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.]
all true,evety bit and more.he is beyond right-lving away from the uk and returning recently after 10 yrs really opened my eyes to the downward spiral of uk living..
Re: Paulie –
i'm not trying to smear paulie. i am remarking about hypocracy bro. All i'm saying is that he aint whiter than white and he is saying brits drink too much and he is obviously one of them. all i am saying that he aint a saint. in fact by all accounts he is a T.W.A.T…
Re: Paulie – i'm pretty sure, if someone was accused of something that didn't apply to them but was rather a generalisation, they'd defend themselves over it. by the looks of things your the one trying to find the lame excuse to 'smear' other people.
"isolated from everything, you have France where nothing changes"
JAMIE OLIVER THE ISOLATED AND UNCHANGING FRENCH THAT I AM F*** YOU !!!
emma-emergency says –Re: Paulie – i'm pretty sure, if someone was accused of something that didn't apply to them but was rather a generalisation, they'd defend themselves over it. by the looks of things your the one trying to find the lame excuse to 'smear' other people.
Who am I smearing? I suggest you read the news. What Oliver is saying has been covered in major news outlets. Just this week, by the New York Times. Truth hurts. But I stick by my views: The British feel they can attack and smear anyone they want and if they say it, then it must be true. Defend yourself and they say that you're delusional or a liar. Sorry, but that's my experience with Brits all over the world. Turn-about is fair play and looks like the world is as fed up with their hypocrtical double-talk as I am. Deal with it.
^^^^ Keep proving my point. Thanks for doing that.
Re: emma-emergency – HAHAHAHA LIKE I SAID, TYPICAL ENGLISH UK CUNT!!
Im British, and the only thing to do is drink. London especially is super expensive, good luck to him with his trendy house in Primrose hill or wherever he lives with his huge amount of money, Ill stick to drinking myself into an early grave and eat rubbish food, thank you, Jamie…………….TWAT!
Re: Paulie – TOO FUCKING RIGHT!!!!!!
Re: Her_Royal_Maj – Becuz YOU ARE THE DRUNKEN IDIOTS OF THE WORLD!!!!!!
as a brit myself id say hes probably right, but hey we do do a great fish and chips.
oh and P.S not all British people have bad teeth, mine are great, its just a myth like all Americans are fat and stupid.
I'm British.. An i love drinkin so what:D?
What's wrong with the english? just because we know how to have a good time:D
Re: Paulie –
funnily enough, not anywhere have i denied the fact that there is obviously a problem, what i have denied however is that the problem applies to the whole of the uk's population. it's like me saying that the entirety of the united states is morbidly obese, which obviously isn't true. and just out of interest, when you say that 'the british feel they can attack and smear whoever they want', who do they apparantly attack and 'smear' so much? in response to your question 'who am i smearing?' it's quite evident you're offending a lot of british people who don't fall under your category of 'a bunch of drunks'. but hey, apparantly the british are the only ones capable of wrong accusations in your mind.
Re: Neya[/re]
My god you Americans are so crass! Judging by the comments on here most of you Americans are not very bright either.
I have to commend the Brits for showing restraint and dignity when replying to such vulgar comments on this board.
Neya, you mentioned that you are married to a Brit, why would you do that if you dislike us so much? I can only imagine that you are some kind of whore who married this guy for his money. Trying to claw your way out of your poverty strickend country like a dog were you? You are disgusting excuse for a human being whom I spit on, you wretch. Take your filthy mouth back home to the gutter (if you’re mother will have you).
He's a tosser Gordon Ramsey & Marco Pierre White rock! I hope Jamie chokes on a Turkey Twizzler
I'm British and I sit down with my family to eat every day, classic English meals such as Shepherd's Pie, which are cooked from scratch from vegetables grown in our garden. Why is everyone on here hating on the British? Jamie Oliver can't cook for shit anyway.
wow this site really attracts some idiots! Jamie don't listen to them.
Re: Pillow –
Hardly.
Don't be so ignorant.
That's like me saying all Americans are morbidly obese, greasy, gun toting, obnoxious, rednecks.
Well actually all the ones I've met are…
Jamie's such a hottie with his sexy little lisp + he can cook his ass off… eh, all he needs to do is get hooked w/ a good cleaning or maybe some veneers and he'll be good to go. As far as ragging on his country, why not?? he's from there– he should know it best… this is bascially a non-issue, and a better pic of him could have been posted… seriously…
Re: Neya – If you hate us so much do us a favour and GET YOUR OWN LANGUAGE or at least learn how to spell properly in ours. Have a nice day.
i hate him
he took chips outta schools!
:@
i love u.k
LMFAO! Awwe, poor Brits beging picked up. Boo-hoo, hoo. How does it feel? You do it to everyone….everyone! I'm LMAO because some of you are doing EXACTLY what I and others said you would! Thanks mantes! Always good when people prove your point for you. You think it's just Americans who feel this way? Ha! Think again. Read the NY Times piece for STARTERS! What goes around, comes around. Sorry blokes, but if you hadn't been such nasty, agressive, egotistical WANKERS for so long, maybe people wouldn't delight in giving back to you what you dish out.
Re: Neya – WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ON?!! YOU DUMB CUNT?!!! DO YOU NOT EVEN REALISE WHAT BEING RACIST IS??? OR DO YOU THINK RACISISM ONLY APPLIES WHEN ITS BEING PLACED ON SOME (as u put it) NIGGA FROM THE HOOD? I BET YOU NEVER EVEN LEFT YOUR FUCKING HOOD YOU SCUMMY PIECE OF SHIT! KEEP YOUR FUCKING COMMENTS TO YOURSELF IF YOU CAN'T DEBATE LIKE A FUCKING HUMAN BEING!
bigben says – reply to this 215Re: Neya[/re]
My god you Americans are so crass! Judging by the comments on here most of you Americans are not very bright either.
I have to commend the Brits for showing restraint and dignity when replying to such vulgar comments on this board.
Neya, you mentioned that you are married to a Brit, why would you do that if you dislike us so much? I can only imagine that you are some kind of whore who married this guy for his money. Trying to claw your way out of your poverty strickend country like a dog were you? You are disgusting excuse for a human being whom I spit on, you wretch. Take your filthy mouth back home to the gutter (if you’re mother will have you).
^^ And the proof just keeps rolling in. Awesome! And you wonder why everyone thinks you're all just a nasty bunch of loser drunks? You guys are nothing anymore. Nothing. Germany and France rule the EU. The USA doesn't need you. Who does? Bunch of fourth-rate egomaniacs running around bombed and puking. Ha! Karma. Karma.
Re: Paulie – "The USA doesn't need you. Who does?"
Yeah, obviously we're just a loser nation whose citizens should all commit suicide. Are you actually kidding me with your reply?? I fail to understand why Brits are all referred to as being EXACTLY THE SAME. Your narrow mindedness actually astounds me, its ridiculous. You and Neya sound like Nazis.
Oh, and you call us aggressive? Have you even read what your lovely American friend Neya has been saying in every single post? The use of the word cunt and capital letters are present a great deal. The Brits have responded largely in a well-mannered way, we haven't ripped into the US even after all the bollocks said about us. So, really, what you are saying is shown as being quite contradictory in this instance. Way to go Neya with the great representation of African Americans! You do your country proud, I'm sure.
Re: Paulie –
Wagwanna, I second that!
Paulie ‘Germany and France rule the EU’ – Ha I bet you couldn’t even find them on a map!
I think all this bad press for us Brits is a case of the ‘green-eyed monster’. Let’s face it the US is hardly thriving at the moment is it? That Simpleton president you all voted for (twice) has really shown the world how gullible you all are.
I really understand why most of you don’t have passports; I’d be embarrassed to show a US passport at the immigration desks around world too.
This is too good to be true! You guys are great for proving our points! Okay, since you're having trouble understanding this, I'll go over it again:
Many Brits (hint, hint) go around bragging how great they are and how great the UK is. They miscall and attack and insult everyone else. "Damn stupid Yanks!" "Dirty filthy French." You name it. You guys arrogantly believe you are perfect and you're the first ones to point out flaws (real or not) and short-comings of other people and their nations. When you do and people stick up for themselves or their country, what do you do? You freak out and start calling them "stupid," or "blind to the truth" or what ever. But, if somone points out your flaws or short-comings, you go into pyscho denial mode and you do EXACTLY what you accuse others of doing when YOU attack them. Read your comments guys. You're just making yourselves look worse. Which I appreciate very much.
Oh yeah and BigBen, the "U.S. is hardly thriving at the moment." Typical uneducated comment. Worry about yourselves! Your housing market is in the toilet, your economy is TANKING and guess what…we still have an ecomony that dwarfs you! Guess it bothers you that the state of Californial alone is a bigger economy than your entire economy.
But like I said, you're doing exactly what we all said you would — denying, attacking, getting petty, acting like drunken fools. For all your attacks on America and your accusations of our flag waving….gee, looks like you guys do it too. Hmmmm, how ironic. But if you want to delude yourself into thinking this is jealousy, I suggest you do some reading on the fact your nation has NO Navy left, your economy is TANKING, and it appears, your society is FALLING APART. Hmmm, I wonder if it's because you elected Tony Blair? Lol. HAHAHHAHHA! So keep proving me right. Have a great day!
Wow Mr. Oliver really created a firestorm. I think he's right though. I spent a year in the UK and I am sorry to say, after about 3 months I hated it. I don't want to offend anyone, but Jolly old England is jolly because so many people seemed to be drunk more often than not. I read some of the posts on this thread and I have to agree with quite a bit. So many British people I met were very arrogant and if you argued with them in a debate, they always lost their tempers and just started yelling and insulting. It was mostly the men who did that. Kind of a bummer, but seems to be true.
'They miscall and attack and insult everyone else. "Damn stupid Yanks!" "Dirty filthy French."' - to paulie: i think you'll find that THAT is your average 'typical uneducated comment'. you're the one miscalling and insulting the british. you say we hypocrites, yet you don't even notice your own hypocrisy.
Jamie Oliver is a fuck up anyways, + so what if we deink, we can drink any american under the table, your just jelous mother fuckers
A British neighbour invited me for dinner some 20 years ago and I have not recovered yet. First she served a shrimp cocktail made of canned shrimp with ketchup; the main course was what she called herself a "Veal Mess" and it was a real mess. Boiled veal with some vegetables I did not recognize they were so overcooked. No dessert, that's it. Tea and cigars or cigarettes. That is the reason I never wanted to visit England. But my neighbour was very nice in spite of her poor cooking talents. Thank you for inviting me Felicia !
Re: Paulie – You say no-one needs us anymore? Well we cant be that bad considering we're the ONLY country to get rid of the debts africa owes us. Even if we are a nation of curries , fish and chips and binge drinking we have the sense to help0 developing countires unlike certain others *cough cough the usa..*
Hello America I know every American thinks the British have bad teeth and to be honest the majority of us do, but me an individual has perfect teeth; they are white, straight and clean. Not every American has great teeth. Tom Welling his teeth are not straight. Crack whores dont have good teeth and meth addicts and people who cant afford the dentist. How does putting dangerous chemicals in your mouth make you a better person it doesnt. Oh and Jamie Oliver is an idiotic annoying man. I am British if you can't tell, sorry about my little rant people. I do think America would love a good sunday roast dinner.
Re: Paulie –
Everthing you just said applies to the USA to, its called nationalism you idiot. ofcouse we are going to defend out country, thats generally what you do when someone insults it, whether your english, american, spanish whatever..
Chill out
all brits look a mess visit redplum.com to see what im talkin about…..
Wrong Emma. Just giving them a taste of their own medicine. It's about time too. Ironically, my comments are exactly just like the ones they make endlessly about every other nation. Ever see those damn Soccer hooligans? The Brits attack EVERYONE. Tiime for them to get a taste of it. Like I said, tough shit if you don't like it. They've been acting like egomaniacs far too long. But I guess I should say you since I gather you're drunk and therefore British.
LMAO! Losers.
the british suck. bunch of drunken fools bellowing about how great they are. it's all in their heads. in case any of you jagoffs get any ideas, i'm canadian so that should tell you something.
Can I just say I am English and I agree with what he is saying, Jamie Oliver is a decent guy & his intentions are genuinely good - he extremely passionate about making people eat well & I am behind 100% . Yes Britain has a serious problem with boozing (esp.Scotland & Ireland)…there are some shitty areas but there are some scuzzy places in America too, yea we have chavvy people in council houses with big tvs who live off benefits with no ambition & don't work a day in lives….but not everyone can be tarred with the same brush, most people in England are nice people, reasonably intelligent & eat well. Its because for the last 50 years or so Britain has become so multi-cultural - its lost its identity of what its own food really is..but really its similar a lot of other European countries good old fashioned meat & vegetables.
Re: becksss123 – Totally agree
But … I am British and I like America too, is that allowed?! To be honest, despite the negative comments here about British people (although 'British' society is wonderfully multicultural), I still like America. What is there to gain from dissing another country? It doesn't make the other one look better!
Re: Paulie –
Pauline get a fucking grip you fool, your country is crap its full of inbred hicks, plastic looking women and fat fucks who need a wheelchair because they cant walk they are that fat! at least we havent got an obesity crisis. You can sit here all week sayin "LMAO LMAO Thank you!!! you have just proved my point about the British" over and over again but no one is listening its becoming pretty boring to read. Have you never picked up a newspaper and read the articles slamming America and its housing crisis and the fact that your nation interferes with everyone elses business. I wonder have you ever been to England?
Re: Paulie –
LOL the Navy? You are too funny! What’s the size of your Navy got to do with any of this?! I should have expected it to come down to who has the most weapons. You are so juvenile.
And you should really be paying more attention to economics of the US as opposed to what is happening here. I think you will find that the bottom fell out of your housing market long before it affected us, I can also still buy 2 dollars for 1 pound. The only thing that has kept your economy ‘buoyant’ are the dodgy oil dealings your present has with his friends in the middle east.
What ever you throw at me I feel safe in the knowledge that I shall always have supremacy over you.
Re: paddington_bear – I agree with you Paddington..well done! Can't we all just get along? =)
He only told the truth ….
LMFAO! Oh, you guys are too easy. Awwe, come on Brits, surely you have a thick skin? Thanks for making it so easy to push your buttons! Now come on lads, have a drink and laugh it off. Oh, wait, you're probably already having a drink, or two, or three, or four………….. Lol! Too freaking easy.
Man reading some of these comments is kind of funny. You English are really full of hot air. The guy is right. You can dish it out but you can't take it. Facts are you're a low rate nation and you're so busy busting on everyone else and blustering about how superior you think you are that you haven't been watching your country go down the shitter. Get some humility and realize your really nothing anymore. Every holiday I've ever gone on where there's been Brit-gits has been miserable. Bunch of lour, over-bearing drunks. People really do hate you guys.
And oh yeah, got confimation that bigben and Princess.Sparkle are the same person. Losers using aliases to try and make your argument look stronger. Weak limey twat. Typical of the weak Brits.
We get it, Brits piss people off. Hurrah lets drink to that! (tea i mean) xxxx
Re: Chris_Mc –
HMMM confirmation eyyy…my arse!! Not only are you americans thick as shit your also liars and by the way while im on, realise is not spelt with a Z you fuckwit american. You seem to think that you can change the spelling of words. colour has a U and so does labour!! get ya own language.
And oh yeah, I also got confimation that Paulie and Chris_Mc are the same person. Losers using aliases to try and make your argument look stronger. Weak limey twat. Typical of the weak Americans.
What a load of crap. In todays society, it's hard for families (well mine anyway) to find the time to sit down and eat a family meal. Saturdays and Sundays are the only days in my household. Just because he can sit on his arse with enough time to have a family meal, doesn't mean all of Britain do too. He's out of touch with Britain's modern culture. More fool him.
for all the ignorant and stupid americans out there:
no nation can be said to have bad teeth, because its your genes that determine your teeth not your place of birth
its true that many british teens enjoy there drink, but no more than the americans enjoy there saturated fats so lets stop with the uneducated insults, many of you have never been to europe so dont pretend to know everything about it
that goes for perez too, half the stuff in anglophile articles are incorrect and based on tabloid gossip