I entered the highly acclaimed Jamie’s Italian in the Birmingham Bullring and I can’t help but be amazed by how far Jamie Oliver has come from his years as the Naked Chef host till today, most especially for breaking the world record on the 16th of May 2014, the Food Revolution Day when he cooked up a Guinness world record for the largest ever cookery lesson. A restaurateur, celebrity chef, media personality, campaigner and author, Jamie was born 38 years ago at Clavering Essex. He started cooking at age eight helping his parents out in their pub at Essex. He left school and went on to Westminster Catering College, with the hope of becoming the best pasta chef. After graduating he went to work in France then at Antonio Carluccio's Neal Street Restaurant, London and later at the iconic River Café in London. The fabled chef was discovered by a Television producer while featuring in a River Café’s documentary on BBC Two. He was offered his own television show soon after the documentary on BBC Two which was called The Naked Chef. Jamie has become phenomenon in the world of cooking, he is one of the most beloved TV personalities and he has made a lot of impact on both British and American diet. He has taught and encourages people to select healthier choices, eat higher welfare chicken and cook from scratch.
I decided to sit outside as the sun has been nice enough to show its pretty, much anticipated face after months of winter. There comes the waiter ready to take my order looking as happy as a lark, I looked at the selection on offers and the prices next to them which does not seem like my everyday price but just for a day I am allowed to treat myself. I decided to go for the specials recommended by the waiter which is baked trout with cherry tomato, red chillies and herbs which costs more than £10.
Meanwhile I decided to take in the environment while the waitress gets my meal. The word food culture came to mind, making me to remember Jamie Oliver as the “Naked Chef”. Food culture is the attitudes, practices, and rituals surrounding food. Of course, if anyone has earned the right to hold forth on British food culture it is the opinionated Oliver. If his influence were simply measured in sales and viewers, he would be one of the most significant chefs of his generation – Jamie's 30 Minute Meals was the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time. With the concept behind the Naked Chef as stripping food down to its bare essentials, Jamie was selected because of his hands-on style and general laidback outlook which inspires everyone to cook. Due to the success of the first series a second and third one were also broadcast and the three seasons came with tie-in books with the same title. The books were instant bestsellers and Jamie won himself a BAFTA Award. Later in 2001 he took his cookery shows on the road in several theatres both in UK and Australia. In that same year he cooked for Tony Blair and then Italian Prime minister at Downing Street. He also started writing recipes for Saturday Times. Jamie was made the face of Sainsbury’s supermarket from 2000 till 2011 because of his energy and lovable character.
In a bid to give back to the catering industry he set up the Fifteen Foundation', a charity which trains unemployed young adults to become professional chefs. The opening of the restaurant was accompanied by the series "Jamie's Kitchen" and a book both of which were successful. The restaurant won two awards and Jamie was awarded an MBE in 2003 for his contribution to the hospitality industry. Due to the poor state of school dinners in UK schools, Jamie went back to school with the aim of educating and motivating the kids and dinner ladies to enjoy cooking and eating healthy. Oliver's Channel 4 series Jamie's School Dinners in 2005 exposed how much unhealthy food pupils were served at school at lunch times and prompted the government to invest in the school dinner. While the series prompted a public outcry for change to the school meals system some parents rejected it saying he is dictating to them. Being aware that such good deeds have not led to universal approval, he gave up trying to please everyone. Jamie believes his school dinner project is his proudest achievement. The project saw reduction in fast food shops opening near schools in order to prevent its sales, schools cooking from scratch, the quality and varieties of food on offer improve and students making healthier choice.
In 2007 Jamie wanted to share all he knew about Italian cuisine with the
world and decided to open a restaurant that reflects the passionate, humble and
sociable attitude of Italians towards food. Jamie’s Italian was born in May
2008 at Oxford. He went on to expand the restaurant to other locations in the
UK, one of which I am sitting now. When the fish I ordered came it seems like
the chef wanted to give it a last chance to swim as there was loads of water
from the cooking on the plate which is not thickened enough to make a sauce and
it was served with whole cherry tomato. With its amateurish look and not so nice
taste I can conclude that the chefs need to be ameliorated.
Jamie’s first major series for America television
"Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" premiered on ABC in March 2010; he
appeared on Oprah to launch the campaign and also carried out high profile interviews.
The programme led to the introduction of “food revolution day” which is now in
its third year, a global day of action to keep cooking skills alive. It’s about
celebrating the importance of cooking good food from scratch and raising
awareness of how it impacts our health and happiness with a believe that
everyone should know about food and it starts with getting kids food smart,
making cooking fun and inspiring a love of food. If this food culture can
spread across the land like the bloom on a soft-ripened cheese, it has the
power to cure a lot of what ails us.
The
accompanying book to Jamie's 30 Minute Meals TV programme became Jamie's best-
selling book to date. 15-minute meals book tie-in with his Channel 4 programme
of same title where he creates two 15minutes meals in half an hour pushes the
concept of fast, everyday food to the next level. The book is also accompanied
by an app on iTunes which won Webby Award in the Lifestyle.
Jamie has a huge social media presence. He believes
that it is important to create dialogue and he uses Facebook, YouTube and
twitter to get people from around the globe involved in his campaigns. He team
up with celebrity chefs using his YouTube channel “Food Tube” to teach people
how to cook. He also has the Jamie Oliver’s home cooking skills website where
he upload recipes and videos that teaches people different cooking skills. The
Harvard school of public health award him “the Healthy cup” as a result of his
accomplishment in reducing obesity both at local and at international level.
Jamie Oliver is no longer
just the Naked Chef; he is now an iconic brand with numerous paeans of praise
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