The Naked Chef

First TV series of the celeb chef

The Naked Chef was the first TV series starring the now-ubiquitous TV chef Jamie Oliver.

The series took an informal approach to cooking, weaving together cooking sketches and episodes from Oliver's seemingly hectic social and family life.

One of the most original aspects of the program was that there was no 'to camera' speech - Oliver was filmed talking an off-screen observer (his producer Patricia Llewellyn) through his recipes, and chatting about his approach to food and cooking. This, along with handheld-camera filming and narrated scenes of Oliver travelling around London in search of ingredients, gave the series the feel of a documentary program rather than a traditional cookery show.

Innovative at the time, the series now looks slightly dated as it heavily relied on contemporary music and fashions, although the Italian-influenced cooking seems as fresh as ever.

Despite being a great success, the program was cancelled after the third series (Happy Days with the Naked Chef), as the BBC grew increasingly uncomfortable with Oliver's commercial association with Sainsbury's supermarket.

Oliver then famously moved on to more substantial programmes such as Fifteen and School Dinners which have successfully rebranded his 'cheeky chappy' Naked Chef image into a more serious and mature campaigner on food and social issues.

Comments from our visitors:

neil thompson, 2006-10-30 05:57:23:

what next for jamie oliver,prime minister, its about time, that somebody made the bloody goverment listen , food is the key to a better everything. anyway i hope he does not give up campaining, because its a war trying to educate this country that fast food, and all that other sh*te is killing us. well done jamie oliver. ps my pesto is wicked
thanks alot man...

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More on 'Famous Foodie People':

Antonio Carluccio Gordon Ramsay Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Jamie Oliver Jekka McVicar Keith Floyd Nigel Slater Rick Stein

Related Recipes

Warm Salad of Roasted Squash, Prosciutto and Pecorino

A simple but tasty twist on a traditional ham and cheese starter

Read full recipe by Jamie Oliver, published at JamieOliver.com

Ravioli of Minted Asparagus with Potatoes and Mascarpone

Read full recipe by Jamie Oliver, published at www.jamieoliver.com

Risotto of Lemon Thyme, Prosciutto, Pecorino and Goat's Cheese

Jamie advises to use normal thyme if you cannot get hold of lemon thyme

Read full recipe by Jamie Oliver, published at www.jamieoliver.com

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