What Jamie Oliver Had to Say

           

Thanks to a super sweet (and cute!) husband, who scoured Craigslist for tickets, went to a stranger's home to pick them up, made dinner for the family and took the youngest boy to guitar, I was able to see Jamie Oliver speak last Thursday.

It's hard not to be smitten with Jamie (and my husband!), with his boyish good looks, charming accent and complete devotion to food, family and feeding people well.  As the first words came out of his mouth, I was completely absorbed in what he had to say, and my inner nerd broke loose as I took fifteen pages of notes based on his seemingly honest answers to the many questions posed to him.

I wanted to share some of what he had to say, with you.  So, here goes:

:: The most romantic dinner he made for a lady (who happened to be his wife) was a Valentine's dinner he cooked naked.  With a bow tied around his manly parts.

:: He has eaten a lamb's bumhole.  And doesn't recommend it.

:: When food sales are analyzed the results state that a majority of our food purchases come from packaged foods.  Except at Thanksgiving and Christmas, when almost everything we eat is homemade.

:: His favourite foods to eat are chilies. He describes them as natural morphine, a metabolic gem (speeds it up by 25%) and he enjoys a 2cm nibble each morning, which gives him a far better kick than any espresso.

:: If forced to choose between local and organic, his preference lies with local.  He deems it clever, quicker, more nutritious and the option that offers up the "best of the area".  Organic is more about working with nature and elimination pesticides. But given the choice he would choose local and organic when possible.

:: Jamie's dream food truck would be one that offers healthier, homemade versions of popular street food.

:: He has a deep belief that every sixteen year old should leave school knowing how to budget, shop and cook no less than 10 meals.

:: He doesn't consider himself a "food nazi".  He loves a good cake and wants people to enjoy it once and a while.  He also believes we need to keep sugar in the proper foods, and not in everything we eat.

:: If he had to choose, his last meal would be his mother's roast chicken.  Not because it's the best, but it's the most nostalgic.

:: He conditions his hair with olive oil.

:: The most rewarding part of his job? Meeting families who go from being a non-cooking family to being one who eats dinner and cooks together.

:: He's working on a documentary about the massive problem between food and the sea.

:: You only really need three knives in a kitchen in order to cook well; 8 or 9" chopper, 12" carving knife and a small paring knife.  The rest is gravy.

:: The best way to start a food revolution in your home?  Learn to cook.  Not from a book, a TV show, or the internet (although they can be helpful resources), but learn to cook from a person who knows how. Either a grandma, a neighbour a chef or a cooking class.  But go elbow to elbow with another person and learn the love that goes into food.

Are you a Jamie fan?  What are your favourite Jamie recipes?  Do you have any of his cookbooks?

 

 

Comments

[Stacey]

Sounds like a great talk. I loved Jamie's Food Revolution. Even my husband took an interest in it. He was trying to change the food in the school system. I can't remember what city it was in, but it was in the US somewhere. Honestly, it was quite an eye opener - bad choices to save a buck sort of thing. He also put on town cooking lessons and worked really hard trying to get people to change the way they thought about cooking and eating and spending that time together as a family.

The town had coffins that were humungous because the average person was obese and wouldn't fit into a regular coffin. Super scary stuff. But Jamie had such compassion and you could just tell that he really cared. I really enjoyed watching it. So much, that I got his latest cookbook and it's awesome. A lot of english style dishes. Everything I've made so far has been really good. Trying to cook more from fresh. He sounds like a great guy - glad you enjoyed the talk. And thanks for sharing!

[Mom]

Great post!
Mom

[Heather]

I love 'Food Revolution' - I'm always amazed at how little elementary kids know about vegetables - they had no idea what broccoli and a tomato were. I'm thankful that he is doing so much good with the power he has. I'm also thankful for 2 grandmas, countless aunts, and a mom who are all fantastic cooks!

[Jan Scott]

Wasnt food revolution great?  My kids watched with us and they were so sad.  Lucky for you to come from a family of cooks!

[Jan Scott]

We loved the Food Revolution, too.  All four of us.  It was a great talk and I love his passion for feeding people well.

[Eatdinner]

Love this interview! I quoted the line about starting your own food revolution at home in my recent post on family dinner. http://bit.ly/glRhLR

[groundhog.judy]

I liked the comment about learning to cook with someone and I thought of my grandmother and the little things she taught me about being a better cook.