Chefs we love to hate: Gordon Ramsay

The posturing, the cursing , the macho-man act, the incandescent rage – spare us Gordon Ramsay... and make us the omelette we ordered an hour ago.

It’s not that Gordon Ramsay is a bad chef; he’s the first Scot to win three Michelin stars so he probably has something about him, but he’s evolved into more of a businessman than a chef...and even that’s not what bothers us.

What is particularly grating about the foul-mouthed Scot is the hassle. The effing, the blinding, the aggressive posturing – it’s all a bit much.

Check out this eight minute video of Gordon Ramsay going insane on his TV show Hell’s Kitchen, yes that’s right eight bleedin’ minutes of Ramsay doing his nut over a bit of burnt shrimp or some nonsense:

The fact is we know the reality of being a chef is probably quite stressful, but nothing like the way Ramsay portrays himself on programmes like Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen.

Food is meant to be simple and enjoyable – the way Ramsay cooks makes it look like what would happen if the Spartans and Persians in 300 were having a soufflé bake-off to decide the fate of Greece...which is nonsense.

Any of the great Irish chefs, like Neven Maguire and Paolo Tullio, are perfectionists but exude an air of calm which transfers to their food.

Maguire and Tullio cook food that you think they may have plucked from the dining table of heaven, with Ramsay you’d imagine the food was forged in the fires of hell.

How can you enjoy a pleasurable meal knowing that the pastry chef that prepared it is probably being waterboarded in the kitchen by Ramsay?

The other explanation is that it could all be just for the cameras? That the sadistic, bullying, testosterone-fuelled antics of Ramsay is just him cranking the volume up to eleven and thus self-publicising fannying about.

Therein lies the genius - Ramsay is now a businessman and knows that hate can be just as valuable as love in some positions.

How many people do you know tune into a programme or watch XFactor just to see someone they hate? How many people hate Eamon Dunphy but will always turn on RTÉ’s Champions League coverage?

Apathy is the enemy, not hate and Ramsay understands that.

The standard-issue Scottish stereotype has served up a piping, hot, spicy personality that we have all swallowed.

We’re meant to hate him, he wants us to hate him and we love to hate him.

You have to respect that too.

So, to take the hassle out of being the chef tonight - remember - Don't Cook, JUST EAT