The Naked Chef

by Jamie Oliver

Naked - It's not him, its the food! Jamie Oliver, a.k.a. the Naked Chefis Englands #1 bestselling food sensation, a charismatic, streetwise culinary wonder boy whose personality is as fresh and unpretentious as his cooking. In this extraordinary cookbook, Jamie takes all of the trade secrets he has accumulated since he started cooking at age eight and distills them into a refreshingly simple style that really works for people who are passionate about food, but dont always have a lot of time, money, or space. Jamie has applied his strip it bare then make it work principle to all his mealsfrom salads to roasts, desserts to pastasand has created a foolproof repertoire of simple, feisty, and delicious recipes that combine bold flavours with fresh ingredients. With more than 120 fuss-free recipes, The Naked Chef, a sumptuous feast for the eyes as well as the stomach, is modern cooking at its best.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Food and Drink, Culinary

250 pages, Paperback

First published April 14, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

James Trevor "Jamie" Oliver, sometimes known as The Naked Chef, is an English chef and media personality well known for his growing list of food-focused television shows, his more recent roles in campaigning against the use of processed foods in national schools, and his campaign to change unhealthy diets and poor cooking habits for the better across the United Kingdom.

Reviews

[Stacy]

So this is where it all began - a curly haired boy of 24 in the kitchen with a dead sexy accent, making dead sexy food. I remember falling in love with his tv show of the same name, and stylistically and in content, the cookbook is similar to the tv show. The recipes are so simple - Fantastic Roast Chicken, Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil, Cranberry Beans prepared with some herbs and olive oil. Oliver leans towards the traditional British and Italian fare in which he's grounded, and pares them down so the most trepidatious at-home cook feels confident. Love him!

[Marijan Šiško]

Probajte Jamievo pečeno pile s maslacem i začinima. stvarno. život vam nikad više neće biti isti.

[Sophie Crane]

This Book is filled with Down to earth recipes. If you don't try you will not have something different.

[Brian]

A cook book that reads like a biography - this is a must for anyone who loves to cook looking for new inspiration. Everything in the book is simple but amazing food. Oliver removed my fear of - and gave me my love of - making home made breads and pastas in this book... and my friends and I will forever be greatfull.

[Stephanie]

This goes directly to my "Must own" shelf! I looked at this Cook book much like a child with the old Sears "Wish book" (dating myself with that one). I remember laying on the floor with a marker in hand and putting marks on the toys I want. Okay, so I NEED to buy this book so I can mark the ones I want to make. Yummmy!!

They are easy and "clean" recipes. Ones that you can make durring the work week without much issue and still taste wonderful!

A great book for every kitchen and cook that just hates to make the same thing over and over, every work day.

I loved it!

[Pam]

I really like his casual style of cooking. When I initially read this book, I only had a difficulty finding the great cuts of meat that he recommended. Now that I have a fabulous butcher shop, no issues. I really love his roast chicken recipes. So many great slow food concepts! Dig in and enjoy!

[Juli Ryan]

I am a fan, and this is where it all started for Jamie Oliver. If you like to cook, this will inspire you. But these recipes aren't really 15-minute meals. There is a lengthy section about how to make your own pasta.

[Shay]

I think some of the recipes are a little to "English" if that's possible. But I love his lamb recipes.

[Troy Vistro]

Good book, but it is not what I typically like to cook.

[Eve]

I enjoyed reading this book, but on the whole have not made many recipes. I guess much of the food seems interesting, but not really tasty.

[Laura]

Excellent book with very easy and practical recipes.

[Amy]

I love Jamie Oliver and what he stands for (Food Revolution), but this cookbook was not basic. Too many "exotic" indgredient's I would be lucky to find at the local store or farmer's market.

[Yaaresse]

It's an OK cookbook. Nothing made from it is going to be bad. Nothing is likely to be spectacular either.
Jamie Oliver just sort of works my last nerve, so it's hard for me to like his books.

[Jamie is]

Ate adaptations of most of these recipes when I had a vegan roommate who also cooked everyday.

[Rosminah]

I bought this book in England, around the time that Jamie Oliver was taken the island by storm. While I cannot say that I am a big fan of the "jamie oliver" theme, I can say that I like the recipes and ideas that come out of that fake cockney accent mouth.
My favorite recipe from this book is the tray-baked fish. In a time I was deperately poor, a friend and I would buy a little piece of fish from the weekly fishmonger, a couple vegetables, and we adapted the tray-baked fish for ourselves. The dish cooked in 10 minutes perfectly and we ate it in the kitchen to absorb any residual heat from the oven.
Is it just me, but does Oliver always sound like his tongue is way too big for his mouth?

[Jo Fox (about to be Jo Shanks in 68 days)]

To my surprise, I consistently return to Mr Oliver for ideas and inspiration. And this book even more than The Return, or Happy Days.

I must confess, however, to being a true blue through and through Nigel Slater fan, and to enjoying a certain Ms Lawson's recipe writing style. Contrary to popular rumour, I have found that all but one of her recipes I have tried did work out fine - and I fear it was the excessive amount of Bombay Sapphire in the Gin & Tonic Jelly Bunnies (the only jelly moulds I could source at short notice) that turned them into road kill. Still tasted gorgeous though.

[Serena]

We have this in our monster collection of cookbooks. I skimmed it when we first recieved it and haven't looked in it since. I mostly just use the same 4 cookbooks all the time. Last year, we had an online subscription to 'Cooks Illustrated' and used that some. Hopefully one day we'll actually get around to it.

[Kim]

This is one of my favourite cookbooks. I learned how to make the perfect roast chicken following Jamie's simple, spot-on recipe. I also tried baking breads --something I'd always avoided in the past--thanks to Jamie.

Easy to follow recipes, delicious results--even a novice can follow and get great results.

[Kelly]

I've found the Naked Chef series of cookbooks tasty and yummy (sophisticated culinary terms indeed). I'm especially a fan of the roast chicken and lemon-lime cream tart. Hmmmm...it might be time for a Sunday lunch sometime soon. Who wants to come?

[Wallflowering]

The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver

[Julie]

I picked up a copy of this from the bargain books table at the reincarnated Elliott Bay Bookstore. He's too adorable for words, looking all of 15 in his cover photo. I may have to buy my own pasta machine. I may have to buy my own Jamie Oliver.

[Jess]

I really love the premise of this book. He gives you one really good base recipe and then a number of variations to expand on.
Jamie Oliver is my go to chef for my risottos and pasta making. This is a well used book in my household.
Definitely try the roasted squash risotto. Delicious.

[Ray]

I bought this book a while ago, when I had a crush in Jamie Oliver's cooking show. I did some of the recipes (the easy ones at least) like soups, salads and vegetables. I tried to do the bread once but it didn't work out for me, although my mother managed to do it and was really good!

[Marjorie Snyder]

Great armchair travelling for spoken word. Wonder if it's transcript, or if JO writes as he speaks with time delay. Hadn't heard of JO before seeing the book in the cookbook collection of Alice, of Italyv(with chef legacies).

[Lynda]

Recipes are easy to follow and come out delicious. Try the spicy lamb shank. Jamie also included some photos of him shopping at various locations for his ingredients which is a real joy to have in a cook book.

[Mary Karpel-Jergic]

This is now dog-eared with many pages stuck together; testimony to its success as a recipe book. I still return to the recipes. Excellent. He looks so young in the pictures - reminds me of how old I am.

[Elizabeth]

Pure pleasure reading

[Chris]

Good food with insouciant instructions that inspire me to try new combinations. For example, a delicious cannellini bean, eggplant and ricotta soup that's "thick and gutsy," as Jamie says.

[Maggie]

In this book there are a lot of interesting recipes. I made my first meal from one of Jamies recipes! There are many interesting ingrediants needed for some recipes too.

[Tuyet Duong]

has some great basic recipes - this is a cookbook I will look to own!