Who watched Jamie Oliver's budget meal show last night?

Chi-me

I love watching Jamie Oliver, he's one of my favourite celebrity chef's and I have several of his books and DVD's, therefore I was keen to see his programme on tv last night about budget cooking.

I missed the show when it first aired late last year with this write up 'The theme of the new show, Money Saving Meals, is ‘shop smart, cook clever, waste less’. It airs on Mondays on Channel 4 at 8pm in the UK and will arm you with all the knowledge you need for clever recipes, with Jamie’s trademark tips, tricks and ideas to help you cook cheap tasty meals.'

I was however surprised at his, supposedly, cut price recipes as the cost breakdown and food choices seemed rather pricey in all cases. For example he costed his organic eggs at £0.26p per egg :eek: That's at least £0.12p dearer per egg than supermarket basic FR eggs (£0.72p more than 6 FR eggs generally). Hands up here, I do buy free range eggs, I happily have that choice at the moment, but I buy 15 for £2.00 in my chosen supermarket which is around £0.13p each.

Having said that, the recipe in question on his website just says use 4 large eggs, so I'm hanging in the balance here.

I understand he has an organic philosophy to uphold and I wouldn't for a minute knock that down, however, in my opinion to air a series supposedly aimed at families with finances cut to the bone and use recipes with high end ingredients seems a little off.

I've read so many threads on this forum where people are struggling for ideas of how to eat with very little money that the budget busting ideas really ought to be pointing them to the cheapest nutritional options.

Apologies if this has been discussed before, I did look but couldn't find anything specific.

Am I being overly sensitive here?

If you can't find me I'm hiding behind the couch :o

PasturesNew

Poor people programming doesn't "sell well" in the rankings. His programme is aimed at the middle classes that'd have usually bought dinners from M&S and Waitrose and thought nothing of spending £4-5/person/meal.

I'm like you and sit there with his £2-3/portion and think "how much? that's DAYS of food..."

kboss2010

I couldn't agree more. Celebrity chefs have no idea what "cheap" in the real world means IMO. Their idea of cheap is spending £10 on a single steak instead of £20.

It's really irritating.

I also love Jamie Oliver's meals but I cringe every time my OH suggests cooking one as the ingredients are so expensive. He always uses at least 10-15 ingredients for one of his 30 minute meals and often it's small quantities of stuff that I rarely use and goes off quickly so a lot of waste.

Butterfly_Brain

The recipes were too restauranty, most people eat basic foods at home.
£2 to £3 a portion is laughable when so many have less than £20 a week to feed a family after bills have been paid to live on.
Too many have had to resort to food banks were processed food is handed out, but only enough to keep the wolf from the door for a couple of days.
A lot of us on MSE who live in the real world could give him a run for his money on cheap recipes

Evil_Olive

Having seen the 30 min meals programme on which a lunch for two often comes out at £20 plus, I didn't bother watching this - sounds like I was right .
Meals in my house generally come out at 50p or so per person or sometimes even less!

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

Poor people programming doesn't "sell well" in the rankings. His programme is aimed at the middle classes that'd have usually bought dinners from M&S and Waitrose and thought nothing of spending £4-5/person/meal.

I'm like you and sit there with his £2-3/portion and think "how much? that's DAYS of food..."

As there is a socioeconomic indicator between health and wealth it might be because of how people prioritise food.

Re thirty minute / 15 minute meals JO often states they cost more because the price is paid for convenience and time saving of pre prep often. We went through a phase of make a warm salad one of them. It was fantastic. Cheap, absolutely not, cost almost the same as fish and chips I think, so quite a treat. Healthy, yes. Tasty, yes.


Didn't see this show, though.

Edit: if I understand it correctly OP your complaint is they are showing a maximum budget the food could cost while people can make choices that will bring cost down? I don't really see this as a concern tbh. Far better than showing un realistically low prices people feel they cannot make ethical/ moral choices as strongly held as religious food observances and just eating unhealthy cheap options for want of having this option. Most people can workout to buy cheaper eggs if they choose to.

joedenise

I didn't see the show but plan on watching it later on Demand 4. I am another who buys FR eggs but don't feel it necessary to buy everything organic nor at full price.

I'm hoping that the programme's recipes will give some new ideas which can be adapted to suit the food I buy or have in stock.

It would be good if the programme makers would make a true "budget" meals programme using basic foods but like others have said I don't think the programme makers would even consider it because they don't think it will make "good" TV.

Denise

ravingandsaving

Caught about five minutes and got annoyed! We switched off the TV in anger! Can't repeat what my OH says about Jamie Oliver!!

midnightraven3

i think the problem with shows like this, and superscrimpers etc is, they are aimed at people who spend a whole lot more than need be, and its to save people who spend £200 per week on food, some money, rather than "us savvy spenders" who make meals for £2-£3 rather than portions for that:money::D

tessie_bear

i enjoy jamie watching and really admire his keeness....the cynic in me says i would be that positive if i had millons in the bank but i still like him

didnt fancy much of the food tbh...i hate pork belly and cant see what is money saving about buying fat which my family and i will pick off....not keen on rehashed lamb so wont be bothering with that

thought the noodles looked nice minus the dripping egg...id be interested to know how he costs the recipes say a pot of smoked paprika a spoonful might cost 10p but the whole pot has to be purchased in the first place

will get book from libary but wont be going mad and buying it

savingqueen

As others have said the programme is fine for people who eat out a lot and buy food at weightrosy or m&suspenders and want to cut costs. Good to promote healthy home cooking and use leftovers like the lamb and bread so not all bad. However too many expensive ingredients to call it budget or thrifty. I do like a lot of his recipes but disappointed with Jammy Olives. He could have been given a small budget in cash and gone round markets and discount shops and using some value/basic ingredients to show people what your money can buy and then cook. He could have shown substitutes for the herbs etc as well. A girl called Jack would have done a proper job!