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Who is Gennaro Contaldo, when did the chef meet Jamie Oliver and what are his most famous recipes?
The Italian chef taught Jamie everything he knows about Italian cooking - and regards the Essex lad as his sixth child
ITALIAN chef Gennaro Contaldo is also known as Jamie Oliver's mentor and "London dad".
But the well-respected chef is also an avid social media fan who loves to share his recipes online... here we find out more.
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Who is Gennaro Contaldo?
Gennaro was born on January 20 1949 in Milan, Italy.
He is best known for his work with protegee Jamie Oliver, and for his TV show Two Greedy Italians, which he presented with Antonio Carluccio.
He began working in restaurants from the age of 8, but moved to London in 1969.
He has been married twice, and has five children.
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When did Gennaro Contaldo meet Jamie Oliver?
Gennaro mentored Jamie when he worked at Neal Street Restaurant in the 90s.
Later he was brought on board to mentor chefs at Jamie's chain of Italian restaurants, Jamie's Italian.
Last year he told the Irish News how important the 41-year-old is to him.
He said: "Jamie is incredible. When you show him how to do something the Italian way, he takes it in straight away; and when he does it, he does it better than me.
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"Jamie considers me his London father, and I'll always consider him my boy. I have six children and the sixth one is Jamie.
"My father always believed, which he was right to, that Jamie was my son. He died believing that.
"I had to learn from him how beautiful and wonderful the world is, and I learned that to give is much better than to receive, and to help is incredible.
"This is his philosophy and mine as well. We don't take away – the world is beautiful so let's enjoy it."
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What are some of Gennaro Contaldo's most famous recipes?
Gennaro has published several cookery books, the most recent being a book about Italian bread last year.
He has also been a regular on cooking shows such as Saturday Kitchen, as well as featuring on Jamie's shows.
He is also a passionate YouTuber, and has uploaded hundreds of cooking clips since 2010.
Books written by Gennaro Contaldo
- Passione (2003)
- Gennaro's Italian Year (2006)
- Gennaro's Italian Home Cooking (2008)
- Gennaro's Easy Italian (2010)
- Two Greedy Italians (2011)
- Two Greedy Italians Eat Italy (2012)
- Gennaro: Let's Cook Italian (2012)
- Gennaro: Slow Cook Italian (2015)
- Panetteria: Gennaro's Italian Bakery (2016)
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