Unchartered
I haven’t been a big fan of Gordon Ramsey. The British know-it-all chef perfected the art of indignant screaming. “I can’t believe you are willing to serve this to the guests of Hell’s Kitchen!!!!”, or “Is that what your failing restaurant puts on the menu? Send it back!!!”, in Kitchen Nightmares. Yelling, screaming, and that indignant laugh had become his brand. It is a brand which made him very rich.
With Masterchef we saw a more gentle, a more understanding side of him. Masterchef Kids was the cherry on top. It started to change my opinion of him. It was as if he had had a heart-to-heart with a public relationships firm: Stop the angry act.
We have been enthralled with National Geographic’s Unchartered. The premise is simple: Gordon travels the world, meeting up with a local top chef. He has to learn about the local food and cooking methods. At the end of a week, he goes into a friendly cook-off with the local chef to demonstrate he has learned about the native cuisine. He travels to New Zealand, Norway, Morocco, Peru, Alaska, etc. From local harvesting mushrooms, to diving for fresh seafood, to climbing trees for yummy berries or shepherd’s beard, to hunting maggots, he does all his own stunts. The dishes are intriguing and makes your mouth water (most of the time - not sure I would eat the peanut-tasting maggot in New Zealand or the fermented fish in Norway).
The show is a lot of fun, and in true Ramsey-style energetic and fast moving. What I like most is that you get to know another side of Gordon Ramsey: a humble chef learning from others, a friendly and laughing guy, and one not afraid to lose at a competition he knows is stacked against him.
We are almost finished with season 2 and can’t wait for season 3.