Woebotnik’s on the trail of celebrity chefdom. I’m so chuffed it’s completely changed my mood — we were going to the monthly continental market in town but can’t make it cos Felix is ill. Hope he’s better for Shrek 2 this afternoon. Anyway, as regular readers, will know, I’ve been hoping Matt would fulfil his manifest destiny and start writing restaurant reviews for a long time now so his exegesis on celebrity chefs is a step in the right direction as far as I’m concerned.
Stubbs is of course rapidly becoming a victim of his own irony with his Mr Agreeable / Mr Disagreeable schtick; slagging off Jamie Oliver is redundant, otiose, and above all ill-considered. Never mind the tongue. On telly he entertains, but more importantly, his puddings ae highly edible. (Does Stubbs actually cook? Probably does, actualy.) There are a lot of favourite dishes round here that started out in a Jamie Oliver cookbook. One morsel to fuel your appetite: cook a strong-tasting organic sirloin (yes the Oliver-branded, hung-for-21-days ones from Sainsbury’s are great but go to a proper butcher if you can), and serve with lemon. It’s a revelation, trust me. Jamie is the Norman Cook of cuisine: lambasted, dreadfully unhip, somewhat naff, but wonderful nevertheless.