From a Sense of Duty, to a Canadian Love Letter, Unity is on The Table With JAMIE OLIVER: TOGETHER

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Read Jamie Oliver’s words, and take a wild guess at what he was talking about: “I don’t know how I’ve missed out on it,” Oliver said. “But it was delicious. And definitely that funky, savoury, salty, clammy taste is a good thing. So thank you for educating me, Canada.” The British celebrity chef and author was referring to the iconic Canadian Caesar, with which he quenches his thirst for the first time in a Canadian-themed special as part of his new series JAMIE OLIVER: TOGETHER, which debuts Thursday, Nov. 4 at 9 p.m. ET on CTV Life Channel. The Canadian special – fully titled JAMIE OLIVER: TOGETHER WITH CANADA – wraps up the season on Dec. 9. But first things first: what’s the general concept behind JAMIE OLIVER: TOGETHER, and how does it differ from his many previous projects? Well, in large part, the title says it all. “It feels like this series, and (the accompanying) book is, you know, very much hopefully a bookend to the past year and a half, and all the chaos due to the pandemic,” Oliver said in a virtual interview. “At first there was lots of panic-buying and fear, and no one really knew what was happening, and then, of course, there were different versions of solitude, and working from home, and not getting out, and having restrictions.” But even as all of that was going on, Oliver said his sense of duty as a public figure became more clear in his mind. “Whether it’s Canada or the U.K., I’ve been around for a while, and I guess what I felt was the responsibility, as a familiar face, to still be there through thick and through thin,” Oliver said. “The sort of global public wanted me to be useful, they wanted me to be active, they wanted me to be giving them solutions to some of the struggles, and that might be health, or nutrition, it might be stuff to make you feel better. Certainly one of the only things we could control was food. And so yeah, TOGETHER, for me, feels quite profound, because it is the bookend. It is freedom. It is the simple joys of having your loved ones around your house.” In each episode of JAMIE OLIVER: TOGETHER, Oliver invites audiences into his kitchen as he shares expert tips about how to host a memorable gathering with minimal stress. And hey, even for people who were good at these things before the pandemic, just about everyone is rusty and could use a refresher course, right? “In a way, it’s kind of like bringing back the great Canadian dinner party,” Oliver said. “You know, over the past 30, 40 years, it has ebbed and flowed with availability, with fast food, with new restaurants, neighbourhood restaurants, now it’s mobile phone apps with delivery services. But of course, the secret ingredient this time was the fact that we were allowed to have people back to our home, right? It never felt so good. Food really is the excuse to bring people back together. And at the same time, while there is a large proportion of Canada that is so joyful to get back out and about, and supporting local restaurants – God bless, that’s fantastic – you also probably have half the population that is still a little bit wary of busy places. So I think for me, this makes cooking for memories, and cooking at home, and hosting, it gives it kind of an interesting twist. In one way, it’s nothing new. And then in another way, it feels really fresh.” So what can Oliver reveal about the Canadian special? “We had been commissioned to make a certain number of shows, and Canada just phoned up and said, ‘Look, we’d quite like you to do one just for us – is there any more?’ And I was like, ‘My God, we’ve got loads more things!’ ” Oliver recalled. “So I just thought, ‘if Canada was coming ’round my house tonight, I would definitely be doing my twist on steak frites.’ And while my normal job is to talk to everyone, because this was for Canada, I could be more nuanced about it, with specific varieties of things that you can swap in or swap out.” There’s no substitute for a Canadian Caesar, though. “I mean, I love a Bloody Mary, but this is something I had just never tried before, I didn’t know anything about it,” Oliver said. “They were explaining it to me, and I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, we love this!’ Again, it was delicious. And hopefully when people see the full episode, they’ll feel as if it’s a little love letter to Canada.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv