Jamie Oliver’s Career, His Chef Education and His Cuisine
British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, most notable for his early title of “Naked Chef,” is most notable for his minimal, clean, rustic attention to garden-fresh, organic food. He has carved his own distinct mark on the culinary world with a infectious accent, unpretentious lifestyle and commitment to bringing good food to the world.
Like other celebrity chef peers, Oliver has responded to his popularity with television programs and documentaries, including:
- The Naked Chef
- Jamie’s Kitchen
- Jamie’s Kitchen Australia
- Jamie’s School Dinners
- Jamie At Home
The titillating title of “Naked Chef” was intended to be particularly spicy, while at the same time an indication of the style of cookery to which Jamie adhered: simple, unprocessed, fresh from the garden or farm. His show Jamie at Home is about nothing more than cooking with the produce he pulls from his own garden, prepared in a rustic kitchen with unadorned utensils and basic home kitchen cookware.
Jamie Oliver’s Chef Education
Jamie’s introduction and education in the culinary industry is about as simple as his cooking. His father owned a pub near his home in Essex, England and Jamie spent much of his growing years stumbling around the kitchen and getting his hands into basic food prep, the stuff grown-up apprentice chefs do he had already mastered by the time he was a teen. He knew early on that cooking was his calling and enrolled in the cooking school program at Westminster Catering College, now Westminster-Kingsway College, which accepts students into its career courses and programs from age 16 and up. The school is well-revered for its Hospitality and Catering programs, the kind studied by Oliver.
Oliver followed up his London cooking education like many chefs, with a stint in France working his way around the famous French culinary world and learning the methods of one of the most famous cuisines in the world. When he returned to London he went to work as pastry chef and baker for Chef/Proprietor Antonio Carluccio, of Neal Street Restaurant fame and now Carluccio’s Caffes.
Television and Fame
How did he ever make it on TV? A roving TV camera doing a piece on Neal Street Restaurant caught Oliver in its sights and his “cheeky” personality was his key to food TV stardom. Not long after that he was contracted for his show The Naked Chef. Lesson: do what you love and keep your own personality.
Today, Oliver has his hands in the development of his own restaurants, including Fifteen a restaurant/project developed as both fine dining as well as training ground for disadvantaged chef/students. This was the inspiration for his documentary: Jamie’s Kitchen. Jamie’s Italian is his most recent restaurant foray, an attempt to bring fresh, traditional, but rustic and simple Italian dishes to the masses for an affordable price.
In addition to television personality and restaurateur Chef Oliver also has a string of cookbooks and has endorsed a number of culinary wares.