CULINARY crusader Jamie Oliver admits he'd love a knighthood

School dinners hero Jamie talks exclusively to News of the World

I'd love to be knighted..but pals will call me Sir T***er!

By Polly Graham

CULINARY crusader Jamie Oliver admits he'd love a knighthood—but says his mates would dub him Sir T***er!

Teachers and parents across the country are calling for the hero chef, who already has an MBE, to get the top honour for his school dinners campaign.

This week he got the government to cough up £280million to improve menus.

But the 29-year-old Essex boy isn't finished yet. In an exclusive interview with the News of the World, he revealed:

He wants Turkey Twizzlers BANNED;

His pal Brad Pitt has BEGGED him to take the show to America;

And he'll continue his campaign against grotty grub in our SUNDAY mag, by creating menus for busy parents to whip up for their kids.

He joked: "It would be a nice compliment to get a knighthood but I don't think my mates would have it. They'd refuse to call me Sir Jamie —it would be more likely Sir T***er!"

He added: "Even if I don't get a knighthood, this week will have been one of the best of my life. It's been emotional.

"Making four powerful programmes is great but actually changing policy is brilliant."

His close friend Brad Pitt—who Jamie cooked for on his 40th birthday—agrees. "Brad thinks the project is brilliant," said Jamie.

"In fact he wants me to do it in America because where he comes from is one of the most unhealthy parts of the US.

"Brad wouldn't eat Twizzlers or any of that s**t, but when he is next over I'll get my favourite dinner lady Nora to cook him a good school meal."

No one could have predicted the huge support for his show, Jamie's School Dinners, in which he took over catering for 80 schools in London's Greenwich with just 37p per pupil to spend.

And this week the scruffy chef spruced up in a pukka bib and tucker to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair at Downing Street for the announcement that £280million extra would be spent on training dinner ladies, modernising kitchens and increasing cash per head to 50p at primary schools and 60p at secondary schools.

He joked about having to don a tie for the first time in years for his trip to No 10.

Powerful

"I knew I'd get mullered by you lot if I didn't, even though I find them really uncomfortable," he laughed.

But he believes Blair was forced to take action.

He said: "After the programme went out there was so much anger from parents. It was the talk at the school gates.

"I did get the impression that the government were ambushed but it is their job to listen. And they couldn't deny the powerful response from the parents."

But wasn't Blair simply jumping on the bandwagon to win votes for next month's general election?

"You know I don't bloody care," Jamie said. "I spent a year-and-a-half being a dinner lady trying to change this."

It all started when Jamie went to Kidbrooke School in Greenwich. He was stunned by the poor quality of what was on offer to kids—including the dreaded Turkey Twizzlers, which contain just one-third meat and 21g of fat.

"Turkey Twizzlers have become a symbol of everything I hate in school dinners. They should be banned," he fumed.

"It was insulting to the kids. They loved them, but that was all they were used to.

"I'm sure Bernard Matthews doesn't like me very much but my consideration is for the kids, not his £600million business. "

But his campaign won't stop at the school gates. He now wants to educate parents how to feed their little ones properly at home.

And he'll be creating simple and healthy dishes for his Sunday column that parents can rustle up.

"I understand why busy stressed parents buy into the fallacy that foods like Twizzlers and nuggets offer a quick, convenient solution.

"But I'll show them how to cook real food cheaper and quicker. A really thin piece of salmon fillet costs relatively nothing and you can cook it in three minutes. My daughter Poppy loves it."

Jamie is now taking one or two months "Jools time" travelling to Italy with her and their two girls.

"It's very important," he said. "Jools has been brilliant. She gives me confidence—and a slap if she thinks I'm being a t***er."

Last night David Jol, managing director of Bernard Matthews, hit back. He said: "We support Jamie's initiative but we think it's wrong to single out Turkey Twizzlers. We're not considering removing them from our range because the salt and fat levels are well within parameters set by schools."