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Jamie Oliver wants more women chefs in top restaurants

mumsnetHe's a busy chap is Jamie Oliver - not only was he working too hard to accept his award for Best Food Personality at the Observer Food Monthly Awards last night because he was filming in Yorkshire, now we learn that he's just signed a deal to write a vegetarian cookbook.

In a webchat with parenting website Mumsnet this morning Oliver announced; 'I'm gonna do a big veggie bible in the next year. I just had the thumbs up to do it yesterday. Although every single one of my books has been 60% veggie, my vegetarian friends almost take it as form of veggie racism that I haven't done a veggie book so after 10 years I've caved in.'

Other things we learned in the webchat included the fact that Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is Jamie's favourite TV chef and that he doesn't, despite what you'd think, get a discount in Sainsbury's; 'I don't get an employee discount,' he said. 'I have mentioned it a few times and everyone just looks at me and says you're paid enough. But it's not about the money it's about being part of the family isn't it? So you're actually picking up on a very sensitive emotional aspect of a ten year relationship.'

After admitting that all his favourite food writers are women, Jamie ended the webchat by making a serious point about the lack of women working as chefs in top restaurants. 'I firmly believe that as chefs women have confidence problems,' he said, 'and sadly every year I lose lots of young women chefs and students from 15 not cos they can't do it, but because they think can't handle the level of stress in a commercial kitchen which sadly is just not true. So we need the Spice Girls of cooking, bit of girl power.'
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