Jamie Oliver’s last crack at helping home cooks keep costs down, Jamie’s £1 Wonders, was rather incongruously sponsored by Waitrose. That – and his swanky kitchen – attracted some social media sniping.
Well, he can’t do much about the kitchen (a move to a studio might look too calculated, now), but in new show Jamie’s 5 Ingredient Meals (Channel 4, 23 October, 8pm), support comes from salt of the earth Tesco – which enjoys generous portions of product placement throughout.
Besides, the focus isn’t entirely on cost. Speed and simplicity are also key to this concept.
And everything here certainly looks easily replicable. Oliver adds value by suggesting some interesting ingredient swaps and employing some (slightly) unusual methods. He pot roasts a chicken with potatoes, parsley and garlic, persuasively arguing it offers benefits in the juiciness department, as well as saving on washing-up. He whips up a salsa with the garlic, parsley and some hazelnuts to make a convincingly original dish.
Less so is his carbonara – which only has four ingredients anyway, making Oliver’s claim that lobbing in some asparagus is “controversial” and “clever” seem somewhat ambitious.
You can’t deny it looks good though – as does everything, frankly (if you can stomach the idea of rice pudding-based lollies). His “cheat’s romesco sauce” – into which he adds roasted cauli, is evidently part of an admirable quest to get more veg into our diets.
Oliver’s capacity to annoy remains, mind. Instead of saying “add”, he insists on using “go in” – to the point where when he claims “I’m gonna go into the pan with a little oil”, viewers might start to get their hopes up.
But he’s so obviously a good egg – giving TV-inexperienced duo Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich a guest slot, in which they knock up a tasty looking mushroom sfiha – that it’s hard to stay angry.
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