Comments

  1. says

    I think Posh Nosh was a better satire on the fancycheffing videos.

    That said, Ramsay actually really knows his stuff; he’s just thin on patience after a few decades of stupid television.

    Food wishes (chef John) is my favorite youtube food channel. He does a good balance between simplicity and accessible ingredients. Cooking with dog is tremendous fun but less practical.

    I don’t get the whole “watch videos about how to cook” -- I just cook. Sometimes I research a recipe. But I know people who watch food shows while they eat chik fil a. I mean that’s nuts. How anyone can watch Gordon Ramsay pan-searing scallops and then put fast food in their mouth is beyond my comprehension.

  2. stumble says

    I get it, I just don’t think its all that funny. Cooking a good omelet is actually tricky, getting the inside set enough to hold together without overcooking the exterior really is a skill. Just like cooking a good scaled egg yes it seems simple, and yes any idiot can scramble an egg, but it takes practice to make a good scrambled egg.

  3. moarscienceplz says

    Sure, making an American-style omelet (which can also be used to resole a shoe) is easy, but making a proper, tender, French omelet is pretty tricky. I’ve watched both Julia Child and Jacques Pepin do it many times and read their recipes, but it is still a crap shoot for me.
    I don’t think it is fair or nice to denigrate people who are trying to learn new things, even basic things. We all have to start somewhere. In just the last week I learned a better way to peel carrots which has cut my time in half. And especially since the Scrooges killed home economics in public schools, which used to be ubiquitous, how are people expected to learn this stuff? Most parents are working full time jobs, so they aren’t cooking much, plus the media makes you think that you have to have the skills of a Michelin-starred chef to even dare to cook dinner for your friends. So, lighten up, Onion!

  4. chigau (違う) says

    moarscienceplz
    The Onion skit was less about omelettes and more about Gordon Ramsay.
    Who is an obnoxious asshole and a bully.

  5. Mano Singham says

    moarscienceplz,

    In the film The 100-foot Journey that I reviewed earlier, Helen Mirren plays the owner of a high-end restaurant in France. When she interviews candidates to work as chefs, she asks them to make an omelet because she feels that that is the ultimate test of whether the person really understands cooking.

  6. Mano Singham says

    chigau,

    I have not seen Ramsay’s shows (I am not a foodie, and am easily satisfied with mediocre food) but I wonder why it is that bullying, insult-spewing British personalities seem to do so well in the US. Simon Cowell is the other person who comes to mind. Maybe there are others in TV land.

  7. moarscienceplz says

    Chigau,
    OK, I guess the Onion bit must have been a reponse to Hell’s Kitchen in general, rather than Ramsey’s scrambled eggs video in particular, which I rather liked. I do hate Hell’s Kitchen, but in Masterchef Junior I think Ramsey treats the kid chefs quite nicely. So, I don’t know what GR is like when he doesn’t have a camera on him (probably both nice guy and asshole at different times, like most of us) but I do think the GR on Hell’s Kitchen is a fake person.
    Mano,
    Yep, French omelettes are very tricky, probably because I tend to do them for a week or two and then ignore them for months at a time. If I was consistent enough to make them at least once or twice every month I’d probably be much better at them.

  8. moarscienceplz says

    I am not a foodie, and am easily satisfied with mediocre food

    This illustrates why I dislike labels. I, personally, am interested in learning to cook good food because I am interested in almost everything (I’m probably in the DSM somewhere, but at least I am almost never bored), but if someone else is not, that is no reason to feel one is part of an excluded population. EVERY human I think is passionate about breathing quality air, drinking quality water, getting quality sleep, and eating quality food.
    That does not mean that we all have to shop at farmers’ markets at 6am every week, or even that we must never cross the threshold of a fast food place. But I think we all should be open to eating foods we have never had before, occasionally ask where our food came from, and give a thought to any possible suffering of both humans and animals that are involved in supplying our food. (Before someone accuses me of hypocrisy, I do not regard swiftly killing an animal in order to eat it to be causing suffering, but I try to be sympathetic to those who do.)
    Our food choices cause consequences in global networks as well as our bodies, for good or for ill, and we all should try to be conscious of that.

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