Why Jamie Oliver Angered Viewers By Cooking A Dish On BBC's The One Show
It's been a long culinary trip for Jamie Oliver, and it seems like it's far from over. The famous chef, cookbook author, and TV personality started his way to the top in 1999 with his first cooking show, "The Naked Chef," in which he focused on using simple ingredients and classic cooking methods (via Britannica). Fast-forward 20-plus years later, and Oliver now has two new shows for Channel 4, along with a new cookbook called "One." The cookbook is all about one-tray dishes and versatile easy recipes.
Oliver's new show "Jamie's One-Pan Wonders" takes inspiration from the book, according to Variety. On the show, we can see the chef cook one-pan dishes from his latest cookbook. But it's Oliver's appearance on another program "The One Show" that has landed the iconic chef in hot water.
Oliver is no stranger to controversy, so much so that there's even a list of all the times he made everyone angry. For example, in 2016, he received death threats over the chorizo-adorned paella recipe he shared on Twitter, and in 2018, he proposed a sugar tax, although many of his recipes featured high amounts of sugar. CNN also reported that Oliver said he has "teams of cultural appropriation specialists" who scrutinize his recipes so that he doesn't get in trouble. You can probably guess how that one went down. And now, Oliver made people angry once again –– this time for one of the dishes he made on the BBC program.
Jamie Oliver used slightly expensive ingredients while making a dish he called inexpensive
On BBC's "The One Show," Oliver cooked a supposedly inexpensive dish, sausage and minestrone pasta, while promoting his latest cookbook of one-pan meals. Birmingham Live reveals that while making the dish, he used red wine, Cumberland sausages, Parmigiano-Reggiano, lasagna sheets, garlic, and fennel. The chef predicted that the dish would cost £1.45 ($1.67) per portion. But some viewers got angry, calling Oliver "patronizing," "out of touch with reality," and "arrogant."
In Tesco, a pack of eight Cumberland sausages costs £1.85 ($2.14), while a pack of lasagna sheets costs £1.35 ($1.55), and The Cheese Society reveals that Parmigiano-Reggiano costs £4.50 ($5.21) per 100 grams. So yes, Oliver's sausage and minestrone pasta will cost more than £1.45 ($1.67), but you'll be able to make it a few times, not just once. Some people defended the chef by recognizing exactly that. Although a block of Parmigiano is pretty expensive, it will last a long time.
Meanwhile, others vented on Twitter. One user wrote, "Getting beyond sick & tired of the handy tips to not starve/freeze/homeless. Tonight Jamie Oliver is on #oneshow with his £1.24 pasta. There is NO individual response to capitalism." You can't win them all, Jamie Oliver. So if you'd like to cook something cheap and easy, your best bet might be watching his new show "Jamie's One-Pan Wonders." Just don't get angry if you spend a bit more than you thought you would.