Food. It's one of those things that we all need for survival, so you'd think that people would look at it in the same way. Not so. Some people don't care what they eat, food is only good for satisfying a hunger. But food does so much more. It can satisfy an emotion, a craving... food can be an experience. Now now, don't turn away, I'm not going to go into one of my "food is an experience" rants about my philosophy on food... I could, but I won't. But just give me a minute.
We all have to eat, right? So why do we fill ourselves up with tasteless, cheap fake food, when the real thing can be so easy to prepare and can be so incredibly satisfying? And not only that, generally, it can be good for you and satisfy your body's needs... so why wouldn't we go for the fresh, organic, minimally processed foods? The answers I hear to that question range from "I can't cook" (yes, you can) or "I have no time to cook" (yes, you do) or "It's just too complicated" (yes, it can be... but that's easily worked around) to the very interesting "I'm not a pansy ass cook... I eat frozen food" (ummm... okay. To this day I still have no idea what that meant).
In a former life, I trained in one of Canada's culinary schools. Yes, I wore one of those white hats and yes I walked around with a tool kit full of knives. And there, I found my philosophy on food. And a few years later, Jamie Oliver burst onto the scene with his first show The Naked Chef, espousing the same kind of philosophy. Fresh. Flavourful. Simple. I found a kindred spirit among the celebrity chefs who never quite hit the mark.
Forget Emeril with his "Bam!" or Gordon Ramsey with his string of expletives, Jamie Oliver has a more natural, fluid and organic way of looking at food. Working in his father's pub by age 8, Oliver comes from a culinary family... his father and grandfather were both chefs. Oliver started Culinary school at age 16 and by his early twenties he was making his mark on the London food scene. The fates had another plan for him, and through producer Patricia Llewellyn, Jamie Oliver, the television chef was born.
From his first series The Naked Chef (no he wasn't naked, the food was) to his current series Jamie at Home, Oliver's way of presenting food hasn't changed. In the midst of his growing television and book career, Oliver's also opened a handful of restaurants, written about a dozen books, and designed a line of cookware, Oliver's also gives a lot back. He gives disenfranchised teens a chance to make something of themselves by training them to be chefs at his London restaurant Fifteen, in the series Jamie's Kitchen and he's taken on the British government and school systems in an attempt to bring better quality food to students in British schools in the series Jamie's School Dinners. Jamie Oliver has taken his passion, talent and flair with food and created an empire.
Jamie Oliver on The Hour.
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