TV chef Jamie Oliver chats to Woman about all things Christmas
WORDS: ARIANA LONGSON. PHOTOS: CHANNEL 4/PAUL STUART, INSTAGRAM @JAMIEOLIVER, @JOOLSOLIVER
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
The festive season is just around the corner and luckily Jamie Oliver, 48, is here to lend his expertise when it comes to nailing Christmas dinner. From what to prep in advance to his tips for a stress-free morning and mixing up traditional dishes, the famous chef has you covered. Plus the star, who has five children with wife Jools – Poppy, 21, Daisy, 20, Petal, 14, Buddy, 13, and River, seven – lets us in on what Christmas Day is like at casa Oliver, and the one cocktail that will cheer up even the grumpiest of guests…
Hi Jamie, merry (almost) Christmas! What’s the big day like in the Oliver household?
We’re a very Christmassy family so we definitely go over the top, the kids are always up b****y early raring to go and of course the food is very important. We love Christmas, it’s a nice time to switch off and be grateful.
When do you start prepping?
A month before is a good time to do all the heavy things and all the ugly things, ordering any of the drinks, buying all your cupboard essentials and things that won’t go off. Then the week before you can get various parts of the desserts done and you can make your stuffing and pigs in blankets and put it in the freezer. To make life easier, put things in the freezer on the trays you’ll cook them in. We also have a day called ‘get-ahead gravy day’ which has turned into quite a big thing now! There’s nothing worse than running out of gravy on Christmas Day.
Most of the work happens on Christmas Eve. That’s the time to stuff and prep the turkey, par boil the potatoes, toss them in fat and herbs and have it all ready to go. As soon as you’re up, get the turkey out of the fridge, let it get to room temperature, then depending on when you want to eat and how big the turkey is, you can put it in the oven accordingly.
Do you feel pressure to make the perfect Christmas dinner?
I think when you are a chef and it’s your job you have standards that you want to work to. I should have a 100% success rate for Christmas dinner so I’m obsessed with getting it right.
How do you make sure that everything runs smoothly?
I’m not a person who really does lots of organisation, I’m quite casual and just go with the flow. But at Christmas, I get a big old chalkboard and I plan out every element to within an inch of its life. There’s something about w
