If you are not aware of Jamie Oliver, you will likely to soon be. Chef Oliver is a staple of British culinary entertainment and has has slowly been making inroads in U.S. markets. He will certainly further his recognition on this side of the pond after recently completing a deal with ABC for a series seeking to persuade Americans to swap hamburgers for home-cooked food (Join the club Mr. Oliver!).
The program will be a combination of Oliver’s two British television series, Jamie’s School Dinners and Jamie’s Ministry Of Food. The 33 year old chef plans to visit unhealthy American cities to try and improve eating habits by using local resources; fronting the six part series with American Idol host Ryan Seacrest.
“I believe that now is the time when America is ready for big change,” he said. Let’s hope so Jamie, let’s hope so.
The US is the fattest nation on Earth, with 119 million people overweight; making about one third of all American adults obese.
Filming for the new series, a co-production between Oliver’s TV company, Fresh One, and Ryan Seacrest Productions, begins later this year with the show airing in early 2010.
-bryan
Chef Oliver is as wiry as they come. I find his recipes fascinating, and devoid of excessive fat. (I also delight in his pronunciation of words like “pass-ta.” I hope Food Network, or some other cable channel, will air encores of the miniseries “Jamie’s Kitchen,” if for no other reason than to see and hear Gordon Ramsay be civil to a chef wannabe who had to learn how to scale and clean a fish…and Oliver was losing patience, but held his tongue. Ramsay took over tutelage of 15 trainees for a fortnight…and it paid off.)