GORDON’S PERFECT 10
Ella Walker chats to celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay about his daughter being on Strictly and getting competitive with Gino D’acampo
In A bizarre turn of events, Gordon Ramsay spent lockdown being yelled at, rather than doing the yelling.
“I had my daughters filming, shouting, screaming and kicking my bum,” says the 54-year-old merrily over Zoom.
The Scottish-born chef, who splits his time between LA and the UK, used the pandemic-induced pause to get creative, reassess – and trying to “imagine we’re going into the ground for the first time, and how we pop up when we come out of this thing”.
To aid that, he started cooking live at the weekends on Instagram, all the while being heckled by his kids who would fine him – in honour of the NHS – every time a dish took more than 10 minutes to throw together. And instead of winding him up, the buzz of it echoed the adrenaline he was missing and would usually access in his professional kitchens.
He’s now turned those Instagram lives into a cookbook, Ramsay In 10 – a collection of swift, resourceful recipes that give an insight into how the Ramsays cook at home.
“I know everyone thinks, ‘Oh it’s easy for you, 10 minutes...”’ he admits, but argues it’s all in the prep. You don’t need three Michelin stars and “the most expensive Japanese knives to chop your carrot or finely dice your onion – grate the damn thing; use a box grater and grate it! Things get done quicker.”
Gordon just wants people cooking, and is typically no-nonsense about it, right down to a section at the front called ‘What this book expects of you’, which includes directions like ‘Read the recipe’.
“I’m an assertive guy, so there’s no bull there,” says Gordon. “I just tell the truth, and some people say, ‘Well, ok, that’s a bit harsh’ – then don’t ask me if you don’t want to hear it.”
The aim though, beneath the directness is to make sure people know how much fun they can have cooking, if they get the basics done first. As Gordon says, “90% of the battle is in the preparation, and I hate seeing missed opportunities go by, where things are overcooked because [people are] not prepping right at the beginning.” Gordon’s kids are never far from his thoughts. He and wife Tana, 47, have Megan 23, twins Holly and Jack, 21, Tilly, 19, and Oscar, two, and he remembers teaching them the importance of food from the off. They all know how to cook and host a great dinner party – vital now his eldest are starting to fly the nest.
Two days before we speak, Gordon was caught on camera tearing up in the Strictly Come Dancing studio after Tilly performed the Charleston.
“I saw her [smart] watch the other day and she burned 5,800 calories, and something like 32,000 steps, training for 12 hours.
“She preps herself, every morning it’s either toast or porridge, and then for lunch, it’ll be like a chicken salad. And then for dinner, it’s either some pasta, carbs, to load up, but trust me, she’s a little firecracker, she knows how to look after herself,” says Gordon, the pride palpable in his voice.
“She can stand on her own two feet, trust me,” he adds, describing the Tupperwares Tilly’s been stacking in the fridge the night before training, labelled “11 o’clock, four o’clock, and seven o’clock; super disciplined”.
Usually, Gordon can be spotted in reruns of Hell’s Kitchen and Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours To Hell And Back, screaming at woeful restaurateurs and chefs. But more recently he has been eating, as well as larking about, with Gino D’acampo and Fred Sirieix in their buddy-holiday ITV series Gordon, Gino & Fred.
They were in Greece together last and “there’s some very good chefs on those islands,” recalls Gordon. “We never give [Greece] the look-in it deserves. It’s almost the ugly sister of France and Italy and Spain.”
The food was sensational, but of course Gino and Fred “were a nightmare. I mean a real nightmare.”
Gordon shakes his head. “We make it look fun in the edit but my goodness me, you should see what we have to do to get there.”
Does he realise Ramsay In 10 will be going up against Gino’s new cookbook?
“I really love competition,” Gordon leans right into the camera, eyes full of zeal, and practically growls. “I swear to God, competition is healthy, right? And he will have his take on his classics. Is it Italian cuisine, again?”
It is. Gino’s Italian Family Adventure, to be exact. “Can you remind him he lives in Hertfordshire not Sicily?” says Gordon, his tone rich with a scathing-fondness.
And if you’re not tempted by Ramsay In 10 instead... “Stuff it, if they don’t want it,” he yells, back on brand, “I’ll buy it for them!” And with that, he’s off cackling.
Ramsay In 10 by Gordon Ramsay is published by Hodder & Stoughton, priced £25. Photography Jamie Orlandosmith