[New York Peasant by Wilfrid: November 19, 2010]
My memory does Jamie Oliver a disservice. The Naked Chef debuted more than ten years ago, but I still recall him cooking a beef roast for Jamiroquai while muttering "wicked" in mockney.
I have followed his subsequent, rather more impressive career, from a distance. Watching a screening of an episode of Jamie's American Road-Trip at the Crosby Hotel this week, I had to admit he had quietly become a man of substance.
Jamie speaks after the jump.
Very worthy, of course, but how does the thread of seriousness increasingly woven into his work of the last decade translate into yet another food road-trip show. Guy Fieri reflecting on social justice? Rachael Ray cooking alongside reformed gang members? Hard to conceive, right?
On the evidence of the episode of this series set in the Mexican-dominated back-streets of East L.A., Jamie has redeemed this tired formula, injecting hard-edged social commentary into what remains a cooking show ("So now we chop the peppers?" "Mmm," chewing, "that's amazing...").
It really is something of a minor miracle.
The conceit of being a lone ranger is still in place, despite the presence of a camera crew. Jamie visits some dangerous neighborhoods, but hardly in the most dangerous way. Nevertheless, a commitment to deep research, to - by television's paltry standards is evident, as well as an extended immersion in the cultures being discussed, and a palpable openness to diversity.
Few punches are pulled. Even a cooking show audience enjoys a hard luck story with a blessed outcome. Here, however, we see the destruction a machine-gun can wreak on a human hand. We see people just emerging from lives of drug-dealing and violence. We are invited to remember the dead. One former gang member growls, "They ain't no American dream out here."
Although the message is consistent and heartfelt - "cooking can break the cycle of crime" - this is much more than feel-good TV. Jamie candidly states that some of these people are struggling and that some will fail. In the meantime, some succeed in making terrific-looking tacos and enchiladas - and after pointing out the catastrophic effects of drugs, Jamie manages to trip out in a food store after ingesting what seemed to be some form of peyote. Rough-edged fun.
Jamie took questions for a long time after the show. He says the series of six, hour-long episodes (including shows on New York and New Orleans) has been sold in 120 countries. Still in negotiation here - ironically, given the title of the show. A book is available, and if the show becomes seeable, see it.
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