COOK WITH JAMIE!
Superchef JAMIE OLIVER tells Woman’s Day’s Chanel Gellin about his Aussie eating plans
He's been a favourite of home cooks since
The Naked Chef hit our small screens in 1999. Now Jamie Oliver is here to teach Aussies the ultimate in healthy eating.
“My job's just getting people cooking and that hasn't changed in 20 years, which is making me feel retro!” laughs the father-of-five. Woman’s
Day sat down with the passionate chef to chat easy meals and clever kitchen hacks.
What brings you to Australia?
We're launching the Woolworths Healthier Easier hub. [There are] delicious recipes, tutorials and videos available online and on recipe cards in store. It's a way of making shopping and cooking easier for the customer as well as offering a lot of good, healthy options. With our fresh food discovery tours, we're showing kids what vegies look like.
Any recipe hacks you can share?
Try mothership recipes like bolognese, stews and soups. See what's reduced and in season. Is it OK to use jarred pesto or curry paste? Of course! Feel free to use frozen items. Batch cook multiple portions. It sounds old-fashioned, but I'm telling you it's super cool and saves a load of time and money.
What are some of your family’s favourites?
The way I live as a busy husband and father of five kids, from Monday to Thursday I'm in two gears, so I do tray bakes. Buy salmon on special, wrap it in smoky bacon, add some beautiful new potatoes, cherry tomatoes and a few herbs, then put it in the oven for 45 minutes.
And when you have more time?
At the weekend I'm batch boy! I make up a wicked chilli con carne, put it in bags, write what it is and freeze flat. Having stuff in the fridge and the fruit bowl is what you aspire to, right? But if that fruit's wasted, it's going to cost you a load of money. That's when the freezer is your best friend. I'm always putting fruit in the freezer and that becomes a smoothie or a dessert.
What’s your take on Aussie cuisine?
The most important thing is fresh from Aussie farmers. When stonefruit's good, you'll see it in abundance at a great price and it'll be in the best nick possible. As a foreigner in your country, Brand Australia is the barbie – it's a pretty good one! People around the world look at that and want to be here.
You’ve struggled to get your own kids to eat vegies. What are your tips to overcome that?
Kids won't eat vegies if they don't know what it is. If they've never tasted it before, it's unfamiliar and they're scared. Of course, if it's cooked badly... Eating salad without a dressing is disgusting and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. How can you make a dressing really tasty and healthy? The tiniest bit of smashed-up herbs makes all the difference. Make it with yoghurt for 10 per cent of the calories of a mayonnaisebased one. I pop the lid on the jar, then my kids shake it up.
Aussies throw out 3.1 million tonnes of food each year. How can we fix this?
One of the most wasted things in Australia is bread. Incredible dishes around the world are often surrounded by stale bread. It's not a compromise, it's a celebration. It can become a sauce, a crispy topping or fried pangrattato [garlicky breadcrumbs] – it's my missus Jools' favourite part of a pasta dish. Bread is not a waste, it's a gift. Don't put it in the bin.