Gordon Ramsay: King of Food!

Honest to admit: I’m not a foodie. Food is not my life, as I’m on the, “eat to live“, side, (opposed to live to eat), and I certainly am not a dessert person, but for someone who says that, I do watch cooking shows because I love to watch Gordon Ramsay.

I was 8 1/2 years old in early 2005 when I first saw Gordon on the US version of Hell’s Kitchen. My mom thought it looked interesting, so I decided to watch with her. Watching Chef Ramsay, I had never seen anyone so angry in the kitchen, yet at the same time, I had never seen someone so understandably angry. Underneath all that frustration, was someone who was so caring and concerned about the food, the diners, and the chefs. It was also really hilarious to watch him, as he has a really wicked sense of humor.

After that, I believe the US version of Kitchen Nightmares started, and my mom of course was watching that. I was unaware of the show until it premiered on TV. In one episode, Chef sat down to say a quick prayer before he was to eat this terribly disgusting dish. I laughed so hard about it and remember asking my mother, “How does he not get food poisoning if he has to eat the gross meal?”
She laughed and said he doesn’t eat the whole meal, just tastes it to see what it’s like. I was really relieved by that, as I didn’t wanna see Chef Ramsay go to the hospital!

It was shortly after Kitchen Nightmares USA started I actually got a chance to watch the UK version, which at the time was airing in reruns on BBC America. Now it’s been years since I’ve seen this show, but one stand out moment I remember was an episode he confronted his own demons of dancing (as he explained the week was about conquering fear, he decided to also conquer his own). I also started watching his UK show The F-Word, which has a freakin’ cool intro and song. Sort of a food documentary show, I just found it entertaining to watch all these segments with food, diners, and most of all Mr. Ramsay’s personal life! It was such a riot!!!

It wasn’t until Masterchef USA however, that I really saw the complete other side of Chef Ramsay, that actually underneath he’s a real softie. I saw the real mentoring side of Chef Ramsay, and someone who was super encouraging to these home cooks, it made me see him as really down to earth. Masterchef JR was another step in this direction, as on that show it was not only super sweet to see him be silly with these kid home cooks, but also really bizarre to not hear him swearing!!!

Over the years, it’s just been guaranteed that if Chef Gordon Ramsay is hosting a TV show, I’m watching it. He’s had a plethora of them on the Fox network: Hotel Hell (a Kitchen Nightmares setup where he helps struggling hotels), 24 Hours to Hell and Back (a 24 hour condensed version of Kitchen Nightmares), The F-Word USA (a continuation of the style of the UK show), Gordon Ramsay’s Great Escape and later his show Uncharted (on both shows, Chef goes to exotic places and learns new cooking skills from locals, making a meal to share with them at the end of the week), and Gordon Gino and Fred (teaming up with fellow chefs Fred Serieix and Gino D’Acampo, these guys are such a crazy bunch! I love it when they go on food adventures together! They filmed an episode in Scotland, and when it aired in America, I finally got to see Gordon in kilt!!! Only took about 17 years!). Chef’s latest show is Next Level Chef, a cooking competition in which cooks rise or fall a kitchen level based on their dishes.

At the time of this writing, the coolest thing is Chef Gordon Ramsay himself follows me on Twitter! It’s awesome! I have not, yet, been to one of his restaurants, but I plan to change that fact in the near future. My mother has said numerous times over the years, she will try his Hell’s Kitchen Beef Wellington one day! Lucky for us a new Hell’s Kitchen is opening soon in Naperville, IL, and we plan on dining there!!

As for the TV shows, as long as Chef Ramsay continues to host shows, I will be watching them. Some people have a favorite news anchor or favorite home designer they can’t miss, but for me, I can’t miss Chef Ramsay on TV! 18 years of on screen viewing… here’s to another fun 18 years of watching his shows!!!