Upclose with Jamie Oliver

Britain’s “Naked Chef," Jamie Oliver, proved himself a diamond geezer by using his fame to improve school dinners in the UK and train disadvantaged youngsters through his charity restaurant, Fifteen. He is hoping to come to Hong Kong to cook with local chefs for a future TV show. Meanwhile, his latest TV series, “Jamie’s Great Italian Escape," starts on Discovery Travel & Living on June 9.

HK Magazine: What interests you in Chinese cooking?
Jamie Oliver: I love the way Asian cooking uses lots of lovely fresh vegetables, herbs and spices. The flavours are spicy and tangy which really gets your tastebuds going. I love the way duck is cooked for hours to give it a delicious succulent flavour and lovely crispy coating.

HK: In Hong Kong, local schools get a catered lunch and eat in their classrooms. Any tips for how to make sure they get a decent lunch?
JO: One of the main things I recognised when I visited schools in London was the kid’s lack of education when it came to basic foods like vegetables. They weren’t learning the names of vegetables, what things taste or look like, or how to cook them. Without food education, kids lack the ability to make informed choices about what they eat. I believe that to improve kids’ diets, food needs to be brought back into school education.

HK: What is your favorite recipe from your Italian adventure?
JO: That’s impossible to answer since I love all Italian food – every region had its own highlights. The food on the street market in Palermo was amazing, and I had the most delicious ragout. One recipe that really meant a lot to me was Nonno Contaldo’s mussel linguine. Nonno is my mentor Gennaro’s dad and an absolute legend. He is 96 and still cooks for himself. I think what makes Italian food great is the atmosphere it’s eaten in – with lots of chat about whose food is best.

HK: What makes a great restaurant experience – the food, the atmosphere?
JO: There needs to be a good blend of both. When you come to a restaurant, you want to feel comfortable in your surroundings so you enjoy the food. And you definitely don’t want to come to a lovely-looking restaurant and be faced with crap food. When you are paying to eat out, you are paying for the whole package – the food, atmosphere, service – everything.
HK: What would be your desert-island dinner?
JO: I love my mum’s roast chicken with trimmings. That would be hard to leave behind.

HK: Advice for our local chefs from your experience running Fifteen?
JO: I learned a lot – not least about myself! It was an amazing experience where I grew as a person as well as a chef – I had never taken on such a massive project before and it was pretty overwhelming at times. The Fifteen Foundation in London is now recruiting its fifth year of students, we opened Fifteen Cornwall in May and we will open in Melbourne, Australia later this year. Fifteen Amsterdam opened in December 2004, and is doing really well – it’s hard work but really worth it.