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AIBU?

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Original poster

to wonder if Jamie oliver has lost touch with reality

171 replies

ThatVikRinA22 · 14/05/2011 11:08

dont get me wrong, i am a massive fan of his 30 minute meals,

but last week i went to do the cod dish - £10.20 on the fish alone

just been to get meat to do the Sunday roast one - fillet of beef for 4 people would have been £20 for 4 people - for the meat alone

the woman in Tesco behind the fish counter said "he is a pain in the arse and thinks everyone is a millionaire".

a few weeks ago i would have said not, but looking at the prices for some of the meals....he argues that convenience food is just as expensive. it bleeding well is not! its not half as nice i admit but aibu in thinking that he has lost touch with what normal everyday people can afford?

OP posts:
Longtalljosie · 14/05/2011 12:09

Nigel Slater's 30 minute cook is a much better bet. Although it can be a bit calorie-laden...

BendyBob · 14/05/2011 12:55

Just recalling the 'Jamie Oliver At Home' (I know, I knowGrin) party I went to a few months ago.

If ever there was proof that Jamie had lost touch with reality it was at that. The cost of the stuff was absurd. If I go to those sorts of things I usually buy something small at least, but honestly it was so £££.

scaryteacher · 14/05/2011 13:02

I prefer Nigella Express if I want something quick, or can always concoct something with pasta.

However, JO made a huge difference to the school meals debate, and if this was carried through and meals were as nutritious and tasty as they could be (although my treat was always cheesy chips on a Friday after double Year 11 and I needed them), then behaviour in the classroom and thus learning, would be improved exponentially....fond memories of picking certain lads off my classroom ceiling after they'd had 3 cans of Red Bull for breakfast.

expatinscotland · 14/05/2011 13:08

IMO, after Naked Chef, he lost touch.

Jamie at Home. Yeah, 'home' being a massive mansion with a huge amount of land and at least one full-time gardener.

JeremyKylesPetProject · 14/05/2011 13:16

I love Jamie. He turned my friends life around and gave her a chance when others had written her off. In regards to his recipe books like others have said they are designed for a quick but need to impress fix.

JeremyKylesPetProject · 14/05/2011 13:18

Nigel Slaters recipes look divine. I love watching his supper slot on BBC1 between programmes.

Honeybee79 · 14/05/2011 13:21

Hmm well he certainly knows how to make a lot of money. Who's the fool there? Not him.

He is awful though and I really disliked his dream school, esp coming from a man who isn't a teacher or educational professional and has sod all experience of running a school or working in a school. Yet he thinks he knows better than people who do.

NettoSuperstar · 14/05/2011 13:26

Nigel's Real Fast Food is good, but he gives me the creeps on TV.

sonearsofar · 14/05/2011 13:27

Most cook books written by big name cooks annoy me now. They assume that, as someone else has said, you live near Borough market in London, or Islington, as there is generally an ingredient in the dish that you just know you're not going to be able to get - by far the worst is Ottanghi - beautiful food but impossible ingrediants. The response to this (I've actually complained about this on the Delia Smith website - how sad is that) is that I should buy ingredients mail order (wtf).
I usually use Nigel Slater or the old 3 part Delia Smith that I've had for 30 years.

TheFlyingOnion · 14/05/2011 13:30

I find JO madly irritating. I just can't listen to that horrid cheeky chappie spiel he does, he's become a parody of himself.

I went to a JO party once, which was toe-curlingly awful. The price of the stuff was Shock Shock Shock

All these Hugh F-W, Nigella types are just lifestyle-porn

Animation · 14/05/2011 13:31

YES! He's lost touch with the PRICE of food. Some of his dishes are completely unrealistic. The last meal I watched he was slapping various pieces of fish and prawns into a dish and I thought there must be over 20 quids worth of fish in there. It might be quick but it's expensive!

NettoSuperstar · 14/05/2011 13:34

Oh that show JO did when he went to America and insisted on calling them all brother.
I wanted to rip that fat tongue right out of his mouth just to make him stop.

Icelollycraving · 14/05/2011 13:39

I really liked a few of his books when he was first around. I do not like his holier than thou attitude,I thought the dream school idea was patronising,who is he to talk about education?
I know a lot of people have said 30 min meals take considerably longer.

Animation · 14/05/2011 13:42

I like his cheeky chappie spiel - he's very good at that - they have to keep talking. I couldn't do it.

TheFlyingOnion · 14/05/2011 13:45

Has he put on quite a bit of weight over the last few years? Probably all that olive oil (oops just wrote oliver oil - how long before he starts producing his own??), but makes those trips to Rotherham to lecture the fatties look a bit suss imo.

Animation · 14/05/2011 13:47

Oliver Oil ! Grin

Spudulika · 14/05/2011 13:47

YABU

His recipes aren't 'budget' recipes. Neither are they supposed to be particularly expensive. The point is that fish costs a fortune in the UK, as does good quality meat and most fruit and veg.

The only way to create cheap meals is to use lots and lots of 'filler' ingredients: potatoes, pasta, rice. And use the cheapest meat cut into small bits so it goes further. Sad

Oh, and his own brand dried pasta is lovely. Really really lovely. Especially the spaghetti. As good as De Cecco any day.

I lurve Jamie. Think he is ageing so well. He's turning into Pa Larkin.

ivykaty44 · 14/05/2011 13:48

I have his 30 minute meals book and I have adapted the meat and adjusted the recipes to fit my weekly budget. Frozen cod in lidl and different cuts of meat or substitue or leave out choritzo sausage as it maybe really nice but it all adds to the price.

His ministry of food was far better really for everyday cooking Smile

Spudulika · 14/05/2011 13:50

"by far the worst is Ottanghi - beautiful food but impossible ingrediants."

Love Ottolenghi's recipes. And all the ingredients are easy to source if you live in an ethnically diverse area. You don't need borough market. You just need a Turkish or Asian supermarket and there are plenty of those round where I live.

NettoSuperstar · 14/05/2011 13:53

Well yes, but I live in a small Scottish shite town.

MoreBeta · 14/05/2011 13:54

The question is if you were stuck on a desert island whch cook would you want with you as your '(WoMan Friday). I'd have Nigella.

She always seems a bit more of a one for feral hog roast and luscious coconut ice cream to me.

Animation · 14/05/2011 13:58

If I was on a desert island I'd want one of the Italian Stallion Chefs.

TheFlyingOnion · 14/05/2011 14:03

Hugh F-W as he can kill and gut animals, catch fish and make interesting stuff from nettles.

He's not much in the eye candy department, but I probably still would Smile

bronze · 14/05/2011 14:07

H F-W for me too

JeremyKylesPetProject · 14/05/2011 14:10

Any Lorraine Pasquale fans. I used to get up on Saturdays JUST to watch her baking. Yum yum yum.

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