The UK's Naked Chef Slams British Culture
Filed under: Anglophilia
One of Britain's own is fed up with the UK's boozing 'culture'.
Famous chef Jamie Oliver has given a candid interview to French publication Paris Match and he reveals his dismay that in his motherland, England, people were more interested in getting "drunk in pubs" than eating well.
When it was suggested by the French mag that the English can't savour food because they drink too much, Oliver responded:
"It's true. Historically we've never produced wine. We have a culture of alcohol and we're more beer orientated: the only people who drink more than us are the Irish and the Scottish."
The chef also said that the glory days of British cuisine were in the past:
"In the past British cuisine was similar to Italian cuisine nowadays, without the pasta and risotto. Steam cooking, grilled meat, herbs, spices - we used to cook fabulous dishes. It's all in the past! Unlike French people, and I regret it, we lost our traditions. In gastronomy, the world evolves and changes. And right in front of us, isolated from everything, you have France where nothing changes. It's not a judgement, it's an observation. In terms of grand restaurants, it seems to me that only one country competes with France, and that's Japan."
He also rails at some of his fellow Brits who splurge on material things and neglect 'food culture'. He gets worked up by the stat that 80% of the British do not even bother sitting round a table for dinner any more:
"It's true in the centre of London and in the big northern cities. It's linked to the new poverty. It's nothing to do with famine or war - quite the opposite. England is one of the richest countries in the world. The people I'm telling you about have huge TV sets - a lot bigger than mine! - they have state-of-the-art mobile phones, cars, and they go and get drunk in pubs at the weekend - their poverty shows in the way they feed themselves."
What do you think about the points he makes, Brits?
[Image via WENN.]
he looks a mess!
"…glory days of British cuisine.."???? He must be drunk.
I think Jamie Oliver's an arse. Society has far more pressing problems then whether or not people sit down to eat.
OMFG, HIS TEETH ARE DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who is he??? GROSS!!!!!
fix that goddamn grill bro!!!
Re: Andy27 –
hes got his own show on the cooking channel I believe
damn people in the uk do have bad teeth
hmmm…very interesting…
He makes some good points. I spent 3 years in London and I had only 3 meals (out of over 1000) that were better than bearable. And many of the dishes I had were so bad that I had to get drunk just to be able to finish them! But that was just my experience. Does anyone know of a delectable British dish (that I may have missed)?
I AM NOT BRITISH BUT I DON'T AGREE ALL THEIR POVERTY IS FROM DRINKING! CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG.
reminds me of austin powers' teeth…
He's right. *Sigh* I still love the Brits though…..
…yikes. And not to sound harsh but…WTF?
I think I'd drink if I lived in Great Britain, too.
Nasty place.
what about the swedes? a nation of alcoholics, i'm telling you
Well I'm Scottish and I dont drink that often, although I will admit the Scots do like to drink…I dont really like that comment though…maybe in England they are losing thier culture but in Scotland, we arent…England can have Jamie Oliver cos we have Gordan Ramsey who is Scottish =)
The Brits have bland taste. Everything there is beige or grey… like their teeth.
What the hell would be considered Britain Cuisine?
Preparing other cultures famous dishes seemingly well? Blah.
this guy should NOT smile!!!
I think the swedes are the ones that drink more than anyone in this planet!
Dearest Andy27. Abercorey, and all else whom this may concern,
I haven't been purposely ignoring you, nor am I upset at all. It's just hard for me to find time to be on here as much as I would like to. Tomorrow orning for sure I will be here, and you can do with me what you like, but for the rest of today I'll be on here sporatically.
I love you very much,
Your sweet bouge
i like to drink rather than eat nice foods
and own nice things too, gimme T- bell anyday
hoorayy im part British!!
hes really good cook but really stupid
I agree 100%. I love you Perezzito
Re: Andy27 – I think he calls himself "The Naked Chef"
I think I saw him on an episode of ER too.
BTW….I hit your MySpace.
he reminds me of beetlejuice as well….its not just Madonna…
Re: bouge – orning= morning
He's right in that people here are obsessed with drinking and don't care about food enough.
Almost as stupid as being obsessed with perfect Holywood teeth!
Re: bouge – Awwww!!! It's ok, princess. Just thought you were selling out or letting that troll (LettyB) intimidate you! Glad to see you're keepin it real. Corey and I will hold down the fort.
I lived in the UK, and I completely agree. One of the few decent meals I ever had was at his parent's pub in the middle of nowhere.
Londoners eat curries and takeaways every night. They eat at Pret or Starbucks for lunch. There is no culture of taking care of your body, only work hard and play hard.
The US is getting to be the same, but I completely agree with Jamie when he says 'our poverty is in how we feed our bodies'. One look at his 'Jamie's School Dinners' program, and what those kids would actually eat tells you the truth about nutrition in both the US and the UK.
Agree with him! I Heart Jamie Oliver - he's bettering the country one chip at a time!
THIS IS THE FACE OF SOCIALIZED HEALTHCARE!! YAY COME TO AMERICA PLEASE!! MAN I CANT WAIT TILL WE GET IN ON THIS GREAT THING CALLED SOCIALIZED MEDICINE!! WOO HOOO partay!
i'm english, living in scotland. thats so stereotypical of him to say that - in my experience the english drink just as much as the scots. and to be honest, what he's saying about this new poverty stuff, and what perez has said before about brits on holiday - that may be a large number of our population, but just because you never hear about them, it doesnt mean there isn't a massive amount of completely civilised people living here who eat decent food, together etcetc.
it is true though that there isn't much anymore in the way of traditional british food.
Re: bouge –
we'll miss you baby
Re: HeebieJeebie – U hit my MySpace?
Re: Raj – i think that Germans drink more than any other! I sometimes (usually morning time) wish I wasn't German…damn headaches! Blech!
I think some of the comments he makes are very accurate and connected to American's as well. We'll spend a fortune to have the best gadgets, but to sit down and have well balanced and interesting meals is an attrocious thought! God forbid we pride health and well-being over the need to "keep up with the jones'"
eh…who cares….plus he talks like a baby with that lisp. And british food is not so good.
Re: MissFii – I THINK ENGLAND HAS TRIED TO TAKE AWAY SO MANY COUNTRIES CULTURES, MABE THEY DON'T HAVE ONE OF THEIR OWN ANYMORE. I KNOW THE FORCED WELSH PEOPLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH AND TRIED TO MAKE THEM GET RID OF THEIR OWN NATIVE LANGUAGE AT ONE POINT, I'M JUST SAYING.
The guy needs to stop being so up his own arse! Just because it's not realistic to cook grand dinners everyday is not necessarily an awful thing! Not everyone has as much of an interest in food as he has!
Oh and for god sakes do something with those teeth. I mean really.
Re: HeebieJeebie – How on earth did you find me on there?
There is NO cuisine in Britain. It's all slop…disgusting. They have bad teeth because they don't have a good diet that includes fruits and vegetables. They eat fatty food and that's it.
IS IT JUST ME OR DO ANDY27 AND ABERCOREY MAKE READING THE COMMENTS WORTH IT?
Re: Andy27 – FUCK OFF YOU POSER FAG BITCH! DON'T USE MY FUCKING NAME UNLESS YOU CAN TALK TO ME DIRECTLY YOU FUCKING WIMP!
They have a strong pub culture there, because in English cities, it's all in walking distance.
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The US has less "pub culture" but more DUIs, I'd expect. Someone will no doubt post with some figures to prove me right or wrong.
hes a dick who needs to let his hair down!
Re: aryssabrooke – that's not true - there is a MASSIVE 'culture' here as far as taking care of your bodies is concerned. all the people you hear about on the news, getting drunk all the time, eating shit food etc, without being snooty, it's pretty much mostly the chavs. you don't read a single magazine over here without seeing articles about health, fitness etc. and they wouldn't be published unless there was a great demand for them.
WTF? Jamie Oliver you absolute wang.
The English are renowned for getting wasted and ruining everything from sporting events to holidays abroad… how dare he say the Irish drink more.
We actually don't, and if we do, er certainly don't cause as much trouble as you brits.
Loud mouthed assholes.
OBVIOUSLY not all English people are that way, but for the chavy football loving idiots… go away. Drink yourselves to deathf or all the rest of the world cares.
"The only people who drink more than us are the Irish and the Scottish"
You ever been to a Russian bar? No? Didn't think so.
They like INVENTED vodka!
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. I agree with his observation! …and id rather ride my Ducati than eat overated expensive food that im going to shit out in an hour, Yes fine dinning is over rated P Nast! put the fork down bitch!
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whyn is Andy 27 responding to this? he's not even british.
Andy 27 is a mentally ill unemployed loser who has no future and spends his life commenting about shit he knows fuck all about.
as a middle class british person, i totally agree with jamie.