In Defense of Jamie Oliver

So this is turning out to be my favorite birthday present that I received this year:

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Cookbook is straightforward, funny, quick and delicious! I also find it cute that you can tell the book was originally published in Britain, for Britons, because it's got recipes for a full monty breakfast. yorkshire pudding, and plenty of fish dishes and curries. Some recipes also call for Marmite, a purely British yeast-extract spread similar to the infamous Australian Vegemite. (Never heard of it? Then you must never have seen this.) Though we have yet to dive into the seriously-UK recipes, GP and I have really enjoyed cooking and eating all of the meals we've tried so far, namely:

Shrimp and Avocado with an Old-School Marie Rose Sauce
(weird ingredients, great taste)

Broccoli and Pesto Tagliatelle
(in this case extra penne and fettucine was substituted for tagliatelle)

and

Thai Green Curry

But last week we made my favorite recipe from the book so far. Not only was it simple, very healthy and uber-yum, it was just gorgeous to look at:

Italian Pan-Seared Tuna

What made it so pretty? The bursts of color from a package of Trader Joe's heirloom tomatoes. I just couldn't get over how visually appealing they were! I gave them their own photoshoot:

Just look at those fresh, fragrant, colorful ingredients. I had never eaten heirloom tomatoes before, and had only ever heard the term used by chefs and the most epicurean gourmets. But, having fallen in love with this rainbow of Solanum lycopersicum, I bought a bunch more at the Harvard Square Sunday farmer's market and can't wait to use them.

So thank you once again Jamie Oliver, for exposing me to new and delicious ingredients!! A big thank you also goes out to GP, who perfectly cooked the Albacore Tuna. I usually make him cook the meat. It may be a gender stereotype for the man to, well, 'man' the grill, but I'm a little overly-freaked out about the potential for food borne illness that comes from improperly handling and under cooking meat.

And while we're talking Jamie Oliver, I'd just like to make it clear (as if I haven't already) that I love his ideas and what he's doing to change the way the western world eats. We need someone loud and noticeable, with substantial resources to raise a stink and get people to eat well again. I'm bugged by people who write him off from both sides - on the one hand, people like the (fairly scripted) radio DJ from the first season of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, a red-faced, thick-necked West Virginia man who chomped on his takeout burger while telling Jamie he and his fellow townspeople didn't want to eat lettuce all the time. Jamie's reaction: *cockney accent* "I'm not gonna make you a lettuce!"

Then on the other hand, are the super-health foodists who think Jamie isn't helping overweight people enough, because he shows them how to cook skinless chicken breasts with olive oil, as opposed to encouraging them to pull a dietary 180 and become no-added-fat raw food vegans. (In all fairness, SoulVeggie does ask if this would be too drastic a transition and supports Jamie overall, but I'm sure his sentiments echo many uber-health eaters.) If both sides would just look at Jamie's website, read his cookbooks and learn about his campaign goals, I feel that they would understand him better and realize that their criticisms are unfounded. Jamie isn't pushing any particular health food agenda, and yes he uses mayonnaise and bacon in his recipes, but his overall goal, in his own words, is "saving lives by inspiring everyone to get back to basics and start cooking good food from scratch." He's trying to get people to stop eating processed crap and start eating real food. So while raw vegans may bemoan that he teaches kids how to make ice cream, he at least teaches them how to make it with sugar, milk, cream and fruit, not 57 artificial ingredients from unknown sources. And for those who are most comfortable with comfort food - Jamie's got burgers and pizza on the menu, but they're better for you and tastier, because they're full of veggies and encourage you to visit your local butcher and actually know where the meat comes from.

My problem is just that people jump to conclusions without looking into things (an earth-shattering revelation, I know), and in this instance, where there are so many people dedicating their time, money and goodwill to make all of us, and our kids in particular, healthier - why are you complaining?