A Jamie book

"We're all familiar with the clichés of American food: junk food and supersizing ... but what is real American food all about?" Jamie Oliver

Back in 2009 when Jamie Oliver was still young, he went to America, made a television series and wrote a book. I have been trying to find it in op shops (a) because America's food interests me, even though, on the whole I'm not a fan and (b) because I'm a fan of Jamie Oliver, in spite of his schtick that I know annoys many - me occasionally too. But he's an Essex boy, and I'm an Essex girl, so I forgive all of that. Besides I do think he genuinely has a mission to make people who don't cook, cook, and to improve options for the disadvantaged of Britain. And many of his recipes are great.

So when my op shop expert friend found it in an op shop and gave it to me I was very excited, even though she handed it over with the opinion that the food was not that great, although she admitted that the America bit was interesting.

When I read the introduction I was struck by the difference between Amerca then and America now - Polar extremes in fact. Obama had just been elected President and it was a time of great hope - obviously Jamie was really taken by this, for this is the picture that faces the Introduction page. Not what you usually find in a cookbook is it? But then in a marginally annoying bit of self-congratulation he mentions that he cooked for and spoke to the Obamas at the G20 London Summit. In a more generous frame of mind however, it's a little bit of almost schoolboy adulation.

I wonder how he feels now, now that that bright hope, that I'm sure we all felt - first resulted in disappointment and ended in the despair, shock and horror of two iterations of Donald Trump.

And before I go on about America, there is another brief view into Jamie as a person who values his friends and family, for on the very first page of the book there is a dedication and a few words, to Gennaro Contaldo's father Francesco, who had recently died at the age of 93. And throughout the book there are references to his family back home as this:

"Although I would have loved to visit every state, a man with a pregnant wife and two kids can only do so much"

Back to America and our perception of their food as junk food - I'm sure we all have that, and I did try to tackle that in my piece about American food on my virtual world food tour. Jamie explains his interest with these words:

"I've spent ten years of my career defending British food against the perception that it's nothing but slop, so I feel a bit sympathetic towards America when that junk food label gets slapped over all American cooking."

And so he sought out what he calls the 'real' food of America, cooked in the homes of the ordinary and the poor - the food of immigrants:

"If you were to take away any form of immigrant cooking, not only would it be a huge shame, but you wouldn't have those wonderful dishes that have evolved to the point that they now symbolize America. The fact that this new country isn't bound up in cooking tradition the way so many other parts of the world are makes it really interesting to me from a food perspective."

Which of course applies to Australia too, although Australia is perhaps not quite as far down that road as America, which has a hundred or so years of European settlement than us. Or maybe it's just that we have a much smaller population, spread out over an equally vast area.

And yet. A very large number of the dishes he presents in this book have, in their individual introductions, something that either openly admits, or implies, that he has adapted that particular recipe to his own tastes. Less sugar, for example, is one common theme.

Herewith some examples: A killer mac 'n' cheese which is a prime example of his approach:

"Mac 'n' cheese is a classic American pasta dish - everyone loves it. Sometimes it's done so badly by the convenience area, it's almost become famous for being horrible.., but when you do it properly, trust me, it's an absolute killer. Feel free to use any tubular pasta you want. I've made this dish my own by lightening it with sweet tomatoes and given it some crunch with delicious breadcrumbs. ... This dish isn't going to win any prizes in the nutrition department, but you can, and should, balance it with a nice salad. If you only have it once in a while as a special treat it'll do you good."

There's acknowledgement of the innovation of the Americans and a not so subtle criticism of the fast food aspect, followed by his recipe - not one from a local, and a mild bit of dietary advice as well. And throughout the book, unlike his Italian books, most of the recipes are his versions of American dishes.

Cajun blackened fish steaks

Again: "This is my version of a classic Southern dish." And yet in this case he doesn't explain what he has done differently, preferring instead to explain its origins - in a New Orleans restaurant - and what it is:

"Basically it's a bold rub that fragrantly flavours fish and meat and goes dark when it cooks, thanks to the paprika and garlic. ... When I was in Louisiana I cooked it on a barbecue, but I've shown you below how to do it indoors in a pan."

And the accompanying page has a collection of pictures from Jamie at the barbecue to the varying stages of the cooking, finishing with this - the end product.

Chilli cheese cornbread

He actually makes no claim to this being his recipe, although he also does not say where it comes from. I think the implication, in this case is that it is not really his recipe, because he begins his introduction with: "This is one of the most delicious cornbreads I've ever had."

It comes from his chapter on Arizona where he spent time with the Navajo Indians. One sentence that stands out for me in his chapter introduction explains his approach to the whole book, not just Arizona:

"The recipes in this chapter range from old school Native American to Spanish and Mexican inspired dishes, as well as a few that I made up, based on what I bought, what I saw and how I felt at the time."

I love cornbread, so this is definitely one that I shall be making some time. Next time we have soup perhaps.

Comforting turkey stew - Once again we have a truly home-cooked American dish that he has, if you like, snobbishly improved:

"The mother of the household, Miss Betty, made a bloody tasty and comforting stew, and this is my take on it. Miss Betty let me in on a little secret: she'd used leftover roast turkey, a tin of mushroom soup and a pre-prepared dumpling mix for hers. I've tried to acheve those flavours by making mine from scratch and am really pleased with the results. For those of you used to round dumplings, let me introduce you to flat American dumplings ... they remind me a bit of pappardelle and are rather delicious."

I found a website online Nilsson's Ambrosia - whose author had made this from the book, and said of it:

I think that the thing that sets this turkey stew apart from a regular stew is the fresh parsley and fresh garlic you add at the very end. I was amazed at how much taste half a garlic clove gives the stew. A good result but with room for improvement."

"Room for improvement'. Take that Jamie - but he might well approve. That's probably what most of us who cook do isn't it? Make it our own, and dare we say - Improve on it.

Mountain meatballs Another Jamie re-invention although a somewhat amusing one that I doubt that we would disagree with:

"Rocky Mountain oysters, which are deep-fried calves' balls, are a Wild West delicacy. Although fairly tasty, I wasn't sure it would be the most popular recipe to include in this book, so I made up my own cowboy meatball dish instead. These monster meatballs are so delicious: they're stuffed with cheese and smothered in a rich chilli sauce. I hereby dedicate these balls to all the bulls in the Wild West losing theirs."

'Fairly tasty' - sort of damning with faint praise don't you think?

Chilli con Jamie 'Con Jamie' No pretence that this is really, really American, but more of a homage I suppose:

"Everyone should know how to make a really good chilli, and this one's a cracker. I've been working on it for a while, and cowboy-land helped me pull it together. ... I made this the cowboy way, over a fire, and when you're cooking like that one of the best ways to control the temperature is to add liquid. The cowboys had plenty of coffee to hand, so I used that and it ended up adding to the wonderfully unique flavour."

Perhaps that's how good cooks invent - they find something traditional, observe the whole background culture and pick up something that expresses that culture whilst modifying the dish. The first chilli I made was from Robert Carrier's Great Dishes of the World. I don't know if it was a typo, but the recipe said to add a tablespoon of chilli powder. I was a novice cook back then so did what I was told. David and I had to lie down - suffering with palpitations!

Cinnamon swirls This recipe can be found on Nigella's website. Jamie has recipes for Cinnamon rolls, but they are not the same. I have to say that they do look gorgeous - and sinful:

"I baked these gorgeous cinnamon swirls with my cowboy mate Hip's mum, Abbie. ... Abbie liked to cook hers so the buns are just blondely golden. Some did come out of the oven slightly overcooked and dark golden, and I have to say I was a bigger fan of those, but each to their own. That's what cooking is all about."

Indeed it is. Which is often demonstrated online, when you find somebody has cooked a recipe from a well-known cook but couldn't resist making it their own in some way, from subtle and hardly noticeable, to a complete reworking.

Some final words on how the book is constructed. Bear in mind that the book is, the result of a TV series, so the whole of America was never going to make it into it. Not enough time or money for a TV series. Instead we have six different states, with just a few specific locations and stories to tell within those states. Over and over again Jamie emphasises that he has gone off the beaten track and into 'real' family homes. And he certainly throws himself into the culture of each of those states - New York, Louisiana, Arizona, Los Angeles, Georgia and the Wild West - in the state of Wyoming. Each chapter's title page, has him posing in clothes and situations representing the kind of message being conveyed - somewhat over the top at times:

The photography throughout is by his regular photographer David Loftus, and combines pictures of each recipe, those title pages, collages of Jamie and the people and the locations he visited, interspersed with landscapes - mostly like this one below, somewhat desolate.

Indeed, all praise to Jamie, as most of the people he visits are either downright ordinary, from a minority, or poor. Even in Los Angeles and New York, we do not get the usual glitzy cultural spots. It's all a really good representation of the best and the worst of Jamie. I do believe his heart is in the right place in that he is truly interested in the plight of the dispossessed, the strugglers, and the hard working. And he is also very keen that we should all cook better food, because it's easy. At the same time he seems to be an exhibitionist with his matey cockney chat, and his dressing up or down to meet the situation. But then that may be all down to the TV people. Who knows. Maybe he's one of those people that is loved or hated. Irritating sometimes - yes -even to me - an Essex girl. But his food is generally really good and interesting - a little twist to something familiar, which is perhaps what he is doing with this book. There are, of course, occasional failures - I made his Hustle Brussels for our birthday bash last night, and was not that impressed - but his Clementine cake was the star of the show.

I suspect he wasn't that great a fan of most of the food he found, but there was enough interesting stuff to set him off exploring ways of improving what he saw - or perhaps I should say - adapting to his own tastes. So I'll give the last words to him:

"Anyone with half a brain knows that how people feed their families is where the real story is. Everywhere I went it seemed people were focussing on the simpler things and family life. Insteaad of being shown glitzy flamboyant food, I was beeing welcomed into homes and seeing sides of America I'd never dreamed existed. Because of that, I've been able to pick up on new and innovative ways of cooking, as well as learn more about those old-school, accessible and affordable comfort classics that make the country tick."

YEARS GONE BY

June 30 - end of the Financial Year, but much more importantly David's birthday. Happy birthday David.

2024 - Nothing

2023 - Nothing

2022 - "The most exciting meal of my life" 2021 - Fruit curds

2020 - Deleted

2019 - English muffins - they are NOT American

2018 - Lucky dip - hiding the truth about andouille

2017 - Nothing