Chef Jamie Oliver takes British culture to task

By Stone Martindale Aug 26, 2008, 4:51 GMT

Jamie Oliver - Jamie Oliver Private Photo Shoot - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Ft. Lauderdale, FL © Peter Langone / PR Photos

The Naked Chef would like his fellow Britons to up their cuisine IQ and live and eat better.

The Telegraph excerpted reports from a French magazine interview where chef Jamie Oliver has lambasted his countrymen as awash in "culture of alcohol".

The introduction of large flat screen TVs, cars, fancy cell phones, and a nationwide obsession with beer has wrought a "new poverty" in the UK, according to the report.

In Paris Match magazine (published in French), Oliver compares and contrasts Britain with France, a country where tradition is kept strong.

Oliver cited facts that Brits no longer eat at their dinner tables (80% he claims) and that African slum dwellers have a more varied diet.

Oliver says: "It's true in the center 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.

"I found the cooking of the inhabitants of the slum in Soweto in South Africa a lot more diverse than ours. It's true! I'm going to be harsh, but I think a lot of English people's food lacks heart. It's bland."

The drinking "problem" of the British fueled his further comments. 

Oliver says: "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."

French interviewer Mariana Grepinet inquired how British cuisine compared with French cuisine, Oliver says: "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."