Naked Chef exposed in email

An email doing the rounds purporting to originate from within publishing house Penguin appears to gift recipients a free copy of an as-yet unpublished cook book from TV chef Jamie Oliver as a Word document.

The recipes, complete with photography, all appear to be genuine, and in keeping with the mockney chef's style, but it's not just the Seared Salmon with Courgettes, Asparagus, and Rocket on page 53 that smells a bit fishy.

According to Penguin's website there is no forthcoming book from Jamie Oliver - and 'The Naked Chef 2' title is out of sorts with the naming convention of past cook books in the series.

So what's going on? It would appear somebody has cobbled together a 'best of' from Oliver's previous books and the document is now spreading like wildfire.

Love him or hate him - and most people have an opinion one way or the other - Oliver is the jewel in Penguin's crown, but the 121-page document, which email which users have been printing out and sending on to friends to do likewise, threatens to depress sales of the popular cook books.

From the first recipe 'Watercress, Rocket, Sweet Pear, Walnut and Parmesan Salad' on page six, through to the final recipe, a Summer Crumble on page 121, the document offers an array of recipes which would normally cost around £40 to £50 to buy in the shops.

The 'Roasted Hamilton Poussin Wrapped with Streaky Bacon and Stuffed with Potatoes and Sage' on page 58 sounds particularly good, as does 'King of Puddings' on page 73, and Penguin will surely be concerned about the impact of this email.

At the time of writing Penguin had not returned requests for comment.