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.
I'm Welsh and just sat down for dinner with my family, no problem.
Dumb Americans reading, please take heed, our drinking age is 3 years lower than yours (Bahaha, unlucky) so 'family time' ends lower in the UK as once you're 18 you can go out and party party with your friends instead of doing whatever you lot do, inbreed? Eat fried chicken out of buckets? Elect retarded leaders? Involve yourself in other countries' affairs? Whatever, take your pick.
And btw, what would you call American Cuisine?
Re: Uker – CAUSE HE'S A FUCKING IDIOT!
Re: KayKay!!! – haha- i'm with you- they are funny bc they don't give a shit!
just to clarify it, he is talking about english culture more than anything,
so technically! its not britain.
i just dont like people thinking that britain is just england and a few big towns in england called scotland, wales and northern ireland.
naked chef?
Re: LettyB – You're a slight dumbass aren't you?
The English has never forced the Welsh to speak English? In northern Wales, Welsh is still the first language and in the south it is compulsory to learn it at school from the age of 3/4 to 16 and take a GCSE level in it.
I agree with what Jamie Oliver speaks about in these quotes but the wrap the British culture is getting from American's is over the top. European holiday destinations are within a couple of hours flight from the UK and don't cost a lot, in comparison to American 'spring break' and all that shit, it just so happens that we can afford to travel to other countries for holidays. America is near nowhere.
Had fish 'n chips for dinner today. Not exactly a culinary experience, but it did the job.
Have you seen their people?? Its all true! And um, British food is gross.
I'd have to agree with Jamie Oliver. What else can you say about a country whose national foods include "spotted dick," "toad in a hole" and Yorkshire pudding! About the only thing Brits know in terms of food is 20 different ways to make meat ans sausages and how to boil the flavor out of vegetables. And the only way they cook things is by frying and using NO spices! Pretty lame and pathetic!! People certainly don;t go to England for the food. And please, Brits, learn to fucking take care of your damn teeth!!!
I have to say Italy has better restaurants than France does. French people are on the dirty side. French people actually fart at dinner in nice restaurants. I have never seen anything like it. The French are so low classed.
I'm not British, but I have to say that the gastropubs that are peppered about London serve some really good food and not all Brits have the fug teeth…
This is too funny. I'd like to hazard a guess that over 50% of the people commenting on how awful Britain is haven't been out of their countries, let alone visited Britain. I'm Scottish and absolutely gobsmacked at how narrow minded some peoples comments are! Firstly, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England are countries that make up the United Kingdom. They all have their fair share of wasters who drink too much and eat crap. America has their fair share of people like this too, so how anyone can get high and mighty and say they "we" all eat rubbish is hilarious. Secondly, from a purely Scottish perspective, we have some amazing national dishes and let's not forget world reknowned whisky. In Edinburgh where I am we have some wonderful restaurants. I do agree with a comment about how he's mainly aiming his claims at "chavs". I've been to America many times and I think I've seen more than my fair share of obese people. I'm also first to admit, as a culture, we are definitely catching you guys up! I get more than my fair share of my 5 a day fruit and veg.
Re: Dumblegower – I AM DUMB MY GRANDMOTHER IS FROM THERE YOU FUCKING IDIOT AND I HAVE MANY COUSINS THERE WHO I SPEAK TO FREQUENTLY! DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE TERM WELCHED AS IN WELCHED ON A BET COMES FROM. IT COMES FROM WHEN THE "ENGLISH" TEACHER WOULD GIVE CANDY TO A WELSH STUDENT WHO TOLD ON ANOTHER WELSH STUDENT FOR SPEAKING WELSH! THEY WOULD SAY YOU "WELSHED"! YES NOW THEY HAVE BROUGHT BACK THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE AND RIGHTFULLY SO! CYMRU AM BYTH!
lol what is englands national food anyways?? black pudding/? i always used to think briitish people ate boiled cabbage and silverside lmao
Re: Obnoxious Joe – you need to try things like shepherds pie, toad in a hole, cornish pasties. real hearty british food.
The way we eat in england isnt as bad as he makes it out to be, my family eats healthily and so do alot of other families i know…anyways we shouldnt be worried about the food we eat compared to the 24 stabbing/killings weve had in london this year due to stupid idiots carrying knives!
I'm English…and 'the glory days' were over 100 years ago when they used to have huge fuck off meals costing £1000s - not exactly realistic to produce considering the amount of time it'd take to make - and he wants us to sit around a dinner table? a dinner table?! I'm sorry, but i only do that at my Grandparents house and at Christmas, I don't usually have time. Work hard and play hard, just go to a good restaurant if you want nice food, jesus.
And i'm sorry, but America can hardly judge about cuisine, their food is even worse. They invented some of the most disgusting fast food restaurants, infact, if it wasn't for America producing crap and fatty processed food and us deciding it was a good idea to eat it because it lasted longer, we'd still have the 'glory days' of our past cuisine.
Oh, and if you want to look at bad teeth, look at Mike Tyson. RANK.
*end of rant*
EW!!!! I was just about to eat dinner and you subject me to a picture of his dirty, yellow fangs!!!!!! WHAT IS IT WITH BRITS AND FOUL TEETH?!?!
But it's true (the teeth and the food). I live in the UK (not a Brit) and the drinking culture is what life is all about here. You don't meet friends for coffee - you go for 'drinks' with the ultimate aim of getting completely smashed.. sadly I'm falling into the same trap!
But I still brush my f*cken teeth twice a day or more!!!!
… and ultimately, nobody here cares about food
Which is why it's all crap. And this country is on an express train to hell.
Re: Andy27 – I followed the bread crumbs!!
Re: Lexi91 – IT A SHAME OUR COUNTRY IS BEING RUINED BY CHAV CULTURE.
GOD HELP US ALL BECAUSE THESE CHAVS LIKE TO MULTIPLY TOO.
Sh^*ty Balls
Ever munch on a spotted dick? Knawed on banger? Brit food sucks.
I love Jamie, and I know he's only saying these things because he loves his country and knows it can be a better place, culturally.
Whats with all the Brit bashing? Im healthy, im not a drunk and i have awesome teeth ha xxx
Re: SuzEQ – actually i was in a little town called Milton Keyes and i had the BEST ribs i have ever had. and i am from texas…go figure!
Im british and i drink but hes a twat anyway!
Re: salinaaa!!! –
I'd just like to say..
Not everyone in Britain has teeth like that.
I guess the British have gross teeth is the same as all Americans being obease right?
Damn people in America are fat.
The Brits always want everyone to think that the Irish and the Scots drink more than them. Not true - My mother is English and my dad is Irish. The English side of the family have always been heavier drinkers, and I've witnessed both cultures to this end as well. The English invented gin, after all . . . Nothing bad about being a drinker - just own up to it England! Embrace your inner lush! Another little English drinking tidbit - A few years ago at the World Cup in Germany there were many reports about the English drinking Germany dry - the stats were crazy. The Mirror had an article about it. Germany actually warned that beer could run out before the final!
Re: LettyB – That's not trying to get rid of the language, that's some poncy old wives tale about where a term came from, stop being melodramatic. I am Welsh, I live in the capital and go to university in a Mid-Wales city where the first language is welsh, I can't help but think that I know more about it than you.
Mae'n gas gyda fi yn siarad saesneg
Btw, AMERICANS what language do you speak?
he looks different here
Re: Miss B. Haven –
Milton Keynes is actually pretty big for a town here…
and people are being a little sterotypical arent they?
not all british people get smashed every weekend and have awful teeth and eat terrible food.
the british culture is influenced heavily by the american culture i'd say, (not saying that all americans are like that), but fast food etc wasnt a british invention.
and i'm not from wales, but i think that a lot of places there still have welsh as their first language, there are welsh tv channels and road markings are in welsh as well as english.
the food probably tastes like shit cuz of all the gingivitis falling off out nasty ass grills.
Re: Uker – Hahahahahaha!
You are reaching to new lows Andy … asking yourself if you've sold out, then responding to yourself that you are "busy" with work today and thats why you havent been on. LMAO. Yeah, busy having to log in to your new fake accounts … the more you make, the harder it is to respond to one thread with all of them fast enough.
Re: maria-clara – Road signs are in Welsh before the English translations in the majority of the country
Woooo
Re: Kimoto7 – "The Brits always want everyone to think that the Irish and the Scots drink more than them. Not true - My mother is English and my dad is Irish. The English side of the family have always been heavier drinkers" - Shame your English mother and Irish father couldn't teach you that GREAT BRITAIN IS MADE UP OF COUNTRIES! Do not call English people Brits and then refer to Scots and the Irish in those terms. It's a contradiction of terms!
Re: Prof_Majesty – who said america had good food??? we know it sucks!
Lets be honest here yanks, are your teeth naturally white or do you all bleach the fuckers?
Re: Cristy0752 – wow what an intelligent comment, you must be a member of mensa.
kill yourself douchebag, brainless cunts don't deserve to live amongst normal people.
Re: Dumblegower – YOU ARE WELSH! THATS GREAT BUT
THE ENGLISH DID FORCE CHILDREN TO LEARN ENGLISH AND THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK WELSH! MY COUSIN TEACHES IN WALES AND WAS SO HAPPY THE MADE IT MANDATORY FOR WELSH CHILDREN TO LEARN THEIR LANGUAGE AGAIN! I AM OBVIOUSLY COMMENTING ON THE PAST AND NOT CURRENT WALES! I HAVE BEEN TO MANY WELSH SITE TRYING TO LEARN ABOUT MY HERITAGE! ARE YOU TELLING THAT THE HISTORY MY GRANDMOTHER TAUGHT ME AND WHAT MY WELSH COUSINS HAVE INFORMED ME ON IS LIES!!! I DON'T THINK SO! AND BY THE WAY I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO MASTER THE WELSH LANGUAGE AS OF YET! IT IS NOT EASY! AND I AM NOT AMERICAN I AM CANADIAN.
I LOVE YOU JAMIE!
All these people don't know what they are talking about.
Re: PFF – it is wrong to bleach teeth?
Re: becksss123 –
I was there, I lived it. Lived in London, then lived in Hertfordshire. My husband is from near Manchester. I like to think I know a little bit about both the US and UK cultures.
And yeah, there may be many people trying to encourage a healthy lifestyle (Jamie being one of them) - but are you honestly going to tell me that the marjority aren't out for a curry and a piss up on Friday or Saturday night?
From my time in the UK (5 years plus), I never once saw someone forego a curry and a few bottles of wine unless they were actively participating in Weight Watchers. And even she went right back to curries and piss ups when she'd reached goal weight.
Team LettyB.
Re: I luvDrgQns – THANKS, WHY THOUGH?
He is 100% right. I love Jamie Oliver.
Re: aryssabrooke – maybe the people you were hanging out with were chavvy scumbags who lived in council estates, british people aren't all chavs.
Re: Uker – You've taken the words right out of my mouth.
Re: LettyB – Because you rock. I quite enjoy your posts. And you tell Andy27 he's a fucktard. Luvs it…..