Aussie treat Jamie Oliver has never tried

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has travelled to Australia many, many times but there’s one famous Aussie treat he’s never tried – until now.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been visiting Australia on and off for the past 20 years — and in that time he has never tried a Tim Tam.

The much-loved British chef touched down in Sydney last week ahead of his 10-year anniversary with Royal Caribbean cruises.

During an interview with The Today Show on-board the Ovation of the Seas on Friday, Jamie was asked to pick his favourite between Vegemite toast or a Tim Tam and that’s when it was revealed he had no idea about the beloved Aussie biscuit.

The look on Jamie Oliver’s face when asked about a Tim Tam – he had no idea what it was. Picture: The Today Show

“What’s that in English? What did you just say? he asked the presenter with a confused look on his face.

“Ah, Vegemite toast. What’s a Tim Tam? What is it, it sounds like some terrible rash,” he joked.

She told him it was a chocolate biscuit and of course had to get him one to try it after finding a tray on-board the ship.

The much-loved celebrity chef sussing out a Tim Tam before trying it for the first time. Picture: The Today Show

“This is the moment of truth – this thing I have never had before,” he said as he grabbed a Tim Tam from the tray.

“Very, very nice … I will never forget this moment.”

Jamie arrived in Sydney last week to celebrate Jamie’s Italian being on-board eight of Royal Caribbean’s ships for almost a decade — since 2014.

Inspecting it. Picture: The Today Show

Going in for it. Picture: The Today Show

“I grew up in a pub and I lived above the pub restaurant. Mum and Dad worked very, very hard and every now and again we used to go on a cruise — it was one of the things that we did as a family until I was about of 13/14,” Jamie told news.com.au during an exclusive interview on Friday.

The celebrity chef is in Australia to celebrate his 10-year partnership with Royal Caribbean. Picture: Rocket Weijers/Getty Images

“And we used to love it. I think that was the only way that Dad could switch off.

“But now I’ve got eight restaurants in eight ships, and I never, ever dreamt when I was forging my career that, that would ever happen, but it’s nearly a ten year relationship.”

Jamie’s Italian is on eight Royal Caribbean cruises – and has been since 2014. Picture: James D. Morgan/Getty Images

The 48-year-old chef first came to Australia when he was just 24 years old “and I pretty much did every year for next 20 years”.

“I normally came, in the old world, every year, but obviously Covid threw a little curve ball in there,” he said.

“I just love it here. It always feels like weirdly, my true home. I feel like my style of cooking, my personality, my ridiculous jokes seem to go down better here than back home.”

The award-winning cook, who first shot to fame almost 25 years ago with his cooking program, The Naked Chef in 1999, has just released another cookbook called 5 Ingredients Mediterranean which he says feeds back into his restaurant on-board the ships.

“My books, the TV I do and the travels I do directly feds back into this restaurant here,” he said. “We’ve got stuff from 5 Ingredients Mediterranean on the menu and you just see those dishes that we’re making famous around the world through TV on the menu here.

“I’m getting a bit older now, but hopefully a little bit wiser. And I try and travel a lot, learn a lot and share a lot about food and culture.”