And here’s a another story which, sad to say, is also not a joke. A shop owner drew chalk lines on the pavement outside the shop, two metre apart so folk knew where to stand to distance themsleves. He was warned by the police that he had defaced public property. Fortunately, the officer’s superiors exercised some basic common sense.
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The UK’s second nationwide “Clap for Carers” event took place at 8pm, to show appreciation for those working in the health and social care fields. In our little road, of 6 houses, there were folk from all but one in their front gardens, clapping. Yes, it does feel odd - we Britons are not a demonstrative people. Apparently, it’s going to continue each week.
Personally, I was also clapping for others if not necessarily actually in the front line, but certainly in the reserve trenches - like the guys from the council who are continuing to empty our refuse bins; like the home delivery guy from the supermarket. They make life bearable.
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Emphasis mine. Sometimes I think it’s like naming a serial killer. At work I say “blahs blahs blah due to current public health concerns”.
For the last two weeks, chef Jamie Oliver has been running a nightly TV cooking show. It’s been put together quickly and, indeed, this week much of it has been filmed at his home on a couple of phones. Within each 30 minutes, if he says “these difficult times” once, he must say it four or five times.
All credit to him, though. These are easy recipes that, as he says, are very flexible for substitutions based on what you might have in the fridge, freezer and cupboard.
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What is it about him that absolutist turns my stomach. I don’t know much about him, but I have a reaction to him when I see him.
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Possibly his “cheeky chappy” persona, which can grate on you. I am not his greatest fan (or, I suppose, I am not the greatest fan of his management). I remember going to a food show, just after he became famous. Like a numbe rof other TV chefs, his book was on sale and he was there to sign it for you. Unlike the other chefs, he was not only charging for the book (obviously) but charging an extra amount for signing it.
I’m also critical of the editing of several of his recent cookbooks. Not for the recipes, as such. But for repetitive phrasing - about half of the recipes use the absolutely meaningless phrase “season to perfection” - yes, it irritated me so much that I did count the number of occasions. And, speaking of his cookbooks, they’ve been based on his various TV series. Now, in themselves, they’ve been OK. Between 2010 and 2017, there’s been 30 Minute Meals, 15 Minute meals, budget cooking, super foods and 5 ingredients. But my issue is presentation - each one has been billed as a “fantastic NEW way to cook”. Five “New ways” in seven years - Mr Oliver takes us for mugs - and he does it successfully.
And don’t get me on to his now failed chain of Italian restaurants. Disappointing, even by the standards you might expect from a chain.
But, all that said, this new series is a bloody good idea and should be genuinely helpful to folk.
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The first time I saw him on television - probably an episode of The Naked Chef - he was shrieking about “nibbles.” It was horrifying. I never voluntarily watched him again.
Was it the shrieking or the use of the word “nibbles” that offended?
Shrieking I can understand, whereas “nibbles” is a common enough word in British English that wouldnt prompt any comment whatsoever here.
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It was the combination. To my American ears, “nibbles” is not a noun, and when a grown man uses the word, he sounds like a baby. A shrieking baby, in this case.
Thanks, @harters for pointing out the new Jamie Oliver series.
Yeah, while his persona can grate I appreciate the way he makes flavorful dishes approachable for us home cooks. Riffs on tray bakes have been a go-to for me ever since I learned about the idea from one of Oliver’s early series. (“Naked Chef,” if memory serves?)
I see the recipes from “Keep Cooking and Carry On” are available at JamieOliver.com. No paywall. No registration. 
He includes a lot of helpful ingredient swaps.
He makes me physically nauseous, and I always feel he should not be handling food.
You’ll find many Britons will sound like a baby to you. Me included.
Some nibbles recipes for you from BBC Good Food.
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One is a variation of something from his Naked Chef days - basically a Full English breakfast with all the items cooked together in a frying pan. Reminded me that I rather liked it back in the day, so might give it another go
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Those are snacks. I love snacks. Everyone loves snacks!
Have to admit, I detested him on TV, because to me, he looked like he had just rolled out of bed, unkempt and ungroomed looking. Also he made such a damn mess with the food he was handling too, and all over the studio kitchen. So I never watched him but once, maybe twice.
I did however buy one of his books - Happy Days With the Naked Chef, and was actually quite impressed with it. Decided I was going to make every recipe in it, (which I’ve never done with a cookbook before). The problem was, the first recipe I tried was absolutely inedible. It was a zucchini yeast bread, which he instructed to be kneaded. By the time it was kneadable, it had so much flour in it, that it was a brick. It was a batter bread, and should have been treated as such. Needless to say, it cooled my ardor for the book.
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Yes, those are what Americans seem to call snacks. Many, and possibly most, Britons would call them nibbles. A British snack is something different - perhaps more substantial and eaten as an “in between meals” thing. For example, at least some of these would fit my concept - https://metro.co.uk/2018/01/26/12-snacks-british-people-indulge-7245148/
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And the BBC, apparently, 'cause the Quick Nibbles piece also calls them “quick and easy party snacks.”
One of the bars in my neighborhood makes scotch eggs with falafel dough instead of sausage. And I would be all over a prawn crisp sandwich.
No doubt - Americanisms and American customs are significantly changing British English and British culture, in say the last 25 years or so. Bound to continue at a pace.
By the by, I’ve come across a number of upmarket restaurants in the last couple of years which call the food you eat with an aperitif “snacks”, whereas previously they would have called them “canapes”. I guess it is ditching what’s perceived to be a slightly pretentious French word for one rooted in English. Goes with the pride with which chefs regard our own food in the last three decades or so.
As long as they don’t start referring to “appeteasers,” which I think might be a sign of the apocalypse.
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