Gordon Ramsay Serves up Tasteless Misogyny

Dear Gordon Ramsay,

I see on the BBC website that you've had some difficulty finding women who cook. I have no idea why you'd want to, since it's high time women found their way into the boardroom instead of the kitchen, but you seem to have been searching:

"I've been visiting ladies' houses up and down the country with our film crew and you would be amazed how little cooking the girls are doing," the chef said ahead of the launch of his latest television show.

One problem may be that you were looking for "girls" who cook; my daughter is too busy running track, playing basketball, and studying for her pre-calc tests to spend much time in the kitchen, but she did bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies to raise money for her Model UN team. I suspect other girls are equally busy, yet, if pressed, could handle a spatula every bit as well as the lads.

Likewise, many of the "ladies" I know are too busy banging away at the glass ceiling to spend much time in the kitchen; that's why I'm glad there are strong men like you who are willing to feed us when we get home from a tough day at the office.

Still, I am troubled by this observation:

"Seriously, there are huge numbers of young women out there who know how to mix cocktails but can't cook to save their lives, whereas men are finding their way into the kitchen in ever growing numbers.

"Trust me, I am only telling you what I have discovered."

You need to put down your mini-torch and get out more. Why, just last night I tossed together soup from scratch, without even one of your recipes to guide me! No cocktails though; I ordered my husband to open a bottle of wine. I served it with some leftover risotto, again, made from scratch using the fresh veg in my fridge—fennel, green beans, artichoke hearts. (Sorry, I didn't write down the recipe, but I could probably whip it up for you if you're interested.) And every Wednesday I post recipes here on my blog; maybe you and those legions of cooking men could get some ideas on how to feed a real woman. (Hint: tofu is the new white meat.)

I am (sadly!) by no means an exception. The other night I was invited to dinner (by a woman who wasn't even trying to "save her life") and was served a fine meal of pasta with marinara, grilled eggplant, marinated leeks, and a couple of salads; plus she'd grilled some salmon. I didn't see a tin or a box in sight, nor one of your cookbooks. I do trust you, though—I'm sure you rarely let that misogyny cloud your vision.

However, I am a little concerned about these men you say are "finding their way into the kitchen". Remember, the kitchen is not a play area; Sardines on Toast Sorbet is not actual food. If this trend continues, I fear for our tastebuds. Perhaps you should use your influence to halt experiments of this type among your fellow mates. There are plenty of convenience foods available at Waitrose now; no need to serve snail porridge to the missus after she's put in a full day at the office.

So, you and your film crew are welcome to stop in any time as you trek across the country. You'll be starved, and  "pastilla of pigeon leg, pistachio, cocoa and quatre épices" won't really do, now will it? (You can invite Heston, too. He might appreciate a decent meal, though I won't promise cocktails.)

But please, leave your misogyny at the door. Otherwise I can't be responsible for where my melon baller ends up.

Comments

[chris]

What goes around comes around.

In the 19th century, French haute cuisine got so complex that only a few people could do it. Then Escoffier brought provincial cookery to Paris and made his fortune.

Thirty years ago the chef who invented "nouvelle cuisine" had his Road to Damascus moment when he was served a plain baked trout, fresh from the lough, in a small hotel in Ireland. He turned to his friends and said, "Messieurs, what have we been doing?"

Looks like it's about time for the wheel to turn again.

[Serge]

I myself have found my way into the kitchen. For one thing, the garage's inner door leads to the laundry room then from there to the kitchen. Besides, Sue cooks the meals but I clean the dishes. Ah, the glory of being a New Man.

[Kathy P.]

I don't cook because he won't eat it. Plain and simple. He likes meat and potatoes cooked with no spices, no panache. So we eat carry-out a lot. Well, the DH and the daughter do. I cook for myself or forage through the fridge for edibles...

[KathyF]

Chris, I think Heston Blumenthal could learn something there.

Serge, I would be happy to have a man with your kitchen skills. So far, all I get is wine opening.

Kathy P., I'm so sorry for you. But mashed potatoes is one of my favorite dishes.

[Diane]

It is apparently very threatening to him that we "girls" have strayed from the kitchen, yet he probably doesn't want us taking the big chef jobs, either. Speaking for myself, I have never strayed from the kitchen and probably never will.

I live in a region, however, in which the men routinely chase the women from the kitchen and take over. Once, I was waiting outside a seafood place by the river and I heard a conversation you could probably hear only in France, Italy, or Louisiana: Two 15-year-old boys were arguing about how much tarragon should go into a particular dish.

[KathyF]

Ha ha! My brother in law from Honduras chased me out of the kitchen once, when we were making black beans. Apparently you have to put a whole egg in the pot or terrible things happen.

[Donna]

Gordon is clearly clueless.

I only cook on the weekends, because I'm too damn tired to cook after a day at work. Right now I'm looking forward to my evening bowl of Cheerios. My kid (not so much a kid) has to fend for himself until Saturday.

[Foodie]

The "woman's work" thing is the reason many of us think that exploration of the history of food took so long to be taken seriously.

[anthony]

Gordon Ramsey is a knob with anger management issues so cheers for your post.

That said, I'll have to stick up for sardines and toast sorbet. I wasn't too impressed with chef's steak and kidney sorbet with passionfruit but he uses it to wake up the diner's palate after a series of rich foods on the degustation menu. There's a playful curiosity there and there's messing around with the sorbet maker and it leaves you wondering what else could go with what. It's diversity, it's progress, it's having the diner trust the chef and it get's us away from the "what's this shit" that's put the handbrakes on Anglos Saxon cooking for so long.

[KathyF]

I have to admit, part of my revulsion stems from the fact I haven't eaten flesh in a dozen years or more. And the other part stems from my compulsion to make fun of any and everything.

I do enjoy playful curiosity, though, just not when it involves pigeons.

Glad you enjoyed your experience at Heston's, though. I am tempted to try it if he does anything vegetarian.

[anthony]

Sorry didn't mean to come across quite so po-faced, must have had a hypersensitive foody moment. Not eating meat would temper the experience somewhat. Toast sorbet?

Never been to Hestons, I'm at the antipodes - it's a local restaurant here, the chef also does a cab sav sorbet which is very non-meat, very boozy, and very nice. I think the recipe is 3 bottles of wine and a kilo and a half of sugar.Then there's the green pea sorbet...

[KathyF]

Now that's a sorbet!

Enjoyed your blog, btw, especially your feelings re: artichokes. I confess to a bit of artichoke intimidation myself.

This is what happens, you see, when we don't eat animals. We instead learn to be fearful of the most harmless of vegetables.

Ah well, will take your advice re: the artichoke.

[anthony]

Don't worry cathedral broccoli scares the bejeesus out of me.

Right back at you with the blog, came here via Carnaval de las Feministas. Can the lefty foodista blog alliance be far away?

[j6p]

now i'm not a big fan of gordan ramsay but i must say that you must have misunderstood what he meant. Just because you can pull a few dishes out of your sleeve doesn't mean you can cook. And being able to or being good at cooking in a restaurant is totally different from being good at home.

[KathyF]

Let me guess: you flunked Sarcasm 101.

[Gina]

And Punctuation 101, too.

[Snaigla]

Hah, little feminist bitch starts whining imediatly after someone on the TV says something " bad ".
And Gordon is a great guy, there is very small chance of actually getting to talk with him, but i got that chance, and i completly understand his role in kitchen yelling to workers, thats how things start rolling, if you are supposed to controll the kitchen you must act like it.

[lkf]

*ahem*

just because you're in love with ol' Gordy doesn't mean you have to call my mom names. she yells at her workers in the kitchen too. your comment makes no sense anyway. shut up.

[KathyF]

Plus you have bad grammar which LKF was too polite to point out.