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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
whathellcall · 14/05/2011 14:33

I love Jamie. Am making loads from his Food Revolution book at the minute, made his recipe for vindaloo last night including making up the curry paste from scratch, and it was lovely, far nicer than any take away i've had. His recipes for chocolate chip cookies and bolognese sauce are great too.

NettoSuperstar · 14/05/2011 14:33

I have no intention of growing my own. There's far too many cats here and I'm petrified of slugs.
Besides that, I can't even keep herb plants alive for more than a week.

It's fine for JO to grow his own, mainly because he fucking doesn't, his gardener does!

TheFlyingOnion · 14/05/2011 14:34

WTF???? Jamie Oliver TOP SOIL????????

What the JEFF?????

TheFlyingOnion · 14/05/2011 14:35

I was additionally put off growing my own when I saw the dog licking the strawberries while they were STILL ON THE PLANT!!!

TheCrackFox · 14/05/2011 14:35

Jamie Oliver Top Soil?

FFS

That man is obsessed with cash.

MrsFlittersnoop · 14/05/2011 14:37

Tis most unpleasant watching the mega-rich flooby-tongued one lecture poor people about their crap diets. I really support his campaign for people to learn how to cook, but I blame the education system which stopped kids getting proper cookery lessons in school.

fatlazymummy · 14/05/2011 14:40

I make a point of never buying any celebrity endorsed product. That goes double for any Jamie Oliver vastly overpriced crap. He is already rich enough from his day job, just as the Beckhams don't need me buying their perfume.

microfight · 14/05/2011 14:40

More beta
I went to nisbits yesterday funnily enough, they used to be called pages, bought a 24 set of cutlery for every day use for £20. Excellent quality too.

pointydog · 14/05/2011 14:41

Many of his 30 minute meals are expensive, yes. I don't remember him ever saying they were not in the TV programmes.

MoreBeta · 14/05/2011 14:45

microfight - Nisbets really is fantastic. How did you find about them?

I've told DW that I am having a commercial kitchen fitted in our next house from Nisbets and a lock on the door. Grin

NettoSuperstar · 14/05/2011 14:46

I bought his flavour shaker doofer from a charity shop for a quid, put the stuff in, shook it and then couldn't get the bloody lid off so chucked it in the bin.

If you're reading this Jamie, I want my quid back.

TheCrackFox · 14/05/2011 14:48

The flavour shaker was voted the most pointless kitchen gadget ever a couple of years ago in The Caterer magazine (the one all the chefs read).

NettoSuperstar · 14/05/2011 14:52

T'was indeed a pile o' shite.

FessaEst · 14/05/2011 15:04

We had friends staying last night, and I did the 30 min chicken pie. As 4 chicken breasts would have come to over £8 alone, I bought 2 and made up the difference with leeks and mushrooms. Felt a bit tight but it worked fine and no-one seemed to notice - so there are ways of taking inspiration but bringing it in at lower cost.

ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 14/05/2011 15:04

Pmsl at Nigel Slater's hands - I think that would be a great MN name!

Jamoie O - can't stand him.

And they both look as if they need a good wash.

Then again - I've just got Nigella's Kitchen from the library and in the entire book I think there were perhaps four things that I fancied cooking/eating.

They have all lost touch with reality -

JO and Nigella because they both have books full of stupidly expensive ingredients and Nigel because he thinks people really can pop to the local market every day and live on tomatoes and icecream.

NettoSuperstar · 14/05/2011 15:09

I have Nigella's kitchen and have made a few things from there. It's quite good actually if you choose well.
I go for the cheaper end of the scale when picking a recipeGrin

I recommend the everyday brownies and the slut's spaghetti, I make both regularly, oh and the Spanish chicken too.

fatlazymummy · 14/05/2011 15:11

Really there isn't that much need for cook books nowadays anyway. There are millions of recipes on the internet. I agree all the celebrity chefs/cooks are more about selling a lifestyle than actual cooking.

ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 14/05/2011 15:11

Thanks Netto - am veggie which is probably not a great start when looking at a Nigella book!

I did fancy the Guiness Gingerbread though - have you made that?

TrillianAstra · 14/05/2011 15:17

I am making some of this tomorrow (just reminded as you mentioned recipes being on the internet)

NettoSuperstar · 14/05/2011 15:21

No, I read on here that the guinness gingerbread wasn't so good, and I rarely cook with alcohol either.

fatlazymummy · 14/05/2011 15:26

trillianAstra that looks absolutely delish. And so much better for not seeing Nigella slobbering all over it.

sonearsofar · 14/05/2011 15:27

Spudalika - well, I don't live anywhere near a Turkish or Asian supermarket. And neither do most people. I guess I could drive 10 miles into Bristol to go to one, but it seems a bit silly. I suppose I should have checked the book out before demanding to have it for Xmas.
The point is, it's not just him. I like Nigel Slater's recipes, but often have to wait until I'm going to the Waitrose in Stroud (which I don't do often) before I cook them as he often uses odd cheeses that nobody in Dursley has even heard of, let alone sells (e.g. pecorino).

microfight · 14/05/2011 15:28

Morebeta
I walk passed their shop all the time in central London. Have used them for years.

FattyAcid · 14/05/2011 15:30

I love Jamie and I liked the dream school experiment

Imo Jamie didn't need to be a trained teacher to be the head of this school. He had seen first hand what it is like to be disenfranchised from school - that was his qualification for the job. That and wanting to make a difference.

There is a massive number of children who finish secondary school functionally illiterate and inummerate and/or who have no qualifications whatsoever. Chefs aren't responsible for this, teachers are. If teachers know all the answers why are they still failing thousands of children every year?

coastgirl · 14/05/2011 15:31

FessaEst - see, I think using chicken breasts for a pie is absurd anyway! The best chicken pie is made from all the scraggy little bit you've picked off a roast chicken and is the third meal from that bird. Even using a free-range chicken you're probably not using more than £2 worth of meat doing it that way. If I bought chicken breasts (which I hardly ever do, they're stupidly expensive) I'd make something which took advantage of that cut of meat to its best.