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Home | Culinary | Culinary Arts | Naked Food: The Bare Bones of Cooking

Naked Food: The Bare Bones of Cooking

By Marianne Salina

Many people are drawn to elegant simplicity in life, whether they're talking fashion, decorating, or cooking. When it comes to food, our culinary experience can be much more gratifying when a basic, easy-to-follow recipe leads to a satisfying meal. Jamie Oliver, the popular TV chef for The Naked Chef, helps his audience understand that great cuisine does not require a painful cooking experience.

He doesn't believe in scaring his audience with a labor-intense recipe or intimidating beginners with complicated, unheard-of ingredients. In fact, the premise of his show is to accomplish the very opposite--he wants to show people that a stellar culinary performance could easily be achieved with the right recipe and a few basic instructions. His journey from cooking school to his own food show demonstrates the vast popularity of a "naked" approach in the kitchen.

Naked Food: Bare Essentials

Oliver's cookbooks, online food forums, and TV shows illustrate that tasty cuisine can be made in busy households. For example, one culinary basic that he highlights is how to make warm, hearty soup with the following simple steps:

  • Use a homemade stock with the peels and leftovers of vegetables, meats, and fish
  • Add the puree of one of your main soup ingredients to thicken the soup
  • Don't be afraid to add creative garnishes to give color and flavor

Cooking School

Jamie Oliver honed his skills in cooking school and has since demonstrated an approach to food that is more relaxed than many other celebrity chefs. If you are ready to take your basics to the next level, cooking school offers many opportunities to improve your culinary skills and expand your recipe collection.

Many culinary arts schools offer hands-on experience working in a variety of ethnic cuisines and culinary techniques. Cooking school shows you how to shop for the right ingredients, prepare special sauces and dressings, and improve your overall confidence in the kitchen. While the naked approach to cooking is great, sometimes it's nice to dress it up a bit too!

Sources

BBc.co.uk BBC Food (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mostof_soups.shtml#soup_specifics)

Jamie Oliver (http://www.jamieoliver.com/about)

About the Author
Marianne Salina is a freelance writer in Spokane, Washington. She writes about pursuits in education and degree opportunities.