About me

I was born in May 1975 and straight into the business, really. My dad runs a lovely pub-restaurant, The Cricketers, in Clavering, Essex, where I grew up. As soon as I was old enough to peer over the worktops, I remember being fascinated by what went on in the kitchen. It just seemed such a cool place, everyone working together to make this lovely stuff and having a laugh doing it.

Me and my sister, Anna

I guess the chefs got sick of hearing me whining all the time, so when I was about seven or eight, they let me peel the potatoes and pod peas, that kind of thing. By the time I was 11, I wasn't half bad at veg prep and I could chop like a demon! Amazingly, although I loved hanging around with my mates going fishing and climbing trees, I still thought that the kitchen was the best place to be. A lot of the boys at school thought that cooking was a girlie thing. I didn't really care, especially as I could buy the coolest trainers with what I'd earned from working at the weekend.

On holiday with mum and dad

When I was 16, I didn't really have the results to stay on at school - besides, I knew by then that I wanted tto be a chef. So I went to Westminster Catering College and then did some time in France, learning as much as I could, before coming back to London to work as head pastry chef for Antonio Carluccio at The Neal Street Restaurant. I was really fortunate to have the chance to work at such a renowned restaurant so early on in my career and I made the most of it. My good mate Gennaro Contaldo worked there and he would be up at the crack of dawn making bread and pasta for the restaurant, so I would join him before my shifts to learn as much as I could. He taught me how to make the best focaccias and genius fresh pasta, which I still love to make now.

After The Neal Street Restaurant, I worked for Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers at the River Café for three and a half years - what an amazing experience that was. Those two ladies taught me all about the time and effort that goes into creating the freshest, most honest, totally delicious food.

Of course it was there that I first got in front of a TV camera. A documentary about the restaurant was being filmed and the editors decided to show a lot of this cheeky kid who was so into the cooking that he'd answer back to the crew... The day after the programme was shown, I got calls from five production companies all wanting to talk about a possible show. I couldn't believe it and thought it was my mates winding me up!

Jools and I on our wedding day

In the end, I accepted an offer from Optomen Television - the idea behind The Naked Chef was to strip food down to its bare essentials - to prove that you didn't need to dress up ingredients or buy a load of fancy gadgets to make something really tasty. Despite my Nan's worries, it definitely didn't mean that I was cooking in the nude! I'm well chuffed that the three Naked Chef books have been a success too. I always wanted to write a book, though I doubt my old English teacher would believe it! I think it's all about taking the same straightforward approach as I do with food.

It was then time to move on and to leave The Naked Chef behind. I had always wanted to pass on my passion for food and to help disadvantaged youngsters, so I decided to mentor fifteen unemployed or homeless people to train as chefs with the idea that they would then staff a new restaurant with me at the end of their training. All of this was captured in a television documentary for Channel 4, called Jamie's Kitchen and Penguin published my accompanying book. The restaurant is still up and running and, with the help of the Fifteen Foundation charity which I set up, we are on our third intake of students at the moment. I'm really proud of them all and I'm so glad that it all worked out as I thought it was going to fall flat and break the bank at any minute!

Left: Me outside Fifteen
Right: My beautiful family

I've never been busier in my life! It's a complete whirlwind - and right now the only thing I wish I had more time for is my family - my lovely girls Jools, Poppy and Daisy. Although we now have a place in the country to spend our weekends at, so I really look forward to Friday nights when we can pack up and spend the weekends together. That's what it's all about!