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Chatelaine Chef Series

Jamie Oliver on family, food and his new cookbook

We sat down with Jamie Oliver to get the scoop on his new Canadian mission: helping everyone whip up fresh, healthy and affordable meals, insta-quick!
Jamie Oliver on family, food and his new cookbook

Photo by David Loftus

Keep calm & cook on with Jamie Oliver

<b>Jamie Oliver

We sat down with Jamie Oliver to get the scoop on his new Canadian mission: helping everyone whip up fresh, healthy and affordable meals, insta-quick!Click ahead for more on Jamie's family life, latest food mission and his Canadian connection!

Jamie Oliver on family, food and his new cookbookPhoto by David Loftus

Jamie's family life

It’s no secret that Jamie Oliver is a busy man. With a job that sees him up at dawn and often working until midnight five days a week, he reserves weekends for his wife and kids. These precious days start with a hearty family breakfast, followed by the typical shenanigans you get up to when you have four kids. “We live in the country, so we build forts and rope swings, or go biking,” says the superstar chef, who’s visiting our kitchen this fall to share recipes from his new book, Save with Jamie. “We just try to keep picnics simple, because there are so many of us.” Jamie and his wife, Jools, love to travel with the family. A recent holiday in Cornwall, U.K., was a perfect mix of sun, sand and family, says Jamie. “They’ve got such lovely food and water,” he says, which means hours of surfing followed by fresh veggies and seafood. 

Jamie Oliver on family, food and his new cookbookJust another weekend picnic with the familyPhoto by David Loftus

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Jamie's latest food mission

“Supermarkets may not be elegant or quaint like a small deli or butcher shop, but of course there’s room for different types of outlets in the food industry,” says Jamie, who’s partnering with Sobeys to bring his message (that affordable and healthy go together) to the masses. Through this partnership Jamie aims to help Canadians shop, cook and eat better. “I love the idea of working with a company that’s determined to get all of its staff — Sobeys has 95,000 employees — excited about seasonality, to tell stories and to inspire people to buy fresh food and cook it from scratch.” Working with Jamie, Sobeys has found producers who meet the requirements for the Certified Humane distinction (a guarantee that animals are raised humanely), making it the first major grocery retailer in North America to offer this type of certified meat. Together they’re also providing videos, tips and tools to help people cook better. “Sobeys wanted to spend much more of its attention getting people to buy fresh food and getting them to cook from scratch.”

Jamie Oliver on family, food and his new cookbookInsta-Jamie! Follow Jamie on Instagram: @jamieoliver

Jamie's favourites

Emerging food trend?“On my radar right now are Persian and Peruvian food.” His favourite cookbooks by other chefs?“Anything from Marcella Hazan, Patricia Wells, April Bloomfield, Stephanie Alexander, Rose Gray, Ruth Rogers or Alice Waters. They all have well-written books that are very responsive to the seasons.” 

Jamie Oliver on family, food and his new cookbookPhoto by David Loftus

Jamie's Canadian connection

Over the past decade Jamie has worked in our home and native land countless times, though he doesn’t really think of it as work. “It’s always a pleasure to come to Canada. The people have always been great, a good laugh, with a fun sense of humour.” One Canadian in particular made a lasting impression on him. “Chef Derek Damman came for lunch one day at Fifteen, my London restaurant. He said he was going home the next morning and asked if he could work for us that night to do what we call in the business a little stage.” Jamie agreed, and he was so impressed by Derek that he offered him a job. The gutsy Canadian ended up staying at Fifteen for nearly four years. Now Derek is chef and co-owner (with Jamie) of the hip Montreal restaurant Maison Publique. Together they’ve crafted a menu with a focus on Canadian ingredients cooked simply with age-old techniques, like pickling, smoking and fermenting. “The restaurant is absolutely gorgeous. The food too,” says Jamie. 

Jamie Oliver on family, food and his new cookbookPhoto by Alison Slattery

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Jamie's London resto, Fifteen

"These are my amazing young students from Fifteen London. They’re just about to all graduate from our Chefs Course.... all very very exciting and can’t believe it’s been going for 11 years where did that time go big love #jamie thanks @jamiesfifteen xxxxx."

Jamie Oliver on family, food and his new cookbook

Cook & save

Jamie’s inspiration for his new cookbook, Save with Jamie, came from social media. “Through my website, Instagram and Facebook, it became clear that people wanted more tasty, quick, affordable meals.” Jamie set about focusing on cost per portion. “The challenge isn’t just to make cheap food, because anyone can do that, it’s about making food I’d be proud to serve the Queen.” It became a process of analyzing everything available in most supermarkets, and tasting and tasting. “Brits rely on fast food too much, because it’s cheap and convenient. And that’s why I did this book now,” he says. “Good, fresh food doesn’t have to be expensive.” 

Jamie Oliver on family, food and his new cookbookPhoto by Sian Richards

The recipes

From panbaked chicken (pictured on left), to vegetable rosti and British carbonara, Jamie shared six(!) recipes with us, and now we're sharing them with you. Get all six recipes here.

Jamie Oliver on family, food and his new cookbookHit 'n' run panbaked chicken recipePhoto by David Loftus

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