I fell in love with Gordon Ramsay last year while watching television with my brother when BBC was running a marathon of his show, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. I loved how brutally honest he was, how brilliant of a chef he was, and his startlingly livid temper--he is a television personality that kicks your butt! After watching as much of that show and his US counterpart, Kitchen Nightmares, as well as a big guilty pleasure of mine-his Los Angeles reality show, Hell's Kitchen--I jumped at the chance to see The F Word, his second show and one of Britain's best kept secrets. The F Word is another reality show much like Hell's Kitchen where he is in a restaurant and leading a competition to see which chef he's training that week will win. Instead of the latter mentioned show, these chefs (mostly mid-to-early twenties aged) aren't the soul of the show and don't develop any personalities. This show centers almost directly on Ramsay. The competition isn't really the highlight or the point of the show--as can be felt when they reveal the results of who won or lost that week during the credits.
There is a lot at work during this show and there is an unofficial co-host named Giles Coren. In each forty-some minute episode, Ramsay exits the kitchen to have conversations with British celebrities (every now and then) or Coren. Coren is a food critic and critiques whatever meal that Ramsay has made, but he also has special segments that he films on such as segments about his sperm count and what you should eat for fertility, how to lower the impact of your septic tanks, the benefits of horse milk as opposed to cow, and how good of a meat squirrel actually is. Most of his segments are random and can be a bit humorous, but at times he can be grinding with his ability to try and be funny.
The show is named for...FOOD. Granted, it's a play on words because Gordon Ramsay is a hotheaded chef who swears quite frequently especially when he's flabbergasted at how stupid his chefs are (case in point: Hell's Kitchen), but this show is much different from his other shows in the way that you see more of who the real Gordon Ramsay is. You are introduced to his whole family (totally cute kids, too) in the first episode where one of the two biggest goals of the show kicks off. He decides to get a heap of turkeys to take care of in his backyard for Christmas dinner and have his kids understand where their food comes from.
The second goal of the show turned out to be quite controversial--Ramsay wants to get women back in the kitchen. In each episode there are candid interviews with people off the street on whether or not they cook or go out to eat and from those results Ramsay, each episode, goes to the houses of women who don't cook and show them a recipe. Overall, he just wants everyone to stop eating out and learn how to cook and I don't see the harm in the message. The F Word is all about food and seems like Ramsay's premiere cooking show. You see Ramsay at work here in the kitchen and it seems like a straightforward show where he shows off his chops as a real chef instead of television personality. Instead of the clearly riled up nature that the American producers make him out to be as well as the heavily scripted nature of his American shows, this one shows him frank and open. His interactions with his guests, customers, and the valuable knowledge from his presentations of his recipes are very entertaining as well as informative.
The only real problem I can see with an American audience is the fact that...this was made for an English one. A lot of the segments brought up as well as the British celebrities (most of whom I had never heard of) as well as the humor were very British and I could easily see it going over a lot of peoples' heads. And the idea behind his kids knowing where their meat comes from and the eventual slaughter (not in front of his kids, mind you) is very graphic and might offend some families who are a bit more tightlipped. I think that while the whole "get the women back in the kitchen" and "know where your meat comes from" might sound like a bit too much on paper, it's very harmless and the intent is good.
Also the fact that this show is less scripted and shows a much more personable Ramsay may be disappointing to some, but very riveting to me because you can see this man work to his full potential. That being said, he still is hotheaded and has his temper especially with his trainer chefs, but you can also see his charming and honest self.
There are four seasons of The F Word with two on DVD and reasonably priced. All of the episodes in the first season are pretty fun, but not only that it's a real treat for a big fan of Ramsay to see him in a different light that gets away from the glitter and storm of controversy to see the man himself. I really liked this show and I find it just as entertaining as his other shows, just different.
Let legendary Chef Gordon Ramsay coach you in the kitchen and renew your passion for food in his new series, The F Word. This series features celebrit...More at HotMovieSale.com
MOVIE DVD - Sharp-tongued, culinary maestro Chef Gordon Ramsay brings his brand of nightmarish coaching to young -- and sometimes brash -- amateur che...More at Barnes and Noble
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