Jamie Oliver webchat, Thursday 29 August, 2.45pm

[GeraldineMumsnet]

We're chuffed that Jamie Oliver is paying a return visit to Mumsnet this Thursday. His first MN webchat was back in 2010.

Jamie has a new book out, Save with Jamie: Shop Smart, Cook Clever, Waste Less (all subjects dear to MNers' hearts). It has 100 brand-new recipes designed to be accessible, reliable and, above all, affordable.

This is what Jamie says about his new book: "For years I have been telling people that if you look back through history, the best food in the world has always come from communities under massive financial pressure. But the proviso is that you MUST be able to cook! If you can't, and have no money, that is where the trouble starts. This is a cook book which, from start to finish has tasty recipes, all dedicated to great value, is a brilliant weapon to have on the shelf, and is relevant to every household. If you use this book the way it's intended, you should end up saving a wodge of cash from your wallet."

And to tie in with the book, he has a new six-part series on Channel 4 starting on Monday 2 Sept at 8pm.

Please post your question and join Jamie for a chat at 2.45pm on Thurs.

i've had to skip lots of pages in order to get to the end in time.

jamie - my question is have you actually read this thread and the other thread on here about you and your comments about televisions? if so, have you learnt anything from them? or is it just jolly pukka hilarious that you've upset so many people and added fuel to the already hideous fire of misinformation that is aimed at burning poor people at the stake?

i really, really hope you have actually bothered to read stuff with an open mind and reflect upon it.

as a subquestion i'd ask whether you think it is really appropriate for multi millionaires to lecture the poor on how they should spend their money or whether you can see that that might be, at least, in poor taste?

and yes for the record i am not fat, i don't feed my child endless processed food and i don't have a big screen tv. i just happen to have empathy and a few brain cells.

The one chance I get to make my views heard and I am not preventing anybody else from doing the same.

Apologist.

Oo-er

Hi Jamie, I do admire your enthusiasm in everything - it's good to be passionate! I spend a lot of time in Abruzzo, Italy and have learned a lot about Italian cooking. I'm not sure what your new series and recipes are like, but I have found with previous shows you have too many flavours sometimes! Sorry, I'm being picky (Italian rule of no more than 4 or 5 flavours) and I don't have more than a certain amount of ingredients in the fridge/cupboard at a time. Are your new recipes simpler (in terms of ingredients)?

Only an hour to go...

I hope he can type fast.

SomersetHouse, she's not alone in being cynical and a bit fed up with this approach to social reform.

I'm not skinny (still overweight despite losing almost 4 stone up to now) nor am I poor. I can afford to do all of my food shopping in the local supermarket and bring it all home in a taxi if I chose to. I don't because a) it's pointless spending the extra money for poorer quality food when I get better and cheaper on my doorstep and b) I like the exercise factor of lugging back from Tesco huge sacks of pasta and other things I can't get locally.

I am annoyed because what he said is patronising and insulting to my peers. The people I live and work with each day who are less fortunate than me. Speaking about people that way won't help anyone, it will only cause them to become defensive and more determined that their way is right and yours is wrong.

We've recently changed our diet from being mediocre (health wise) e.g a fairly balanced mix of convenience foods, take aways and good home cooked food, to mostly home cooked fresh food and it is more expensive, despite me having access to a great family butcher (who even gives me cooking and recipe tips) and a grocer who knows how much dd2 loves her bananas and will save the almost out of date ones for us because he knows she'll eat them all before they go off. Ditto strawberries, if I go in early he'll let me buy yesterday's strawberries for half the price of today's fresh strawberries.

Even with all of that help, preparing a meal for 6 children from scratch is still more expensive than sticking a 99p Tesco Value frozen Pizza in the oven with a half a bag of 99p Tesco Value frozen chips and a 6p fromage frais, which is what they are all eating today, as I am on a tighter than normal budget this week and unexpectedly ended up with 4 more mouths to feed when I had to mind my sister's children this afternoon.

Rather serendipitously following Abruzzen here with my question....(which I suppose isn't really one)

You are always going on about Italy, and ingredients, and how wonderful it is etc.....I have lived in the south of Italy for the past 19 years (outing myself here under my newish mumsnet id possibly ) but everything COSTS A BLOODY FORTUNE! (OK, so peas cost about a penny a kilo for the 2 weeks they are in season......but you get my drift) So could you be a bit more realistic about Italian food? It's not cheap, and it's not always perfect either. I have yet to find any meat in Italy comparable to British meat.

I am also bored rigid with Italian recipes. Can you go to Spain please next and do a big fat book? (I know Rick got there first but I do like your bish bosh recipes) I could come along as a researcher

social piss take, not social reform.

honestly i don't believe he is really aiming anything at the people he claims to be. it's aimed at raking in the audience and attention of people who enjoy a good old fashioned 'freak show' form of entertainment which in modern times generally involves tutting and knicker hoisting at the poor and uneducated.

the vast majority of 'poor' people in this country are hard working, decent people with a good level of education compared to what we'd have had 50 years ago and good ethics and morals. they are normal people stuck in low income traps.

but hey lets focus on the JK style shockers and continue with the pretence that poverty is self inflicted and deserved and the domain of the lazy, feckless, thick and preferably fat wide screen tv owners.

Summerhouse I think you might be being rather rude too.

MN WEBCHAT GUIDELINES 1. One question per member plus a follow-up question if appropriate, ie once you've had a response. 2. Keep your question brief 3. Don't be disappointed if your specific question doesn't get answered and do try not not to keep posting "What about me?". 4. Do be civil/polite. See guidelines in full here.

Hi Jamie love your work!

Quick question abouthe book, are these ones that can be done after work quickly?

pukka !

I don't care if he replies actually. I am stating my views and the opinions of the patients from the young persons group I run w/ my patients. He (or his PR team) may read the,m or they may not. Replies are irrelevant and I won't even be 'here' for the chat as have D/V's.

It is something I feel passionate about and I am not blocking anybody. Don't be silly.

And 'she' was the cats Mother.

I was wondering how the school dinners campaign was going. I feel that in a bid to be 'healthy' catering companies have cut portion sizes to lower calorie content, rather than providing hearty meals.

I live in Glasgow and my daughters have school dinners everyday. They have a boiled egg and soldiers or cereal for breakfast and school lunch is either a single hot dog, a small chicken/beef/halal burger or a sandwich with tuna/cheese/ham. They get a small pot of jelly for afterwards. Fortunately they can also get a small cup of vegetable soup.

They are so hungry when they finish school, i have to appear with fruit and a cheese sandwich.

When i was at school we had mince, tatties, cabbage followed by enormous bit of sponge and custard. We were not hungry. This was the 70's. Why can't we do this in 2013?

What is your favourite cheese ??

alikat - if the damn store is 3 miles away and you have small children, or arthritis or ME or the path is thick with snow and ice for 6 weeks of the year then all the time in the world isn't going to make it any more accessible.

Why is everyone going on about the big tv comment? He doesn't have to make his cook books accessible for everyone. All this 'can the poorest ever person cook all your meals for one grout?' guff.

Hi Jamie,

I'd like to which ready made grocery items are the biggest rip off in your eye - which it would be easy to swap for something much cheaper without too much effort (my friend has saved £40 so far by growing her own salad this year rather than buying it bagged - any other tips like this?)

Thanks . :)

Exactly googietheegg, JO is not responsable for world poverty.

Bloody ridiculous everyone blaming him for the state of the economy, the weather, their income and the number of children they have and whether they have time to cook.

If you do not like it, do not read it, but some of us do and like JO and have enjoyed countless healthy recipies because of him and appreciate the things he has done to change things for the better.

Jamie
Do your kids cook with you, and would you consider doing a cook book with basic recipes for preteens?

Has Jamie arrived yet? My question is this - do you employ a PR company at all? Just wondering what the intended strategy is with the inflammatory comments, given the huge backlash over the TV comments and now the 'lazy Brits' comment too.