Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/09/23/uncle-roger-finally-finds-a-decent-fried-rice-chef-gordon-ramsay.html
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I know plenty of people do not like Ramsey for a variety of reasons. But he is absolutely a top notch chef and wouldn’t make a dish without knowing its history or the concepts around it.
No surprises here.
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I’ve been watching “Uncle Roger”'s YouTube channel a great deal lately and I find him genuinely hilarious. I’m a little worried that it might be racist to laugh at his character so much, though.
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Are you laughing at him or with him? Remember his “act” is for entertainment purposes, so he clearly is accentuating certain things for comedic effect and entertainment value. I do not think he is mocking his culture or mannerisms, just being himself and making it entertaining.
So if you are laughing at the parts he clearly intends to be funny…I think that’s working as intended.
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I didn’t know of this channel, and I’m really enjoying this.
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I wonder if Hersha is married (?), because I’m shipping them as a couple.
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hilariously
Uh, [citation needed].
Apparently, his application of pad thai was left wanting.
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It’s nasi goreng, he can look up a recipe like the rest of us. His fried rice is also not aimed at the same audience as the others. It involves going to an Asian shop for the ingredients. I doubt that if the others were told to do nasi goreng and use all the specialist ingredients it would be that much different.
He’s a trained chef, Marco Pierre White, but that’s it. The mad part is how many TV chefs, aren’t. To be fair I even like some of those untrained ones.
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I wondered about this too, because they have great chemistry on screen.
That doesn’t necessarily mean anything (see: Gaga and Brad Cooper). Their latest video promised to address this question in the followup installment.
I don’t know if Ramsey is a jerk IRL or just plays one on TV. His character could use a chill pill, but I won’t hold that against the guy playing his character anymore than I would Uncle Roger. After all, it’s my choice whether to watch them and they both provide useful cooking guidance to their audiences.
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Ramsey is very different in Masterchef JR or To Hell and Back. I think the “mean” version is an act for effect on certain shows. Even on Hell’s Kitchen…he sort of needed to be in some people’s faces given how obtuse and delusional some were.
I went through his master class. And I have eaten his food first hand. I have all the respect in the world for him as a chef.
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That’s kinda the thing though, realty TV is still pretty scripted, which is fine, but I don’t assume the characters are they same as their performers. That doesn’t mean the people performing them can’t be worthy of criticism IRL or behind the scenes, and it’s perfectly legitimate to criticize the characters themselves, but speaking for myself I’m cautious about conflating the two even with “reality” TV.
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Have you eaten his food in one of his top notch restaurants and not just one of the many franchises? Just saying you can’t judge a chef without eating their real cuisine.
Have had worked in “top notch” kitchens my ‘feeling’ is he may be a violent cunt of a chef. But if the food is good let me know.
I have eaten his food, cooked by him. I have eaten food from multiple of his restaurants as well. You can tell the difference. He’s an amazing chef.
Additionally, by all accounts from former and current staff while he is demanding he is not an ass in his kitchens like portrayed in reality TV such as Hell’s Kitchen.
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High end Kitchens can lose a Michelin star for one mistake that goes out on a plate. Therefore there is a culture of brutality and bastardization in the industry. My first experience was from an Italian cook, maybe in his mid 20’s, I was 15 and he said if you make a mistake they will hit you and they hit hard!
Always found it a weird paradox in the most masculine of industries where blokes arrange flowers on a plate under the threat of violence.
And my partner, a woman, worked in a 3 Michelin starred restaurant in France and the chefs were frustrated that they couldn’t swear the same way or hit her! She saw a fellow commie taken out and pissed on by the chef de parties.
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That’s good to hear, given that his first TV appearance was being driven to tears in a bullying kitchen I thought it was… disappointing he perpetuated that cycle of abusive violence in the chefing trade. Needless to say misogyny, homophobia, and racism are rife too.
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I have noticed that the jerk act is a tool he uses. When he thinks a cook or restaurateur needs a kick in the arse the jerk or the martinet comes out. When he’s a guest or transmitting information it is never there. So he may or may not be Gordon "Bellend"Ramsay in private, but on camera he is aware enough to use it or not consciously
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Yes Hell’s Kitchen is well within the history of his contemporary ‘angry brand’… The moments on ‘Boiling Point’ where he fixated on a commie and threatened him with his job (any women in the kitchen?) and just kept on going back at this guy again and again was a bit of a trigger for me. Went beyond a telling off to pure anger and abuse. Ramsey hasn’t made a mea culpa from this behavior he has traded on it for monetary gain.
You know he’s not an ass in the kitchen?
Probably a lovely guy when you get to know him, as many people say. Just a bit misunderstood but the whole point of his wealth accumulation is the ‘angry’ brand.
Can you describe your favorite dish?
I didn’t say I know he is an ass or not in the kitchen, I said by the accounts of current and former staff of his.
It was his beef wellington. It was exactly as you would expect it to be.
