3 days ago
Jamie Oliver says people 'don't know what authentic is' - after causing outrage with his jerk rice and carbonara recipes
Jamie Oliver has said people people 'know so little about food' that they 'don't even know what's authentic' as he defended his decision to flout traditional recipes amid appropriation accusations.
In a new interview with The Sunday Times, the Essex-born celebrity chef reiterated his stance, saying 'people know so little about food, they don't even know what's authentic'.
The Naked Chef, 50, has previously found himself in hot water after making subtle alterations to traditional recipes, angering natives and triggering some critics to accuse him of 'cultural appropriation'.
One instance in 2018 resulted in the then shadow women and equalities minister Dawn Butler to say he 'didn't know what jerk was', after people pointed out he'd failed to include any of the ingredients of a traditional Jamaican jerk marinade in his microwavable supermarket 'punchy jerk' rice.
On another occasion in 2016, he left Spanish people seething after adding pancetta to his recipe for a paella, a row that he has since described as merely the anguish of 'chorizo-wielding Spaniards'.
A year later, he found himself on the receiving end of fierce backlash again, this time from Italians after he controversially shared a recipe for 'authentic' carbonara that included a clove of crushed garlic.
Despite having received 'death threats and abuse for months', the father-of-five appeared unaffected by the controversies.
'It's not traditional but if you want to, why not go for it?' he told the publication in reference to his unorthodox twist on carbonara, which does not traditionally contain garlic.
Continuing, he said: 'I tend not to get offended but you want to be respectful. With appropriation, what you've got to be careful of is claiming that you invented something or that something's yours.'
Jamie clarified that all of his recipes are now run by an international specialist and that the 'last thing' he'd 'want to do is upset anyone'.
Elsewhere in his interview with The Times, Jamie addressed other public altercations including his relationship with rival celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay, who famously sparked feud rumours after he called him a 'one pot wonder' in 2010.
Putting to bed accusations of ongoing dispute, Jamie said he and Gordon 'are absolutely friends' and tat their 'berating decade' was a thing of the past.
The chef, who has spoken openly about his dyslexia in the past, also revealed some of his children have recently been diagnosed as neurodivergent, telling of new diagnoses for ADHD and ASD (autism spectrum disorder).
The TV star shares daughters Poppy, 23, Daisy, 22, and Petal, 16, and sons Buddy, 14, and River, eight, with his former model spouse, with the eldest two having flown the nest.
It's not the first time Jamie has defended himself against accusations of flouting authentic recipes. In an interview on the Louis Theroux Podcast earlier this year, he said that people need to 'get over' cultural appropriation rows in cooking.
The Naked Chef added that the majority of his career - and book sales - are based on 'compromising with common sense' to get people to 'try something new', which could be giving 'more of a vibe' to 'bland boring rice'.
He added that all of his new books are vetted by 'cultural appropriation specialists' which 'pains him' but he said he 'doesn't want to offend anyone over a 'bloody cookbook'.
The chef also admitted he had a 'crass misunderstanding' of the dish - and said that most 'British' dishes aren't native to the UK.
'Pies are from the Greeks via the Romans and fish and chips is Jewish Portuguese,' he added.
Reflecting on the paella controversy that left him inundated with death threats from the Spanish, he told the podcast host: 'I wasn't frightened about a load of chorizo-wielding Spaniards to batter me to death, but it went on for bloody months.'
He added that the 'history of paella' showed it was alright to add 'anything that moved' to the rice preparation - 'from snails to literally squirrels, meat, fish' - and 'undoubtedly chorizo would be in there'.
In 2023, British chef Andi Oliver reignited the row and said people were 'irritated' by Jamie Oliver selling pouches of microwave jerk rice - not because he wasn't Caribbean, but because he 'didn't understand' the story behind what jerk is.
In 2018, the Essex-born celebrity chef was heavily criticised for selling his £2.35 bag of jerk rice in supermarkets, with many accusing Jamie of 'cultural appropriation'. The range has since been discontinued.
At the time, the row was sparked by London MP Dawn Butler, who is of Jamaican descent, who tweeted him saying 'your jerk rice is not ok'.
