‘Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals’ cookbook breaks record in UK

LONDON - Chef Jamie Oliver’s latest cookbook, ‘Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals’ has become the UK’s fastest selling non-fiction title of all time.

His latest cookbook has sold 735,000 copies in 10 weeks, beating the previous record held by Peter Kay’s memoir, ‘The Sound of Laughter’.

In the past week, its sales were more than twice that of its nearest rival, Guinness World Records.

If things continue, Oliver will beat Delia Smith, whose ‘How To Cook’ (Book 1) is currently the best-selling cookbook of all time, with more than a million copies sold.

‘Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals’, which contains recipes for 50 quick three-course dinners, was made into a television series for Channel 4.

The past week has been the biggest for sales so far, with 110,000 copies bought.

“It really is quite phenomenal to have sales like that when the TV series is finished and the book has been out a few weeks. I am pretty sure it will go on to be the biggest selling cookbook ever,” the Guardian quoted Tom Tivnan, features editor of The Bookseller magazine, as telling the BBC News.

“There are really four or five cookbook writers who dominate the market and they’re the ones we know by their first name - Jamie, Delia, Gordon, Nigella,” Tivnan said.

“I think accessibility is really the key to Jamie’s success.

“He almost single-handedly introduced the idea that you could have great meals without spending hours and hours cooking. I also think he’s really matured. He’s become a national treasure rather than the ‘pukka punk’ he used to be,” Tivnan added.

Penguin UK, which publishes the book, said it was thrilled at its success. (ANI)