By Josephine Agostino
Pictures: Lisa Barber
He may be a celebrity but Gordon Ramsay will never go on a diet — he just swears by a few healthy recipes!
One look at Gordon Ramsay’s résumé would make anyone wonder what on earth he’s got to be angry about.
He has 12 Michelin stars to his name, an OBE from the Queen and a $150 million-a-year business empire that includes top-rating TV shows Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, Hell’s Kitchen and The F Word.
And when the 41-year-old returns from one of his dozens of restaurants around the world to his luxury London home, it’s to his beautiful wife Tana, 33 (who is herself a domestic goddess), and their children Megan, 10, twins Holly and Jack, 7, and Matilda, 6.
So taking a bite out of Gordon reveals those f-bombs aren’t really sources of anger at all. They’re explosions of culinary passion.
While his mouth has arguably made him famous, it’s his food — most recently in his new book Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite — that speaks loudest of all about who the man really is.
What are your favourite recipes from Healthy Appetites?
I would say the fish recipes are amazing. Cooking fish for me is a lot more exciting than cooking meat. There’s only one temperature in terms of rare, medium or well done, there’s just exact. And I like the soups, the one with chorizo sausage and butter beans. We don’t eat enough pulses. Things move very fast in this country on the back of trends and what we are trying to do is not become trendy and make it part of a staple diet.
What do you think of Australian cuisine?
I like the lightness here. Australian cuisine is very connected to California style, light, vibrant foods. We don’t have that in UK. So every time I travel, I pick up and steal new ideas. I had the most amazing lunch at Bondi Icebergs last time we were here. The perfect salad — fennel, poached salmon, pink grapefruit, fresh basil. You could eat that any day, it was amazing.
Is there any food you don’t like?
Ladies’ fingers — okra. As a vegetable, I can’t stand it. I know how important it is in terms of ethnic cooking but I find it unappealing and very bland, very slimy.
What inspires you?
Perfection. It’s high-energy. It’s exciting. So staying ahead of it and keeping six months in front of your customers is the toughest call.
Who is the most memorable person you’ve cooked for?
On Tuesday we’re cooking for Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday at Hyde Park, an open dinner for 500 guests at £100,000 [$206,000] a table. It’s a big dinner. We’re doing South African lamb, a chilled asparagus, pea and mint soup, then for dessert, we’re doing a summer berry parfait. I suppose one of the most enjoyable lunches ever was cooking for Lady Di at Aubergine. [I’ve done] The Queen, President Putin and Tony Blair.
Do you still cook in your restaurants?
I’ll be back in Chelsea at Royal Hospital Road [his top-rated restaurant] after this. I wouldn’t maintain three Michelin stars unless I was still hands-on. Of course I’m not at the stove 16 hours a day running the meat section. I bring it together like air traffic control. We wouldn’t be where we are today if I wasn’t. And secondly, I’m a control freak.
We know you hate dinner parties, but who would you invite to one?
I’m s–t at dinner parties! I had dinner with her recently at her house — The Body, Elle. Opposite her would be Liz Hurley. Um, then Dannii Minogue. No I’m joking. [Laughs] Just a table of three — intimate and vibrant.
Can your wife cook a meal without you putting in your five cents worth?
Sometimes. She’s not as fast as I am so it gets a bit difficult. I’m really impatient, handling 200 [customers] a night, so you get agitated when someone’s doing something and you can do it 10 times as fast. So trying to put your 10 pence worth in, you get a kick in the bollocks and you get told to keep out. So the stress is relieved because we have two kitchens.
What are your favourite cookbooks?
The Silver Spoon is lovely, an amazing book, it’s like a passport to Italian cookery. [UK chef] Nigel Slater is amazing, as is Alain Ducasse. I’ve got over 3500 books at home, we’re always buying them. Do I use them? Not really.
What would your last meal be?
I would start off with the most amazing chilled tomato consomme served with bocconcini and laced with golden caviar taken from an albino sturgeon. For main course, I’d have to go for a classic roast, something done with baby Pyrenees lamb. Beautiful. Then for dessert a chocolate fondant with vanilla ice-cream, something yummy, that would you need to go to bed after eating.
With all your success, are there still things you want to achieve?
Truthfully? Before I lay my apron to rest, I want three [Michelin] stars in Paris. To go back and stick it up the French would give me great joy. So, head down, listen to the biggest critics who are my customers and the one bigger critic on top of them and that’s me. I work hard at pushing the boundaries and we’ve only just started. I am no way, by any means finished and ready to go. No way, jose!
- Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite (Quadrille/Hardie Grant, rrp $45), features 125 mouth-watering recipes with fresh ingredients, all cooked in a healthy way for maximum flavour. It’s the latest fantastic cookbook from Gordon’s TV series The F Word. You’ll find it at all good bookstores.
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