NextSharkNextShark.com
Latest Newsletter🍵 Kelly Marie Tran in racism studyRead

Article

Jamie Oliver reveals he has ‘teams of cultural appropriation specialists’ vet his cookbooks

jamie oliver
jamie oliver
  • Jamie Oliver shared in a recent interview that he hires “cultural appropriation specialists” to vet the content in his cookbooks.

  • The celebrity chef and bestselling cookbook author explained that these experts make sure his books do not “offend anyone.”

  • Oliver has been accused of “cultural appropriation” in the past for creating questionable interpretations of traditional recipes.

Asian America Daily - in under 5 minutes

Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories, to your inbox daily, for free!

Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive

British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has revealed that he hires “teams of cultural appropriation specialists” for his cookbooks to avoid offending readers. 

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the 46-year-old cookbook author said he has experts vetting his recipes before they are published in his books.

“Your immediate reaction is to be defensive and say, ‘For the love of God, really?’ And then we go, ‘Well, we don’t want to offend anyone,'” he was quoted as saying.

On Monday, a representative for Oliver told CNN that “food is all about sharing inspiration from around the world, and we’re proud to work with some incredible experts to continue to learn about different cuisines and to help us deliver content that is culturally sensitive and inclusive.”

The revelation follows a string of controversies sparked by Oliver throughout the years for creating questionable interpretations of traditional recipes.

In 2020, Oliver’s “egg fried rice” was ridiculed on social media by Malaysian comedian Nigel Ng of “Uncle Roger” fame, as NextShark previously reported.

The celebrity chef’s “punchy jerk rice” drew heavy online criticism in 2018 for not containing many of the ingredients traditionally used in a Jamaican jerk marinade.

Back in 2014, Oliver’s “Jollof rice” recipe angered West Africans, who dubbed the controversy “JollofGate” on social media.

According to Oliver, many readers would now find at least one of the recipes from his 2011 cookbook “Jamie’s Great Britain” inappropriate; for example, the Indian-inspired “empire roast chicken,” which he made with coriander, turmeric, garam masala and cumin.

The 2011 cookbook even has a tie-in TV series which showed Oliver preparing the dish in the episode “Empire roast chicken, Bombay roasties and amazing Indian gravy.”

Among the episode’s questionable moments include the celebrity chef’s celebration of Britain’s “Indian love affair” with the creation of a “full-on collision between beautiful British roast dinners and gutsy Asian spices.”

Oliver also acknowledged the “trade routes” that he said paved the way for the arrival of Indian spices into British dishes. 

“This is empire food, you can use your hands,” he said before raising a toast “to the empire” with his crew. Oliver’s website later changed the recipe’s name to “spiced roast chicken.”

Oliver, who has had a successful TV career as host of BBC’s “The Naked Chef,” has written multiple cookbooks which have sold over 46 million copies globally

Featured Image via Jamie Oliver

 

Support our Journalism with a Contribution

Many people might not know this, but despite our large and loyal following which we are immensely grateful for, NextShark is still a small bootstrapped startup that runs on no outside funding or loans.

Everything you see today is built on the backs of warriors who have sacrificed opportunities to help give Asians all over the world a bigger voice.

However, we still face many trials and tribulations in our industry, from figuring out the most sustainable business model for independent media companies to facing the current COVID-19 pandemic decimating advertising revenues across the board.

We hope you consider making a contribution so we can continue to provide you with quality content that informs, educates and inspires the Asian community. Even a $1 contribution goes a long way.  Thank you for everyone's support. We love you all and can't appreciate you guys enough.

Support NextShark

Mastercard, Visa, Amex, Discover, Paypal