London - It is becoming as much a staple of Christmas as turkey and mince pies... Jamie Oliver’s book is proving the most popular celebrity cookbook again this year.
The TV chef is heading to the top of the Christmas bestseller list for the fourth year running.
Figures released by The Bookseller magazine show that Save With Jamie, which shows families how to cook “tasty, nutritious food on a budget”, has sold 201 959 copies since it was released at the end of August.
It has shifted more than twice as many copies as its nearest challenger, the Great British Bake Off title Everyday: Over 100 Foolproof Bakes, which has sold a total of 104 918 since it was published in mid-August.
Paul Hollywood’s cookbook, Pies and Puds, is the fifth biggest-selling cookery book, notching up 50 459 sales since its release at the end of October.
In third place was Tom Kerridge’s book Proper Pub Food, which has sold 98 522 copies over the past 15 weeks, while Nigel Slater’s offering, Eat, has sold 85 249 since the end of September.
All five titles were among the top 30 fastest selling books in Britain in the week until the 30th November.
However, Jamie Oliver’s book has now sold even more copies than Helen Fielding’s latest Bridget Jones novel, Mad About The Boy, which had sold 172 742 copies by the end of November.
There was no place for Nigella Lawson on the list and her latest book, Nigellissima: Instant Italian Inspiration, did not make it into the Bookseller’s top 50 bestselling list. However, it was released in September 2012.
Jamie Oliver’s cook books have topped the Christmas bestseller list for the last three years.
He triumphed in the battle of publishing giants after sales of 15-Minute Meals beat JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy to top Christmas bestseller book list in 2012.
He was the most popular Christmas read in 2011 with Jamie’s Great Britain and in 2010 with Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals
His latest cook book, published by Penguin, contains recipes showing families how they can cook “tasty, nutritious food on a budget”.
The Christmas cook book market is said to be worth £20m in total.
Paul Hollywood’s book Pies and Puds sold almost 16 000 copies in one week alone.
The book includes recipes for savoury dishes such as meat and potato pie, rosemary suet pudding, and sausage plait as well as sweet treats like queen of puddings and “chocolate volcanoes”.
Its success has been helped by the popularity of BBC2 show The Great British Bake Off, on which he appeared as a judge More than 9.1m viewers tuned in to watch the final of the show in October.
Tom Kerridge’s Proper Pub Food, described as no-nonsense collection of old favourites including fried chicken in a basket, steak and chips, and baked beans on soda bread toast as well as puddings like apple and toffee crumble tart.
The BBC2 Proper Pub Food presenter, whose gastro pub, the Hand & Flowers in Buckinghamshire, is the first to hold two Michelin stars.
The 40-year-old chef dropped out of school at 15 with two GCSEs, before taking over his pub in 2005. - Daily Mail