“Jamie in hot water over 30-minute ‘myth’” |
| Jamie in hot water over 30-minute ‘myth’ Posted: 31 Dec 2010 02:37 AM PST  AP Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has found himself in hot water over claims in his bestselling Jamie's 30-Minute Meals. In the battle of the Christmas cookery books, Jamie Oliver wiped the kitchen floor with his rivals. But the TV chef has found himself in hot water over claims in his bestselling Jamie's 30-Minute Meals. The collection of 50 recipes sold 1.2million copies and topped the bestseller list in December. It was the fastest-selling non-fiction title of the year, easily outselling rivals such as Gordon Ramsay, Nigella Lawson, and the Hairy Bikers. Disappointed fans, however, say Oliver's £26 book fails to deliver the dishes within the 30-minute deadline promised. Experienced cooks complained that one meal took up to 90 minutes to complete, despite Oliver saying the recipes show "that with a bit of preparation, the right equipment and some organisation, hearty, delicious, quick meals are less than half an hour away". Complaints posted on websites included: * Even as a reasonably competent cook, I found the timings were way out. One recipe took an hour and a half - Puzzled * I made Greek feta cheese pie with two salads and one ice cream dessert. It took two-and-a-half hours and I was almost in a panic - Learner * The book should be called 30 minutes of madness and mayhem. You will have lovely food but you may need to lie down in a darkened room and call in a cleaner - E F Clancy * 30 minutes is wishful thinking. I cook quite a lot and so know my way around the kitchen and am averagingabout 45-50mins - Steve * The 30 minutes doesn't take into account sorting out pans, filling kettles, dragging veggies and ingredients out of the cupboard and getting together the cooking utensils - Mu Lane * The book should be renamed The Thirty Minute Miracle - John D * Why on earth is it called a 30-minute cookbook. If you were told your flight to New York would take 30 minutes, you wouldn't fall for it, would you - Bert the scribe * My wife and I are no strangers to cooking fresh meals but these meals take 60-90 minutes to prepare - Christopher Cryer * Jamie, your 30-minute meals are more like 90-minute meals! Even with three people cooking them, they still CANNOT be done in 30 minutes - Unsatisfied * So if you want to make proper food, you need to spend at least one hour with the preparation and 30 minutes are only the cooking part - Edit Bihari, Norway Oliver was also criticised for including a £300 shopping list of utensils cooks would need if they wanted to make the meals quickly. A Mrs Wykes, from Derbyshire, wrote: "What really bothered me was that at the start of the book there are two pages FULL of kitchen gadgets you MUST have to be able to make these recipes in 30 mins." A spokesman for Oliver said: "As Jamie says in the book's intro: 'If at first you run a little over time and your kitchen is a bit messy, please don't worry - it's all part of the process and you will radically improve the more you make these meals'." He added: "We test every recipe at least five times and use home cooks to make sure they work. So we know they do." - Daily Mail This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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