In Which I Explain My Obsession with Gordon Ramsey...And My Own Philosophy On Food.

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Dear Readers, 

For those of you who don't make it past the page break, here's the synopsis: love his philosophy of food. Not so lovey dovey on all his methods.
Let me clarify. I love this man's philosophy on food. I borrowed this book from the library this weekend, and I have to say, I'm impressed. 

If I could boil his philosophy down to one sentence, it'd be this: buy high quality ingredients, use good technique, and do something different. It's inspiring. That's exactly how I want to cook. 

(And may I just venture to say that I think I could actually make most of the recipes in this book?)

However. THE MAN IS TERRIFYING. Hell's Kitchen: I don't even want to go there. Suffice to say, he, um, insults people. Regularly. Heck, more than regularly. It's a running diatribe of (almost) every chef in his kitchen. 

And yes, I get that he's looking for talent and that it's some sort of boot camp for chefs that ultimately brings out their best techniques, creativity, etc.

But here's the beef I have with chewing people out for the sake of food innovation. (Beef! Chewing! Lolz!) Cooking should, I think, ultimately be about giving to people; not just about the food. I'd assert that if you invert that; making cooking all about the food at the expense of the people, you miss out on what ultimately makes food, well, fun. 

Food is about relationships. Food brings people together, makes memories, contributes to the aesthetic of a celebration. Treating people with the same respect you bring to ingredients, is, I think, a start to a well-balanced perspective.