Jamie's one pound meals

I'm not a fan I have only eaten in one of his restaurants ...once.It was shocking .The service was non existent the food dried up by sitting too long .I usually support local Italian family run places and they are without doubt 100%+ better than Jamies chain .Oh and on the night we ate there his friend Gennaro Contaldo was in the kitchen...so it wasn't being run by junior staff .No surprise it failed!

timetogo2016

I think £1 meals just does not exist,it costs money to cook them.for heavens sake.

Surely £10 meals have to be cooked too?

I used to like our local Jamie's Italian and was sorryvwhen it closed.
Didn't he also run something called Jamie's 15 or similar with the aim of training up disaffected teenagers to give him the sort of step up he had enjoyed?

Just to counter paddyann’s comment, I too ate in one of Jamie’s restaurants once and the food was delicious and the service friendly and fast. #just saying

Blimey there's a lot of negativity on here!
I've been really impressed with these programmes and like Growstuff I have no trouble at all rustling up meals for less than £1 per head. I loved Home Economics at school and we had to cost whatever we cooked in exactly the same way that Jamie Oliver does. He makes it clear that the costings are based on the average cost of the item across the 4 main supermarkets. He has included some brilliant ideas for simple preparation, fuel economy and really stretching the more expensive items. I cook a LOT, mostly from scratch and he's certainly shown me some new ideas. So please, cut him some slack and really look at the message he's trying to get across.

Yes, he’s trying to help people. Good for him.

I'm not his biggest fan, but I think anything which is encouraging people to cook good, quick, easy and cheap meals is to be applauded. Like it or not, many people don't know how to cook meals from scratch - what seems obvious to us may not be clear at all to someone else. My MiL used to be a butcher in a supermarket and regularly had a young mum come in with lots of tins of soup in her trolley. She asked her why she didn't make her own, as it would be cheaper - and the girl said she didn't know how to. So MiL took it upon herself to explain to her how to make the stock and go on to cook things like Scotch broth, lentil soup etc - and the girl was delighted! She'd come in every week and tell MiL how much her family had enjoyed that week's batch of soup and what could she make next. Anything which points people in the right direction to cook family meals has to be a good thing, surely?

Callistemon21

^And yes, Urmstongran - a good point!!^
Re the personal allowance, I meant.
🤞

Hunt isn’t going to raise it. He takes us for stupid while he pulls in more tax by stealth. Raise the bluddy personal allowance. It’s been set at this level for years and it’s about time it went 🔼

I like Jamie too, have followed his programmes for years. He had a restaurant in Norwich which I went to a few times and it was good, small portions though. I watched his programmes made during lockdown when his wife filmed it. There were some good ideas, I like to think I'm a good cook but I always learn something from him.

Jamie is doing a good job, he will communicate well with the people that most need his advice.
Unfortunately to cook well from scratch you need a start up store cupboard that would cost around a £100.

This is why so many families eat processed and take away food.

If the government put a extra tax on processed and take away foods, they could use some of the revenue on educating families how to cook, providing better school lunches, dealing with all the litter the take away businesses produce and helping the NHS deal with the obesity and cancers caused by UPF’s.

Urmstongran

Callistemon21

And yes, Urmstongran - a good point!!
Re the personal allowance, I meant.
🤞

Hunt isn’t going to raise it. He takes us for stupid while he pulls in more tax by stealth. Raise the bluddy personal allowance. It’s been set at this level for years and it’s about time it went 🔼

I don't think he will either, Urms

Now, if he pursued all those evading tax I'd be happy.

paddyann54

I'm not a fan I have only eaten in one of his restaurants ...once.It was shocking .The service was non existent the food dried up by sitting too long .I usually support local Italian family run places and they are without doubt 100%+ better than Jamies chain .Oh and on the night we ate there his friend Gennaro Contaldo was in the kitchen...so it wasn't being run by junior staff .No surprise it failed!

We've only eaten in one once a few years ago and it wasn't good.

No lasagne? Run out? At lunch-time?
We'd booked, too.

I find him a bit bumptious too despite or maybe because of originating from the same part of the world. My nephew went to the same school as Jamie but a few years younger. When he turned up to a book signing event Jamie remembered him as the milky bar kid!

I think it’s unfair to criticise him for not including the cost of cooking the meal. That will vary anyway depending on your oven. If it gets people cooking and enjoying their own food at low prices then that has to be a positive.

I bought Stockwell tinned soup from Tesco for post match refreshments. Nobody like it. It was not very nice. So I hope he uses decent ingredients rather than the cheapest of the cheap because that could put people off.

I like Jamie and I often pick up a trick from him .As a teenager My DS loved watching him, and Jamie put DS on the road to his love of cooking.. Jamie has done a great deal to improve standards in schools and his Fifteen restaurants gave opportunities to many . But with todays fuel prices and huge increases on basic foods young families haven’t a hope really . Our local community supports food banks and some families during the holidays and we are always asked for donations that require no or little cooking .

Our local Jamie's was fantastic, we often went there. Service always tiptop, prices very reasonable and food cooked to perfection. They were also the kindest, most understanding people when we went there with our grandson who has autism, learning difficulties and other co-morbidities. When he couldn't decide which dessert he wanted the waitress winked, said leave it to me and returned with a plate with little tasters of several. Grandson was delighted! Unfortunately it was one that got culled when the business was in trouble.

I think Jamie truly cares about people and does want to show ways to feed families well on the smallest budget. Not all his recipes will suit everyone, but he always encourages a flexible approach to substituting ingredients. My one criticism is his preparation times can be way off when your knife skills don't begin to match his

I think Jamie is an absolute hero. Jack Monroe too - she's really been there with regard to having to manage on practicality nothing .

and we are always asked for donations that require no or little cooking .

My heart sinks every time I read this - it sounds so desolate, like people have absolutely nothing. What a life.

Just to say the my starting post in this was NOT to criticise Jamie Olive, just an alarmed note as to how quickly prices are rising. The small tuna can in Tesco (quoted by someone on here) is irrelvant as the recipe showed the size he used and they are now around the one pound mark.

I thought it was a very good programme, and I will be trying out some of the dishes he showed. Loved the way he kept on (and commented on) each time he washed his hands and cleared away on the kitchen surfaces. I know that many tv chefs get criticised as they seem to drop these hygiene rules (probably edited out for time reasons).

I quite fascinated by his very simple recipe for pasta - just flour and water - must try this.

I do endorse the comments on here that a well-stocked kitchen cupboard essentials, usually built up by most of us over a long time, can be very expensive if starting from scratch. He did state that he is assuming we have olive oil and does not include the cost of that in his costings for the meals. I was also interested to note his hobs were gas - usually tv chefs use electric usually, these days induction.

He made a lovely berry crumble. I discovered these wonderful frozen berry fruit packs sometime ago and purchase them in place of the fresh blueberries I used to use on my morning brekkie porridge. So, I already have that, and porridge oats and flour and sugar - a new dessert for me to try!!!

Blondiescot what a lovely story about your mother-in-law helping the young mum learn how to cook for her family 😊

Sago

I think a lot of Jamie’s target audience would possibly not know to put a lid on a saucepan to save energy.

My son used to drive me mad when he lived at home, wasting electricity and filling the kitchen with steam 😠
And he did know, because I told him often enough!

Are people expected to starve until everyone's good intentions are put into practice? Was everybody here an instinctive cook? Knowing all the short cuts, savings and clever tricks by the time they were 25. I am 79 and still learning.

Anyway who says inexpensive dishes should only be used by the poor. I look at each and every recipe that comes my way to decide whether to keep and try it and my experience is that the tastiest dishes are made from the cheapest ingredients.

My standard cookbook when I started bedsit Dwelling was the 'She' 15 minute Cookbook. Simple CHEAP recipes for 2 with every recipe priced.

Nobody knows anything until they are taught or find out for themselves. My adult children are in their 50s and are both good cooks. They were not at 25 and neither was I.

I've got a lot of time for Jamie, I haven't watched this programme but a good idea, not unique I know there are others, Jack Monroe who have been cooking on a shoe string for a while. Nevertheless, I love his passion for food and his "get yer hands in" approach. I think he set up "15" with the best of intentions, and I remember the programme he did with unemployed youngsters and did inspire some of those to go on to have a career in the catering industry. I admit to eating in his restaurants a couple of times and the food was far from great, I think like a lot of tv chefs in rolling out multiple restaurants they over extend themselves and can't possibly have the ability to preside over them in any meaningful way. Rick Stein another tv chef who I really like had the same issue, mediocre eating experiences in some of his provincial restaurants, although his flag ship restaurant down in Padstow was great when we had a special celebratory lunch there a few years ago.

I think Jamie and Jools have set a pretty good example to their 5 kids, really gratifying to hear that one of the older daughters is now doing a nursing degree rather than resting on her laurels to become yet another "nepo" baby and there have been a couple of delightful videos of one of his little boys adeptly following in dad's footsteps with some cooking videos, already showing a lot of promise, unlike ahem! another well known "nepo" who is making costly videos to assemble sandwiches and basic pasta but nonetheless now seems to be launching as an inspiring culinary expert

I like Jamie's programmes a lot and think he genuinely does try to help people cook and eat economically.
I've picked up lots of tips from him and adapted some ideas. And he's always cheerful.

Riverwalk

^and we are always asked for donations that require no or little cooking .^

My heart sinks every time I read this - it sounds so desolate, like people have absolutely nothing. What a life.

I think the point might be that it's not possible to give donations of fresh food for obvious reasons.

I think the supermarkets do this or allow Community Fridge volunteers to collect right-on-date fresh food, bread, pastries etc.

Everything donated must have a shelf life, so soup, vegetables in tins, tinned meat, tinned fruit, custard etc, dried foods and of course toiletries and laundry products.

Tinned products don't require much cooking which is good if someone is in fuel poverty too.

I agree henetha. And he seems to be a hard worker too, something I always admire.