Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Gordon Ramsey - His Talking Was As Fast As His Food

Gordon Ramsey was all over ABC this morning. First Charlie (Charles when he does the evening news) Gibson (back for a quickie hosting gig at his old haunt at GMA) incorrectly identified Gordon’s show Hell’s Kitchen as being on the Food Network. Amazingly, Gordon didn’t correct him.

Then Gordon set about demonstrating a chicken dish from his book Fast Food, talking so fast that I had to put the closed-captioning on. Even then I could only catch every other word. He browned some chicken pieces and added sherry vinegar*, soy sauce and then honey to the pan. It looked okay, but not spectacular. Oh, some lemon slices went in too. He served it with mashed potatoes that he calls Champ, which is a mashed potato dish of Irish origin.

Later, Gordon bullied Regis so much during a cooking segment that it became tiresome. He did do an interesting recipe, however, where he POACHED lamb, which got rid of a lot of the fat and served it with barely smashed (or even cooked) peas. The lamb did look beautiful, but I think he could have minded his manners a bit more. Plus I would have liked a bit more highlights in chef’s hair…

*I JUST had an unfortunate experience with Sherry Vinegar. For a vinaigrette, I added it to the blender AFTER my French Maille mustard. Then I got a whiff of something really foul. Luckily, I tasted it (I really shouldn’t have, when it smelled that bad) and it had in fact turned. The lesson? Store it in the fridge and always add it BEFORE your precious mustard.

7 comments:

Emily said...

Vinegar goes bad? I thought it got better with age, like wine.
I never really thought about it. I'm not allowed to put vinegar in anything I make, anyway. Sometimes I can sneak it in.

Looking forward to a Top Chef post. If you're up to it.

The Short (dis)Order Cook said...

I have to wonder if Gordon Ramsay just thinks he has to be mean because it's become his schtick and people expect it. Even if that's the case, he really should watch himself. People may not want him on their shows anymore and there goes his show/cookbook promotions.

Thistlemoon said...

Yeah, I need a top chef post - I hae no clue what is going on! LOL!

Yeah, I just couldn't watch Hell's Kitchen - I first was introduced to Chef Ramsey through Kitchen Nightmares, which I thoroughly enjoyed - but Hell's Kitchen for me is unwatchable.

Jen said...

I agree with Jenn- I saw Hell's Kitchen once and would never watch it again. Gordon Ramsey was just cruel.

Anonymous said...

There's a backstory on Ramsay and Regis. Check out the 3rd video here:

http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2008/04/in-videos-gordon-ramsay-on-live-with-regis-and-kelly.html

Deborah Dowd said...

I guess that Gordon Ramsey is just playing his character but I hope he doesn't get overexposed. Even though Hell's Kitchen is fun to watch, I really like the Kitchen Nightmares show because he really works with chefs and restauranteurs to help them make their dreams come true- almost touching!

Sue said...

Em,
Mine did.

You should write a post about all the things that you're not allowed to cook with, like the short (dis)order cook did. http://baconandrhubarb.blogspot.com/2008/04/worlds-most-difficult-food-couple.html
It was most entertaining.

My feeling is that if someone is nice enough to do the cooking, one's audience should be grateful. (I'm living in dreamland, I know.)

Hi Rachel,
You're right. The whole thing was getting a bit irksome.

Hi Jenn(Pretty Married Lady),
You better enjoy that Top Chef post! Sorry it goes on forever, but the show seemed to.

In the English Kitchen Nightmares, he's positively Mother Teresa-like, compared to his ranting American televison appearances.

Jen,
Almost ditto, but sometimes I can't help myself.

Hi Anon,
Yeah, the backstory is that Gordon is a boob and can't forgive Regis for how he treated the brussel sprouts the last time he was on.

Hi Deb!
Yes, I agree. Hell's Kitchen actually doesn't even make sense, because some of those people aren't even chefs...so what's the point???