Nigella and the likes

[Birchy]

Does Nigella Lawson have any formal qualifications re-her "cookery", or is she a TV stooge? Similarly, Jamie Oliver. Nice enough lad, but surely invented for the terminally unimaginative out there.

[Pinotage]

What, you mean like O level cookery, or an NVQ?

Nigella wrote restuarant reviews and cookery columns for newspapers and several books on food and cookery. She's been extremely successful on TV.

Jamie Oliver worked at River Cafe restaurant, and has set up a restaurant which has been very successful.

 

I think that shows they have all the qualifications they need.

To make it on TV you need to have star quality - and these two have.

You seem

[Uriah Heep]

Fact.  That boy can cook.

[senga-marie]

 Great cookery is of one of these rare skills, which if you have it, no amount of qualification will surpass your flair and imagination to create wonderful food. Nigella certainly has the warmth and talent to be a successful cook/presenter in her own right.  

[Headtime]

In defence of those types of cookbooks; If you work full time for a living it's hard to find the time to dream up inspirational recipes or spend the requisite time learning to be a master chef. I find them useful, as they give you ideas for dishes that you can then adapt and experiment with.

I've recently discovered www.bbc.co.uk/food

It's full of useful basic tips e.g how to cook selected cuts of meat, a weight and temperature coverter. It also has an absolutely monumental collection of recipes for every dish imaginable.

[mash]

Personally I think it demonstrates that qualifications count for only a small part of a persons ability. We all have skills however some better paid than others and some need paperwork to back them up. At the end of the day both these people are good at what they do and well done for getting where they have.

[woofgang]

I've got Nigella's "how to be a kitchen goddess" cookery book, The recipes that I have tried have been excellent and as foolproof as Delia's

[rja211077]

i don't care whether Nigella can cook. She's sex on legs and i'll watch her programme for that reason alone. I'm 27 and i'll be her toy boy any day.

[srd]

I'm an expert home cook but am no chef, and there's a world of difference between the two. I find both JO and NL unbearably annoying, but have the utmost respect for JO as he is a proven, top-class chef. Up until recently he frequently worked in top pro kitchens in order to 'keep his eye in' (usually in the U.S. to avoid media attention, though he's blown it now by appearing on nation-wide chat shows over there...)

Just one additional, barbed comment: I wonder how Nigella got her job on a newspaper? Could it have been because her brother was the editor?

[Birchy]

Mmmmmmm....long black hairs in your lasagne. Sex on legs, for goodness sake! Jobs for the privileged girls more like...

[banjo]

Dunno about Nigella, but Jamie Oliver went to some college or other.  Its on the programme he did (Jamie's Kitchen) - the kids were taught by the bloke who taught him at the same college.