Current Events > The way Gordon Ramsay talks about food ingredients is fucking weird.

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's complete adjective spam.

Beautiful. Gorgeous. Amazing. Spectacular.

The beautiful tomatoes.

And we're going to use the gorgeous [insert very intelligent sounding steak cut].

And of course, the wonderful edamame beans.

Sure some of the stuff he works with is probably really amazing looking, but... it's just fucking lettuce. Calm the fuck down. Lettuce is allowed to just be lettuce.

And he keeps putting "the" in front of ingredients. As in when listing ingredients for a dish they're all "the" even when not referring to a specific bundle of said ingredient, just the idea of them. It's not just breathtaking cilantro, it's the breathtaking cilantro.

It's the only one in the world.

I don't hear other people on cooking shows speak this way. It has a very overclass pompous sense to it, but I thought he was just a wee laddie from ol' Scotland.

He's a fucking phony sellout who pretends to be an asshole.

The idea is to show respect and love, even for humble ingredients. A lettuce is not 'just' a lettuce.

Professional chefs are wildly enthusiastic about food. That's their passion. It would be weird if they weren't.

You've obviously never tried to prepare some food and pulled out some limp sorry ass meth addicted lettuce out of your fridge.

Lonestar2000 posted...

He's a fucking phony sellout who pretends to be an asshole.

Would you like him better if he was really an asshole

I don't know. I was watching one of his older cooking shows. It seemed mostly ok. He's a bit snobby I guess. I think my problem with the show I was watching was the production had Stylistic flashes when none were needed. It's a cooking show for christs sake. It's like it was made by JJ Abrams.

ai123 posted...

The idea is to show respect and love, even for humble ingredients. A lettuce is not 'just' a lettuce.

Professional chefs are wildly enthusiastic about food. That's their passion. It would be weird if they weren't.

I dunno, is it really that different from other professions? Not that I have a problem with a passionate person who is enthusiastic about their work, but I can tell you right now I dont show that sort of respect to a programs source code whenever Im writing it :/
Or if some third party system crashes I dont call it nice things when Im trying to get my business operating again

He really was an arsehole in his early days. That became his brand.

It's very dated now. Chefs have long since realized that there are better ways to run a kitchen than with violence and bullying.

Rika_Furude posted...

I dunno, is it really that different from other professions? Not that I have a problem with a passionate person who is enthusiastic about their work, but I can tell you right now I dont show that sort of respect to a programs source code whenever Im writing it :/

That's because all source code is bad.

Rika_Furude posted...

I dunno, is it really that different from other professions?

It can be, yes.

But there are other professions where people are just as enthusiastic. Someone who restores classic cars will often talk about how 'beautiful' the mechanics are. Fashion designers will gush about the fabric they use. I can even understand an IT person admiring an elegant piece of code.

But you wouldn't expect someone on the checkout at Walmart to speak lovingly of their scanner.

The way he talks is definitely annoying but if you've ever been around chefs you'll know they get really excited about the most mundane ingredients in a recipe. You could easily find a group of chefs arguing about where to source the best lettuce.

P.s. most people don't understand what salad leaves are really supposed to taste like. The stuff you get in a store in a bag is a pale imitation.

Says "literally" way too much.

Goddamn, hating just for the sake of hating.

ai123 posted...

He really was an arsehole in his early days. That became his brand.

It's very dated now. Chefs have long since realized that there are better ways to run a kitchen than with violence and bullying.

I worked with him years ago. He was sound. Its all a character.

Glob posted...

I worked with him years ago. He was sound. Its all a character.

That's very cool.

Is the story about him punching Marcus Wareing true?

Glob posted...

I worked with him years ago. He was sound. Its all a character.

Looked pretty real in boiling point. When did you work with him?

Even so, he has a lot to answer for in terms of creating a persona other chefs try to emulate.

Ive watched enough of him that when I read tomatoes I heard his exact pronunciation in my head.

If youve seen boiling point its not a character. He was really that angry and abusive back when getting his michelin stars.

ai123 posted...

He really was an arsehole in his early days.

The only show where he seems like an asshole is Hell's Kitchen, and that's kind of the point. HK is trying to find someone to run one of his 5 star restaurants and half the contestants that appear are some random dude from Nowheresville Idaho who won the Chili Cookoff when he was in 4th grade and can't cook worth shit. Obviously they're going to get reemed.

The rest of his shows though paint him as a pretty good guy. Helps people with their problems, shows them cool techniques and so on. Really only yells when it's a food sanitation issue or someone freaks out at him.

Check out the shows where he works with kids or the videos with his family on his YT page. Played up drama aside, he actually seems like an incredibly kind person who just happens to swear a lot, and anyone who's worked in a place with a proper head chef can tell you that's pretty damn common.

No Michelin chef is nice.

BrohammedAli posted...

No Michelin chef is nice.

Bullshit.

ai123 posted...

That's very cool.

Is the story about him punching Marcus Wareing true?

No idea.

pinky0926 posted...

Looked pretty real in boiling point. When did you work with him?

Even so, he has a lot to answer for in terms of creating a persona other chefs try to emulate.

Never watched boiling point. I worked with him for the first time in 2003 and the last time in 2005, so after that, but it seemed very much like it had always been a persona.

Im not sure Id agree with your argument that other chefs will feel compelled to emulate his angry persona either. If seeing somebody act like a dick makes you want to act like a dick, you were probably always a dick.

Glob posted...

Im not sure Id agree with your argument that other chefs will feel compelled to emulate his angry persona either. If seeing somebody act like a dick makes you want to act like a dick, you were probably always a dick.

I think there's an entire cult of personality around guys like Ramsay and Marco Pierre White where being a head chef is like being a rockstar or an army colonel or maybe both, and some people in the industry talk like this behaviour is normal and just "how it is in the kitchen".

https://www.reddit.com/r/KitchenConfidential/comments/loz5no/kenji_lopez_on_ramsay_and_kitchen_abuse/

Boiling point was a documentary in 1999 about how he made his restaurant get 3 stars.

I mean I get it, I'm just a low level baker and cooking guy and even I can discern shit products/ingredients from the good stuff.

Then again, you can get so far up your own ass that you think you need to make a $50 shitty grilled cheese over a fireplace

https://youtu.be/8E4cQHejFq0?si=pfY7e6mrGpFyRk5m

Also his frozen meals are pretty subpar for the price. Amy's and Saffron Road have his number

pinky0926 posted...

I think there's an entire cult of personality around guys like Ramsay and Marco Pierre White where being a head chef is like being a rockstar or an army colonel or maybe both, and some people in the industry talk like this behaviour is normal and just "how it is in the kitchen".

https://www.reddit.com/r/KitchenConfidential/comments/loz5no/kenji_lopez_on_ramsay_and_kitchen_abuse/

Boiling point was a documentary in 1999 about how he made his restaurant get 3 stars.

Yeah, I still stand by what I said before.

Did you see the "perfect scrambled eggs" he "cooked" on Hot Ones? Fucking gross.

kind9 posted...

Did you see the "perfect scrambled eggs" he "cooked" on Hot Ones? Fucking gross.

In defence of ramsay, this isn't even "his" recipe. It's literally just french-style scrambled eggs. The curds are super fine, it's nice with toast.

Or not, you do you. But of all the things to criticise him about, how he made scrambled eggs on that show that one time is not it. If you asked him he'd be able to show you a dozen diferent styles ot scramble an egg. Hell I'm not a chef and I know at least 4.

pinky0926 posted...

But of all the things to criticise him about, how he made scrambled eggs on that show that one time is not it.

My only exposure to the guy was that one episode of Hot Ones. Never watched his show(s). Those eggs were fucking gross and not cooked. Hilarious episode though.

You'd be saying the same if you had really good ingredients. Fuckin', staying in Italy had my whole world change around tomatoes.

i dont see what's wrong with this...

kind9 posted...

My only exposure to the guy was that one episode of Hot Ones. Never watched his show(s). Those eggs were fucking gross and not cooked. Hilarious episode though.

The eggs were fine, just in a way you are unfamiliar with.

Lonestar2000 posted...

He's a fucking phony sellout who pretends to be an asshole.

In his early shows even before Nightmares when showed him working he was jerk. But that is like how all chefs in fancy places us to be . Then he got known for it. But if you go back and watch his shows not. The only one where he is really a jerk is Hells Kitchen and that is a part of the show. Most times on Nightmares he only get upset at stuff that is really horrible . Even if that is brand as someone else put it. lol

those scrambled eggs tho

Medium vs well eggs is a fiery debate

Yeah ever had a soft fried egg on toast? Now that's livin'

I don't doubt that Ramsey is a complete bell during service tbh, but I don't hold that against him too much. In the past I've worked with head chefs who were chill and supportive no matter how busy things were so I'm not saying that all chefs are tyrants, but I've also worked with ones who are right stressheads when service is on but then as soon as the last plate is out they're buying us all a beer and are the sweetest, most gentle people ever. It's a busy, high pressure environment, where it's usually very noisy and incredibly hot, and that gets to people in different ways, and while it's definitely not okay to act that way, it's also not something I'm going to fully base my opinion of someone's personality on.

But American TV kinda ruined him tbh. He's more chilled in the earlier British versions of his shows for the most part. Things like the original Kitchen Nightmares he pointed out errors etc. but seemed far more invested in genuinely helping rather than manufactured conflict with the owners, and there was much more of an element of him actually trying to teach people the things that would improve their cooking rather than just calling the owner a knobhead then buying them a few chairs. He definitely plays up to being a cock for the camera because it's his "role" in the show.

It's the same thing as Simon Cowell - on Pop Idol, X Factor etc. over here he was a bit blunt, and had a reputation as the "mean" one, but he wasn't ever actually particularly cruel - I mean, he was almost always right in what he said, and where people did have potential but didn't do well on the day his advice was usually actually very good. Then in America he became the designated villain, with unkind one-liners, slagging off near enough everyone whether they were good or bad just so the audience had someone to boo.

Now he even sometimes falls into his American TV persona when he rocks up on British shows - a few years ago on MasterChef when the semi finalists were sent to work alongside a "proper" chef he was shouting at them and belittling them and it was really weird - like, MasterChef is one of the cosiest and least stressful shows going, having Gordon on there losing his shit was mental. It's like if Prue Leith lost her shit on Bake Off and absolutely launched Sweet Old Margaret's underwhelming bakewell slice right at her head while calling her a useless bogbrush, haha. It just felt wrong.

I don't think it's entirely Gordon's fault, though

TomClark posted...

Now Ramsey even sometimes falls into his American TV persona when he rocks up on British shows - a few years ago on MasterChef when the semi finalists were sent to work alongside a "proper" chef he was shouting at them and belittling them and it was really weird - like, MasterChef is one of the cosiest and least stressful shows going, having Gordon on there losing his shit was mental. It's like if Prue Leith lost her head on Bake Off and absolutely launched Sweet Old Margaret's underwhelming bakewell slice right at her face while calling her a useless bogbrush, haha. It just felt wrong.

Joe is normally there to be the asshole on Masterchef so Gordon doesn't have to me. I hate Joe so much.

Tyranthraxus posted...

You've obviously never tried to prepare some food and pulled out some limp sorry ass meth addicted lettuce out of your fridge.

This.

I've seen some gorgeous ass spinach

cjsdowg posted...

Joe is normally there to be the asshole on Masterchef so Gordon doesn't have to me. I hate Joe so much.

That's the American version. In the OG version the closest you get to someone being a dick is when Gregg says that he most of the chicken was raw but the bits that were cooked enough to eat were tasty, haha.

TomClark posted...

That's the American version. In the OG version the closest you get to someone being a dick is when Gregg says that he most of the chicken was raw but the bits that were cooked enough to eat were tasty, haha.

I wish the American version was more like that. The meanness is such downer.

cjsdowg posted...

I wish the American version was more like that. The meanness is such downer.

If it's any consolation, there's also a downside where we had to put up with this being everywhere on the radio and in the Top 40

https://youtu.be/IfeyUGZt8nk?feature=shared

I recommend yall watch his newer show Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted.

He goes to countries around the world and tries his hand at experiencing and then cooking food from those cultures. Its a very interesting show and hes very respectful to all of the cultures he experiences

It's why TV shows about cooking are weird. The audience can't taste or smell the food, so the chef has to overly describe it to get you excited about it

ssb_yunglink2 posted...

I recommend yall watch his newer show Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted.

He goes to countries around the world and tries his hand at experiencing and then cooking food from those cultures. Its a very interesting show and hes very respectful to all of the cultures he experiences

Was there a Moroccan episode. I remember thinking he seems pretty cool here. Willing to learn. Plus the food looked good