Jamie's Food Revolution

Jamie Oliver needs no introduction from me – and no help with his book-sales either! But I recommend Jamie’s Ministry of Food anyway, for one simple reason. It’s brilliant.
Cooking good meals from scratch for yourself and those around you is one of the most useful skills you can learn as a human being. It’s also fun. If you’ve spent the rest of the day doing something cerebral and abstract – such as writing – the act of making something physical (and delicious!) can be extremely satisfying. This book will show you how to do it.
There’s a short section on what equipment you’ll need and another on what basics to keep in your store cupboard: both are minimal, unextravagant and unpretentious. Then there are the recipes show more themselves: clear, straightforward (if enthusiastic!) instructions on how to make a great mix of dishes including roasts, curries, stir-fries, puddings and a feast of other goodies to try.
Jamie’s Ministry of Food is written and constructed to tempt people who’ve never cooked before, but as a reasonably well-seasoned (or is that pickled?) kitchen dabbler I’m finding plenty in the book to get my teeth into. The results of his instructions for how to make home-made curry pastes are extremely impressive – every bit as delicious as recipes I’ve tried from specialist curry cookbooks. Jamie’s use of a ‘vegetable trivet’ – a sort of platform of veg at the bottom of the roasting tin on which to rest your meat so its juices will combine with it to form the basis for amazing gravy – was a revelation. And the ‘twenty-minute meals’ section is just awesome.
Mr Oliver is on a crusade to persuade people to eat better and more healthily by cooking for themselves. While I have to say I’ve sometimes found his missionary zeal on tv a bit offputting, this book won me over completely. In its introduction Jamie asks everyone to ‘pass it on’ by teaching a recipe to two or three people they know. Whether I’ll go that far I don’t know, but I’ve no hesitation in recommending the book itself: it’s terrific. Give it a try. show less

I actually read this book, and enjoyed it. It's a library book, so I'll copy come recipes and save them. I made his roasted vegetables last night (potatoes, carrots, onions, turnips) and the technique is good -- parboil them first, then "chuff" them up in the colander before roasting, so there are plenty of rough edges. It worked very well. The book is a bit irritating in some of the terms he uses -- 'lugs' of olive oil, stuff that adds a 'twang' to the flavor -- and some of the techniques are not all they should be (I think you'd consistently get burnt garlic following his methods, but it's still a fun read.

There are some recipes in this cookbook that fit the criteria of Simple, Delicious, and Affordable.

Almost every chapter features multiple dishes that involve expensive cuts of meat like filet mignon, or expensive fish like salmon. Also, while the book is generally good about giving pictures of how to perform some of the more uncommon culinary techniques (like butterflying), the fact of the matter is that I wouldn't have someone try a recipe (or even look at a recipe) that involves butterflying until they'd figured out cutting, chopping, dicing and mincing. Butterflying requires dexterity and a really sharp knife, and if you don't have those (and I'd frankly expect most people to not have those), then it's not something your average show more reader (who Jamie claims he's shooting for) should be trying to do.

That said, the very first chapter of the book, where Jamie gives a list of (to use Alton Brown's terminology) useful and necessary hardware for your kitchen is incredibly useful and valuable. With the exception of the mortar and pestle, with this assortment of equipment, you have absolutely everything you need to learn to cook. The cupboard list is okay too, though I'd probably recommend dropping the Marmite or Vegemite for peanut butter. show less

I don't usually review cookbooks but I really wanted everyone to know what a terrific cookbook this is! It has real recipes for real food that have straight forward directions that anyone can follow. There are recipes that take very little time and some that are more involved but all of them are very accessible and just the way Jamie Oliver writes gives you confidence you will make something great. I loved it because most cookbooks that are for quick meals or beginning cooks just don't have very tasty recipes - a lot of add one can of this to one can of that with some salt and pepper. Everything I've made so far has been fantastic. The recipes are also organized so once you learn one recipe, it can be expanded with other proteins, show more spices, and veggies to make something different. I also like reading the stories of new cooks from rural England as they learn to cook. It is a great cookbook and I'm thinking of giving it to everyone I know who could use a little boost in the kitchen, who thinks fast food is easier and cheaper than spending a half hour in their own kitchen making something delicious. show less

What an amazing book! I've made at least 5 of the recipes in here, and no matter what I make, as long as I follow Jamie's magic words, I can do no wrong! I've cooked fish, meat, couscous, pasta, you name it, he makes it happen for you! I've even learned how to make the perfect scrambled eggs which have been a pain for me, but I wont stop until I've cooked every single delicious recipe in this book, and my roommate will be the happiest one of all I guess!

If you want to learn how to cook awesome delicious healthy homemade food, I recommend this book very very highly. This is coming from someone who has never really cooked a proper meal in my life (not counting cereal, toast, or frozen pizzas!), I've actually had friends gushing over it. show more The real proof is I had a friend over who had just come back from Morocco the day before, and I just happened to be making the couscous with lamb neck fillet and tangy sauce. He said it was just as good as anything he'd eaten in Marrakech, and even went for seconds!

I don't think it's possible to rave anymore about this book, so I will just leave it at this: buy this book! show less

It seemed targeted towards British audiences with a few recipes like the hamburger thrown in to appeal to American audiences. Many of his recipes like the curries would be exotic to most Americans, where they're more familiar to Britons. Indian food to them is what Mexican food is to Americans.

It could have used more editing to appeal to the American audience he's looking for - the middle class family that eats fast food at least twice a week on average. People who like him are probably not the people he's targeting with his food revolution because they're already converts.

It's a good book, but I would have like to have seen more American type recipes. It would have been nice to see some Mexican/Latin American recipes, a recipe for show more healthier fried chicken, potato and pasta salads, and more fruit based desserts (pies, crisps, cobblers).

I know this book went to press before the Huntington experiment, but it also would have been great to see some testimony from those people.

It's a good book for the people who are familiar with him and have experience cooking, but elements of it just don't translate very well to American audiences. show less

It is hard to not get behind a book with such a worthy message. The photos are great - lots of steps and ingredient shots. The food looks good and I look forward to testing some of these recipes out.