breaking down the top three Gordon Ramsay TV shows to their base ingredients
A little-known fact about me is how much I love to cook in my spare time (at least what little I get of it).
Raising two male athletes, my parents were adamant about making sure me and my brother always had enough food to keep us going.
Being exposed to that type of household at a young age was a huge factor in my love of cooking. The other inspiration came from the countless hours I spent watching cooking shows.
I was waking up early on the weekends to jump from "Ben 10" on Cartoon Network over to "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" on Food Network for hours on end.
Everyone knows there is one celebrity chef that reigns supreme over the realm of television, and that is Gordon Ramsay.
Ramsay has had over 20 different television productions hit the airwaves, and almost a fourth of them aren't even cooking related. At this point he's not even a celebrity chef, he's a celebrity that happens to be a chef.
With so many shows in the Ramsay-verse, I'm trying to figure out which one is the best of the best.
First up is "Kitchen Nightmares," where Gordon travels the U.S. to help failing restaurants get back on track and set them up for years of success down the road.
Identical to the structure of "Bar Rescue," failing restaurant owners reach out to Gordon Ramsay in hopes his restructuring and tactics can help revive their business. Gordon will visit the place, try their food and get a good idea of why the business is failing before taking action. After trying to make changes, there's always some scripted backlash from the owner or other artificial drama the show needs to boost ratings.
Once the work is done, Gordon designs a new menu with better food, does a complete remodel of the kitchen and dining room and will sometimes even change the name and branding of the establishment.
It's a simple recipe for success: a little bit of conflict, some heartwarming stories and good people with a heavy sprinkle of the American Dream on top. It's a solid show, but it's so over-dramatic and noticeably scripted, so it sits at third place for me.
Taking the runner-up trophy is "Masterchef." I'm also including "Master-chef Junior" since they're the exact same show, just different age groups.
"Masterchef" does a lot of things and hits a lot of genres. It's part game show, part cooking show, part reality show, along with a few other categories, and they all work really well to form one complete product.
I think it has great twists, very dynamic challenges and has the best structure for any of the cooking challenge shows on the market.
After doing some research, apparently the show is a little rigged and heavily scripted, but it is still a very enjoyable watch. It's perfect to turn on for background noise or any other easy-watching scenario you may have.
By far and large, the best Gordon Ramsay TV show is "Hell's Kitchen." You knew it was coming.
It's his most iconic series hands down. It was the origin of the "idiot sandwich" and it's the show that most gives way to his trademark meltdowns and hate spewing.
I'd say Gordon in Hell's Kitchen is truest to form.
At the end of the day, he's a spiteful yet passionate chef that wants to help others succeed and reach their dreams. That's why it's number one for me.
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