crying.

[Elmo!]

Jamie's egg fried rice

 

I was going to say people are being too harsh on Oliver but I pre-emptively take it back.

[Jiminy Cricket]

I was going to say people are being too harsh on Oliver but I pre-emptively take it back.

Same. I've never been a viewer of  Oliver's shows because I instantly found him to be irritating. But good God, viewing a few bits now (and the take downs) - he's shit, isn't he!?

[Kenny's Jacket]

"Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spend it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. Here the tendency of which I spoke at the end of the last chapter comes into play. When you are unemployed, which is to say when you are underfed, harassed, bored, and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty'. There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you."

George Orwell, 1937

Thanks for posting that, a great read

[ToneLa]

Thanks for posting that, a great read

I saw that and thought about this March

I lost my dad on February. He's not dead. Alzheimers you see

I'm a lifelong fan of Orwell. Practically the only reason I'm not dead from my Universal Credit years is Down & Out.

[Jiminy Cricket]

I've been lead down a bit of rabbit hole from that link (above) to Uncle Roger's YT channel. UR refers to Oliver as Jamie Olive Oil - because his excessive use of the oil - and is generally hilarious. 'Usain Bolt of fucking up' - brilliant.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/slH6M6a98n4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/slH6M6a98n4</a>

[Jiminy Cricket]

Thanks for posting that, a great read

Yes. The usual complaints from the well-off about the poor not priorotising correctly. Like when people complain about a down-and-out drinking a beer or smoking a cigarette. Well, perhaps a beer or ciggy is all they have and yet there are those who would happily take them away from them.

[Elmo!]

I've been lead down a bit of rabbit hole from that link (above) to Uncle Roger's YT channel. UR refers to Oliver as Jamie Olive Oil - because his excessive use of the oil - and is generally hilarious. 'Usain Bolt of fucking up' - brilliant.

 

I also found myself going down this rabbit hole. I think this is my new favourite YT channel. I started watching the Gordon Ramsay egg fried rice review expecting a similar result, but it's just full of dunking on Jamie Oliver.   

[Anthony]

"Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spend it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. Here the tendency of which I spoke at the end of the last chapter comes into play. When you are unemployed, which is to say when you are underfed, harassed, bored, and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty'. There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you."

George Orwell, 1937

Strangely enough, from 2013...

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/george-orwell-s-lesson-for-jamie-oliver

Including the early part of the quote

'The miner's family spend only ten pence a week on green vegetables and ten pence half-penny on milk (remember that one of them is a child less than three years old), and nothing on fruit; but they spend one and nine on sugar (about eight pounds of sugar, that is) and a shilling on tea. The half-crown spent on meat might represent a small joint and the materials for a stew; probably as often as not it would represent four or five tins of bully beef. The basis of their diet, therefore, is white bread and margarine, corned beef, sugared tea, and potatoes - an appalling diet. '

The full chapter, from 'The Road to Wigan Pier' is at http://www.george-orwell.org/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier/5.html

[ToneLa]

First place I went in barca morning after arriving was Plaça de George Orwell

Ate a fat fucking peach in the market by there I will have you know. Fresh as fuck

Fully on board with Jamie "Whack It In" Oliver (used it be me n my exes drinking game, every time he changed a hoodie or said Whack it in - we both died of alcoholism twice) him being overwritten by George Orwell

I mean this thread has already shown George Orwell knew food better

Jamie Oliver adds unnecessary ingredients like a speed addict coming back from the Magnet trying to impress his exchange student girlfriend

[killer-heels]

Jamie's egg fried rice

Ha, he absolutely butchered egg fried rice more than Ramsey did to that carbonara. Chilli jam? Crazy.

Also, for a guy who preaches about us eating healthy, he made that dish instantly more expensive and instantly less healthy.

[killer-heels]

It’s nice with green vegetables, goes well with peas, asparagus and courgettes.

It’s not as if every recipe has to be the purist form either ffs, the whole point of watching these people cook is to give you ideas which would be fairly pointless if everyone just cooked the same thing.

On Oliver, it’s probably poor timing but I don’t disagree with his point generally. Of course healthy food should be more accessible but there does need to be a cut down on shite buy one get one free food, it shouldn’t be the case that people that can barely afford to eat have to buy that shite only to then end up developing obesity, diabetes and heart problems.

Peas dont go well with carbonara surely? They taste wrong considering all the stuff that goes in it, texture and their sweetness would surely mess it up?

If you do want to be a cultural appropriating c*nt about it then maybe put in some mushrooms in it. But even then you are probably slapping the Italian gods Mario, Luigi and Pavarotti in the face.

[Kenny's Jacket]

I saw that and thought about this March

I lost my dad on February. He's not dead. Alzheimers you see

I'm a lifelong fan of Orwell. Practically the only reason I'm not dead from my Universal Credit years is Down & Out.

Sorry to heat that mate.  Ive been through it with a loved one. Fucking horrible. 

I can recommend  Why Orwell Matters by Christopher Hitchens, if you havent read it already.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Orwell_Matters#:~:text=Why%20Orwell%20Matters%2C%20released%20in,biographical%20essay%20by%20Christopher%20Hitchens.

[Elmo!]

TO be honest, peas and/or asparagus in Carbonara sounds pretty good to me. HYowever I wouldn't try to claim it is still carbonara after adding them.