Gordon Ramsey pretends to vomit

[Wile_E]

@TommyTutone

The stay at home dad, whatever his name was. He couldn’t make any scallops. He was put up for elimination against ‘the black Ramsey’.

…

Thanks, I thought it might be him, he was obviously there for early round canon fodder.

Was the little guy, Lou Ross?, an actual “little person” or just small? He seemed like the only guy that wasn’t a complete ass.

[toadspittle]

@GorillaMan

It was/is made by Channel 4, not the BBC.

It’s all Greek to us over here.
(And we watch it on BBC America on cable.)

[Rebo]

@ZebraShaSha

What were the ingredients or the dish? I like the British version but refuse to watch the American one, but am still interested.

There were two dishes on the plate. One had scallops and shaved white chocolate and some other stuff - maybe capers? I’m not sure if they were raw or not, but the other dish was definitely venison tartar.

[gotpasswords]

@ZebraShaSha

What were the ingredients or the dish? I like the British version but refuse to watch the American one, but am still interested.

I would have had a lot of trouble holding this one down as well. Just the description made me queasy and initially, GR thought it was a joke.

venison and quail egg (IIRC) tartare (ulp! Raw deer meat?) one one side of the plate and white chocolate, caviar and capers on the other. GAK!

I’d only consider that a “signature dish” if I was writing a “This job sucks! I quit!” letter. Did the HK kitchen already have these ingredients on hand, or did the contestant put them into a picnic cooler a day ago when he left for the airport? (ewww…,)

I think he made the wrong decision for the auf though. Black Ramsay left the whole kitchen in the weeds with his passive-arrogant long-distance hands-off management and guidance. To me, that’s far more inexcusable than one station messing up a couple pounds of scallops.

And, once again, the least-hated first day “Signature Dishes” were largely from non-cooks - an electrician, a law clerk and a line cook.

[pulykamell]

@gotpasswords

I would have had a lot of trouble holding this one down as well. Just the description made me queasy and initially, GR thought it was a joke.

venison and quail egg (IIRC) tartare (ulp! Raw deer meat?) one one side of the plate and white chocolate, caviar and capers on the other. GAK!

The venison tartare with quail egg doesn’t sound bad at all. Frankly, I’m shocked if this is what made Gordon Ramsey hurl. In fact, here’s a New York Times recipe for one version. Then again, I like raw meat.

The white chocolate with caviar and capers, though…I just cannot see how that works. That one squicks me out a bit.

[Flutterby]

@Celyn

Article from the “Independent” newspaper.

But, of course, it could just be a finely-cooked poisson d’avril.

I’d say it’s the poisson d’avril.

@Dolores Reborn

There were two dishes on the plate. One had scallops and shaved white chocolate and some other stuff - maybe capers? I’m not sure if they were raw or not, but the other dish was definitely venison tartar.

Yeah, scallops, capers and shaved white chocolate. Maybe some other stuff. The other had quail egg in it I think (raw meat and quail egg? That made me gag and I only had to look at it…) Or on preview, what gotpasswords said.

@gotpasswords

And, once again, the least-hated first day “Signature Dishes” were largely from non-cooks - an electrician, a law clerk and a line cook.

I think the reason for this is the non-cooks are trying to impress but they aren’t trying too hard (unlike the others, who just want to blow Ramsey out of the water right out of the gate). Instead they fall back on what they make regularly and know they can do well, which impresses Ramsey more than the overblown attempts. The impression I’ve gotten from watching Kitchen Nightmares is that he appreciates simple food done well, better than overly complicated attempts to impress (hen in a pumpkin??).

[pulykamell]

@Flutterby

(raw meat and quail egg? That made me gag and I only had to look at it…)

Once again, I don’t think a professional chef of GR’s stature would be at all be grossed out by raw meat and raw egg. This is pretty standard fare (although the venison is a twist) in many places in the world. You can get beefsteak tartare at bars in Germany, Austria, Hungary, etc… (Heck, you can find pork tartare aka mett in Germany). Korean restaurants around here routinely serve delicious yook hwe, etc. It is rather supremely unlikely that a top-notch chef like GR has not encountered this idea.

[Flutterby]

Well, he might not be grossed out by it, but I am.

[eleanorigby]

@Beware of Doug

I think it taps into an unquestioned American cultural assumption—that the way to excellence and success is paved with gratuitous emotional mistreatment, because Standards must be upheld, and This Is What It Takes.

Ah, Le Grande Artist must be tortured and suffer to Create and all that nonsense? maybe. Or maybe people just like to see other people whaled on–I bet if they ran wrestling before this show, there’d be no drop off in viewership. It’s just a different kind of violence.

I also like steak tartare. Dunno if I’d like raw venison, though.

[Spoons]

@Flutterby

I think the reason for this is the non-cooks are trying to impress but they aren’t trying too hard (unlike the others, who just want to blow Ramsey out of the water right out of the gate). Instead they fall back on what they make regularly and know they can do well, which impresses Ramsey more than the overblown attempts. The impression I’ve gotten from watching Kitchen Nightmares is that he appreciates simple food done well, better than overly complicated attempts to impress (hen in a pumpkin??).

Well, I’d imagine that the non-cooks are trying, but they just don’t have the repertoire of ingredients and flavours that the pros do. So they stick with what they know works well, rather than overreaching in an effort to impress. (Hen in a pumpkin?) And as we saw, it did work well for them, since if Kitchen Nightmares is any indication, Chef Ramsay really does appreciate simple things done well.

I’m a little surprised that once again, diners went home hungry on the first episode’s dinner service. I’d think that by now, when we’re beginning the fourth HK series, that the contestants would have seen past seasons, known they’re going to have to do a signature dish followed by a dinner service as soon as they get there, and at least made an effort to hit the ground running. Knowing this, but not making an effort to know the evening’s menu, to work together with others (even if they’ve never met before) to get a dinner service out, and in Jason’s case, finishing up a smoke outside while the others are busy working in the kitchen, is ignorance at its finest. I’m kind of wondering if the producers intentionally selected those who have never seen the show before. (No not really, I’m sure they didn’t, but still…)

I didn’t notice any sympathetic characters emerge (thinking here of Julia in the first episode of the third season, who could do eggs but nobody would let her; and when they finally did, the eggs were flawless), but I did find a couple whose quick elimination is likely a sure thing: Jason, whose attitude will doom him; and Black Ramsay, who might be a fine executive chef but who will likely be eliminated unless he can show some sort of leadership. I will say I was kind of looking forward to seeing what stay-at-home dad Dominic could do, but now we’ll never know.

[pulykamell]

@Flutterby

Well, he might not be grossed out by it, but I am.

I didn’t see the episode in question, but it seems he was grossed out by something, and I really wonder if GR was reacting to the white chocolate scallops or the raw meat and egg. I hope it’s the former. I must say, I like the guy, but he’ll go down a couple notches in respect in my mind if it was the tartare that bothered him so much that he had to puke.

[Rebo]

I don’t think the tartare was what made him puke. It was the scallops - I just can’t imagine chocolate and scallops together. <gag>

I like Ramsey’s over-the-top personality. It’s a very entertaining show! Every time he calls someone a donkey it cracks me up.

I keep trying to think of what I would consider my own signature dish. I’ve tweaked so many recipes, but none I would call “all mine.” I guess my southern roots would come through and I would make chicken fried steak or something - I have no gourmet/fine dining type dishes - I’ve stolen a few ideas, though!

[Dung_Beetle]

@Dolores Reborn

I like Ramsey’s over-the-top personality. It’s a very entertaining show! Every time he calls someone a donkey it cracks me up.

Don’t you mean “dunkie”?

[Flutterby]

@Spoons

Well, I’d imagine that the non-cooks are trying, but they just don’t have the repertoire of ingredients and flavours that the pros do. So they stick with what they know works well, rather than overreaching in an effort to impress. (Hen in a pumpkin?) And as we saw, it did work well for them, since if Kitchen Nightmares is any indication, Chef Ramsay really does appreciate simple things done well.

Not that they weren’t trying, just that they weren’t trying too hard. I think in this case not having the repetoire helps because they know what they know so they work with that, whereas the ones who have the repetoire do too much and I think try to experiment at the wrong time in the hopes of impressing.

@pulykamell

I didn’t see the episode in question, but it seems he was grossed out by something, and I really wonder if GR was reacting to the white chocolate scallops or the raw meat and egg. I hope it’s the former. I must say, I like the guy, but he’ll go down a couple notches in respect in my mind if it was the tartare that bothered him so much that he had to puke.

Pretty sure it was the scallops that did him in, because he asked if there was capers in there also and the cook said yes.

[Wile_E]

I think he mixed both dishes together when he tasted it, so even if the tartare dish may have been okay it was not okay served on the same plate as the other. If you’re serving stuff on the same plate they should be able to be eaten together without it making you sick. So even if half the dish was passable, the entire dish was still a failure.

[_Deep_F_ied]

@Tenar

I do have my limits, though. Even though the people who go on that “lie detector show,” (sorry, I can’t for the life of me remember the name of it) also voluntarily choose to humiliate themselves for a chance at a little bling, I won’t watch it – not even one episode. Those people are taking a chance at genuinely destroying their lives, and that’s too much of a train wreck for me.

I call it Another sign of the Impending Zombie Apocolypse but they call it The Moment of Truth.

My favorite exchange:
GR upon being presented the Jack-o-lantern of death: “What is this? A hen in a pumpkin? What do you call this monstrosity?”

FatHairyDumbassDoofusCookGuy: “…uhhh, ‘Hen in a Pumpkin’”

Classic!

I was actually argueing with LadyFried that LouRoss was a small women until he exited stage left with the group of guys. I’m kinda rooting for him now.

[Anne_Neville]

@Flutterby

I’d say it’s the poisson d’avril.

If it’s not, it’s a sign of the apocalypse.

I remember one BBC Kitchen Nightmares where Gordon Ramsay started a swear jar. I wanted it for my retirement fund.

[Rube_E.Tewesday]

Every time I can remember Ramsay vomiting, on any of his shows, there’s always been a scallop involved. I wouldn’t serve him one on a bet.

[Cubsfan]

Ok. I’m a big fan of HK but the format for this show MUST change. We are 4 seasons in and it has been IDENTICAL each season. They start the exact same way. Service is the exact same (rissoto and wellington anyone?). Elimination is the same. The kitchen is the same. The dining room is the same. It’s always the same. It’s not like Surreal Life or other reality trash which is the same every season but has different famous personalities in each one whose interactions provide the entertainment. This show is WAY too predictable now. Some random comments are found below:

1. The fake puking. Uh huh. If it wasn’t fake we would have seen the vomit come from his mouth. That’s just how TV is today. That guy was just the random schmuck who the prodicers decided would be humilated today.

2. The whole staged bus scene in the beginning. His make-up was SO terrible that out of those 12 (?) people SOMEONE would have noticed that he looked all fucked up and wasn’t talking to anyone. Then they act surprised when he peels away the mae-up. Uh huh.

3. The show needs to be more upfront about what is ACTUALLY happening. The signature dish thing wasn’t a suprise to these people and this was not the first time they had been in that kitchen. With some of those exotic ingredients they had to be requested ahead of time and/or they new what would be there when the arrived. Good thing all the sig dishes took 45min or less to make too. It’s ok that the stuff is staged, but don’t act like it is all off the cuff, spur-of-the-moment type stuff when the show is aired.

4. Atrocious editing this season. Even worse than the previous seasons. The whole thing with the men not knowing any of the entrees was an obvious editing job. Each time they showed a guy saying “Um…” it was for like .3 seconds and right when he was getting ready to say something (probably entree name) they would cut to the next guy. It’s just very ingenuine to do that. It’s worse than most reality shows in this respect.

5. I thought for sure that Louross was an asian woman until they split up into sex teams. I have no respect for people who (I guess) want to be treated like professionals, but they won’t stop waving their cool quirkiness for everyone to see how different they are (face piercings, blue hair, MOHAWKS etc…). Congrats. You’re a punk rocker Louross. We got it. But we aren’t hiring you to be a punk rocker. We are hiring you to be an exectutive chef and expect you to look and act professional. So shave the fucking thing already and grow-up.

6. It’s also not fun knowing ahead of time the for the first 5 episodes or so GR will hate EVERYTHING they do and they won’t do ANYTHING right. I would like one of these teams on some season to miraculously do everything competently and have it presnted that way instead of with the fake preplanned GR disgust.

[pulykamell]

@Dolores Reborn

Iscallops - I just can’t imagine chocolate and scallops together.

Neither can I, but to be fair, I was at a restaurant last summer where the star appetizer was shrimp served in a vanilla nage, and it was surprisingly tasty. I’ve since found that shellfish & vanilla is not so strange a combination (judging by Google.) I would certainly at least give the scallops and white chocolate a try. You never know. Maybe without the capers and caviar there’s a chance it wouldn’t be so bad.