In the video introduction to his new iPhone app, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver promises the new Jamie’s Recipes app (free) will guide you through “some of the best cooking you have ever done.”
Of course, my expectations were high. And while not entirely useless, the Jamie’s Recipes app seemed less about developing great cooking skills and more about selling things to make the already rich chef richer.
The app includes 12 free recipes, many of which are delicious, including beef and Guinness stew with dumplings. It also includes a video about knife skills, and how to properly secure a cutting board. But much of everything else has to be purchased. If you want the brilliant breakfast and brunch package — 10 recipes and one video — it’s $1.99. Similarly, 20-minute meals volumes one, two, three and four are also $1.99 each.
Then there is wicked after dinner treats, party shots and preparing an avocado, all $1.99. I mean, I know Oliver is hot stuff, but paying two dollars to learn how to prepare a vanilla pod seems ridiculous.
There are loads of great cooking- and recipe-related apps available for no cost. So I would recommend passing on Mr. Oliver.
