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.]