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Chef scores Christmas No 1

The final gifts under the tree have been unwrapped and it seems the nation is preparing to cook up a storm in 2012 with Jamie Oliver’s ‘Jamie’s Great Britain’ securing the number one on the Christmas Book Chart.

The collection of recipes celebrating "the essence of British food, done properly", sold 59,156 copies in the seven days until 20 December, making it this year's Christmas No 1 and giving Oliver his now traditional yuletide spot on top of the UK's book charts. The celebrity chef also took the slot last year with Jamie's 30-Minute Meals, a title that spent 32 weeks at number one, as well as in 2001 with Happy Days with the Naked Chef and in 2005 with Jamie's Italy.

But Oliver's offering wasn't enough to sate the nation's appetite for food this Christmas: Jamie's Great Britain was one of three cookery titles in the Christmas top 10, book sales monitor Nielsen BookScan has revealed, along with fellow television chefs Lorraine Pascale's Home Cooking Made Easy in fourth and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Veg Every Day in eighth.

"Being No 1 two years on the run is an incredible achievement," said Jon Howells of Waterstone's on Oliver's securing of the top spot. "Jamie has had a lot of competition this year, but ultimately he's a tough act to beat. Of course, this week's sales are likely to be higher than last week's, so it will be interesting to see which title dominates. It may be some time before we know which title really sold the most over Christmas."

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