When I was little girl we had a small TV with five channels at home. This was all the signal we were able to caught in our village with antenna. So we watched what was on those five channels. At that time Jamie Oliver was THE Cook. He had several different TV shows.
I was already cooking a bit when I was introduced to Jamie, but he thought me that there are limitless possibilities when it comes to cooking. He was using ingredients that I have never heard of before. He was very energetic and working everything with his hands. I was enchanted. I wanted to cook like Jamie one day.
My mother recognised my enthusiasm for Jamie Oliver so she bought me his cook book Happy Days with the Naked Chef. I was feeling over the moon. I immediately grasped his book and started planning what I will cook the next day and the day after tomorrow and the day later. I wrote a list of ingredients to my mom and it was quite challenging for her to find all the right ingredients in the market. But she managed and I started cooking like Jamie. The whole family benefited with new flavours and techniques.
After a year I got another Jamie’s book Jamie’s Kitchen. I got new recipes and motivation for cooking. He made a large impact on me in that time and he is still my cooking role model. What I also admire about him is his work in the field of healthy nutritions in primary school.
I knew for a while that he has restaurants, but unfortunately all were in Britain so I couldn’t afford to go there just to try his food. At the beginning of this year I was very lucky because I spent some time in the UK. After few days I spotted his restaurant Jamie’s Italian at the corner of my bus route when I was riding with double decker. It was a no brainer. I made a reservation the same day and few days later I had a dinner in his restaurant. In Jamie Oliver restaurant, in the restaurant of my childhood dream cook! It was amazing. The ambience is homely but with very nice interior designed.
The food was delicious. For appetizer I ate Cured meat plank (fennel salami, pistachio mortadella, prosciutto & schiacciata piccante with mini buffalo mozzarella, pecorino & chilli jam, a selection of pickles, olives & rainbow slaw). Delicious! And for the main course I ate pasta with meat balls. The whole experience was fantastic. A great night with great food.
If you ever get the chance to visit something from yours child’s dream do it. It’s incredible experience that will stay with you the whole life.
