A “NAKED” BOOK REVIEW…

I was pottering about the kitchen this morning when I was struck by rather a bizarre thought. As you know, the aim of this website is to provide a non-expert review of films or books for other non-experts. It’s all very well and good to have expert opinions but they sometimes differ largely in perspective from the concerns of the “common people” i.e. us. In this website, I strive to be “useful”. Alerting you to the presence of a film you may not have heard of. Providing a review for a book you may have seen but not considered. Well, if I want to be truly useful – not to mention honest and open about sharing the good books I have come across, there is one book I CANNOT leave out. It is not, however, the kind of book you may have initially expected… I’m not quite sure how to put this… Ok …
It’s a cookery book.
Now, as I said, I strongly believe in non-expert, down to earth views of things. Pretty much everything. This is not to say that I believe experts useless, quite au contraire. It’s just that, unless you’re an expert – or at least quite knowledgeable – yourself on the matter, their advice can be rather hard to implement. Unless it’s a real down-to-earth expert who actually tailors his/her advice and opinions to be down to earth and practical. I’m talking about Jamie Oliver..
Now, one thing to know about me is that I am not a very good cook. I was blessed with a mother who is an excellent cook but a perfectionist and a very impatient teacher. Any attempts on my part to help /experiment in the kitchen were whisked out from under my nose with a cry of “Oh give it here I’ll do it” from Mom and howls of protest from me (Mom, I defy you to look me in the eye and tell me I’m lying).It wasn’t the idea of me cooking that “upset” Mom, but the learning process and all it entailed. Indeed, if someone could “upload” cooking into me Matrix style, Mom would be more than happy to leave all the cooking to me. Unfortunately, there were mistakes to be made, experiments to be undergone, kitchens to be wrecked, ingredients to be burnt and Mom would rather just do it herself than go through all that. So here I am. On the wrong side of 25 and unable to cook to save my socks.
Now, being an industrious soul, I decided some time ago to remedy this sorry state of affairs. Mom was still as Mom as ever so I needed was a book. A practical book. Down to earth. It needed to be well written though – and by someone who knew what they were doing. (I am as impatient as my Mother and the quicker I get round to the production edible of food items the better.) I picked Jamie Oliver as my “expert of choice” on a whim more than anything else. I had seen a few of his cookery programmes, The Naked Chef and all that. I liked his style. I mean, he is a proper A-list celebrity and yet doesn’t put on airs. And I like his whole philosophy of wholesome, healthy meals. So I trundled along to the cookery books section – and Mr. Oliver has written a REMARKABLE number of books let me tell you – I decided on “Jamie’s Ministry Of Food”. I rifled through it a little and figured out that it is basically a very well illustrated “cooking for idiots”. Just what I needed. I bought it on the spot.
And now, basically, I swear by it. The dishes suggested are practical things that you can cook quickly day to day. I admit that finding some (some as in a VERY small number indeed) of the ingredients may be difficult depending on the country you are in but nothing a little ingenuity can’t overcome… The instructions are basically idiot-proof. I mean, I can follow them and believe me, that’s saying a lot. And it isn’t just basic things for beginners, oh no. Mom who is quite an accomplished cook was quite impressed by a number o f novel ideas. Porridge for instance. Ever thought of grating cooking chocolate into your porridge, adding a spoonful of marmalade and warming it through to cook chocolate- orange flavored porridge? No? Neither had we. Mr. Oliver has. Basic salads, basic dressings, dips and salsas, pasta sauces, you name it. Broken down into bite-sized morsels for the beginner. And the range goes all the way to lasagna and beef wellington. No matter what “level” cook you are, you will find something to “sink your teeth into” (Ho Ho  ). And for those of you with families – Mr. Oliver being a father of two himself, he is very conscious about vitamin values, filling and healthy meals for the little ones… In short, something for the whole family…
The book proudly proclaims “Everyone can learn to cook in 24 hours”. I thought it was a marketing ploy. I am now beginning to suspect he was right. I strongly recommend this book to anyone with any interest in cooking – I have come a long way thanks to it… I mean, even Mom is impressed… ;)