Question for the Chefs Out There

[unfilteredJW]

I've met him. It's an act for his TV shows. In real life, he's a genuine, compassionate guy, who just loves making food right.

Yeah, I thought it was known it was TV shtick. Watch The F Word for a better idea.

[unfilteredJW]

Yellow Tail is usually my go to when I need something for cooking. Barefoot is another good brand for this.

[Wildtree]

I've met him. It's an act for his TV shows. In real life, he's a genuine, compassionate guy, who just loves making food right.

He's passionate about food, that's for sure..... And he certainly doesn't go after everyone and everywhere.
But he is also known for not so flattering and nice things that happened off the cameras. Far from his TV shows.
http://www.eater.com/2012/11/21/6518...their-shitlist

And the issue about the reservation book...
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/m...ink.travelnews

[the game]

He's passionate about food, that's for sure..... And he certainly doesn't go after everyone and everywhere.
But he is also known for not so flattering and nice things that happened off the cameras. Far from his TV shows.
http://www.eater.com/2012/11/21/6518...their-shitlist

And the issue about the reservation book...
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/m...ink.travelnews

Pretty much everybody has skeletons in their closets. Condemning him because of his is just lame.

[belfpala]

Vodka is meant to be odorless and tasteless. It doesn't add much to cooking beside alcohol unless the Vodka is terrible...

It's the volitile nature of alcohol. Add it into a tomato sauce and saute for a minute, you get more fragrance from the tomatoes and herbs.

...and it's not odorless. It smells like alcohol.

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He's passionate about food, that's for sure..... And he certainly doesn't go after everyone and everywhere.
But he is also known for not so flattering and nice things that happened off the cameras. Far from his TV shows.
http://www.eater.com/2012/11/21/6518...their-shitlist

And the issue about the reservation book...
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/m...ink.travelnews

Sure, and I've been in detox a couple times, cheated on a girlfriend, and so on. None of us are perfect.

[unfilteredJW]

It's the volitile nature of alcohol. Add it into a tomato sauce and saute for a minute, you get more fragrance from the tomatoes and herbs.

...and it's not odorless. It smells like alcohol.

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Sure, and I've been in detox a couple times, cheated on a girlfriend, and so on. None of us are perfect.

High stress job is high stress.

[Elegiac]

Completely wrong. You should never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink

Complete and utter bullshit. Right in line with 'using a garlic press makes a dish bitter!'

There is fundamentally no difference between using a fine vintage wine and two buck chuck. In fact, using old wine for cooking is an excellent way to reduce waste.

[belfpala]

Complete and utter bullshit. Right in line with 'using a garlic press makes a dish bitter!'

There is fundamentally no difference between using a fine vintage wine and two buck chuck. In fact, using old wine for cooking is an excellent way to reduce waste.

Recall I suggested using Trader Joe's 3 buck chuck in my first post in this thread.

[Elegiac]

Recall I suggested using Trader Joe's 3 buck chuck in my first post in this thread.

Bingo. Cheap or even corked wine will work fine.

[belfpala]

High stress job is high stress.

Last night I ordered a Highball after work. The bartender started pouring, and I'm like, "No, I want a REALLY Highball." He responds, "Two shots then?" Me: "No, that's just a double. A REAL Highball is 3. I asked for a REALLY Highball. Four. Pint glass. Ginger ale."

Life in the biz.

[Lefeng]

Bingo. Cheap or even corked wine will work fine.

Noooooooooooooooo!

NEVER cook with corked wine. Well, I guess you could if you want your food to taste exactly like moldy basement.

Cheap wine is fine, though. If it's drinkable it's suitable for cooking.

[belfpala]

Noooooooooooooooo!

NEVER cook with corked wine. Well, I guess you could if you want your food to taste exactly like moldy basement.

Cheap wine is fine, though. If it's drinkable it's suitable for cooking.

Heh. We have 5 gallon boxed wine for our cooking purposes. I may be able to verify it's suitable for drinking.

[Rakaji]

Hey all; chef reporting in. For a Bolognese sauce, I personally use Cabernet sauvignon. It's a good wine to use with red meats, and an all-around good cooking wine. If you're looking for a cheaper bottle just to cook with at home, Cupcake has a pretty good one for the price tag it has.

[Orlong]

Hey all; chef reporting in. For a Bolognese sauce, I personally use Cabernet sauvignon. It's a good wine to use with red meats, and an all-around good cooking wine. If you're looking for a cheaper bottle just to cook with at home, Cupcake has a pretty good one for the price tag it has.

Thanks. Ill try it!

[Rakaji]

Find out what Joe or Lidia Bastianich have to say instead.
Joe knows every shit about wines and is a top chef, his mother is an even better chef.
Amazingly these people can cook without a tantrum or having to utter

"let me tell you"
"stunning"
"most amazing"
every second sentence, like Ramsay does.
If you pay attention to him talking and how often he repeats the same shit, you get the impression of a somewhat progressed retardation with that guy lol

Okay sorry, I had to step back and defend our beloved patriarch Gordon for a moment.

While I understand that a lot of people think Gordon is a joke because of his television personality (and I'll admit, he obviously does ham it up a lot on some shows) they're really not giving the guy his due diligence. The man is an absolute colossus in my industry, and everyone knows and appreciates the amount of work he's done. He came from nothing, having grown up mostly with a single mother and his junkie older brother, and he worked HARD to make himself into the man he's become today. And he didn't get there just with his knowledge of food alone; he also has a very strong mind for business, and he's made his bones and more in one of the most competitive and risky industries out there with very little failure. Every single one of us in the industry acknowledges Gordon as one of the best chefs in a century, and anyone who doesn't is either jealous or being unfair.

I know he comes across as a loudmouth and as a rude prick to a lot of people, and yes, as I said before, he's obviously hamming it up a bit for the telly. But really, that's how chefs are. I've worked with some that are even worse than the television version of Gordon, and that's terrifying to think about. That's a product of our environment. When you're 30 tickets deep on a Friday night in a 120 degree environment with plates breaking, fires roaring, knives flying and backs starting to give out, no one has time for "Hey guys, this isn't right. Let's get the next one done better, okay?" It has to be done perfectly, and it has to be done NOW, or the whole ship sinks.

So yeah, he throws a tantrum now and then on television. That's fine. i don't particularly like Hell's Kitchen anyway, and I understand why his public image is what it is. But take it from me that everyone should pay the man his due and proper and recognize that he's one of our best and brightest, and we love him.

[belfpala]

I know he comes across as a loudmouth and as a rude prick to a lot of people...

And he's one of my idols. Anyone hasn't worked in a kitchen needs to read http://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/...kitchen-advice

I would rephrase some, and add more, but that's a good start.

[Lefeng]

Heh. We have 5 gallon boxed wine for our cooking purposes. I may be able to verify it's suitable for drinking.

You have your terminology incorrect. A corked wine (also called cork taint) is one that is infected with 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) or 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA). The infected wine smells and tastes like cardboard if the infection is mild, like moldy basement if the infection is strong. Even wines in boxes can have cork taint.

Wines with corks are just referred to as "wine sealed with a cork" in the industry. "Corked wine" is tainted wine.

[belfpala]

You have your terminology incorrect. A corked wine (also called cork taint) is one that is infected with 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) or 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA). The infected wine smells and tastes like cardboard if the infection is mild, like moldy basement if the infection is strong. Even wines in boxes can have cork taint.

Wines with corks are just referred to as "wine sealed with a cork" in the industry. "Corked wine" is tainted wine.

I'm fully familiar. That's why I use bag-in-box wine for cooking. Or little bottles of Champagne (about 1 cup, 240 ml) for the Champagne Vinaigrette, and so on.

[the game]

Okay sorry, I had to step back and defend our beloved patriarch Gordon for a moment.

While I understand that a lot of people think Gordon is a joke because of his television personality (and I'll admit, he obviously does ham it up a lot on some shows) they're really not giving the guy his due diligence. The man is an absolute colossus in my industry, and everyone knows and appreciates the amount of work he's done. He came from nothing, having grown up mostly with a single mother and his junkie older brother, and he worked HARD to make himself into the man he's become today. And he didn't get there just with his knowledge of food alone; he also has a very strong mind for business, and he's made his bones and more in one of the most competitive and risky industries out there with very little failure. Every single one of us in the industry acknowledges Gordon as one of the best chefs in a century, and anyone who doesn't is either jealous or being unfair.

I know he comes across as a loudmouth and as a rude prick to a lot of people, and yes, as I said before, he's obviously hamming it up a bit for the telly. But really, that's how chefs are. I've worked with some that are even worse than the television version of Gordon, and that's terrifying to think about. That's a product of our environment. When you're 30 tickets deep on a Friday night in a 120 degree environment with plates breaking, fires roaring, knives flying and backs starting to give out, no one has time for "Hey guys, this isn't right. Let's get the next one done better, okay?" It has to be done perfectly, and it has to be done NOW, or the whole ship sinks.

So yeah, he throws a tantrum now and then on television. That's fine. i don't particularly like Hell's Kitchen anyway, and I understand why his public image is what it is. But take it from me that everyone should pay the man his due and proper and recognize that he's one of our best and brightest, and we love him.

I certainly can't do what Chef's do for a living. Closest I've come is working the grill line and kitchen prep at Bob Evan's when I was 16. I'll stick with my IT job and you guys can cook my dinner.

[Zdain]

Cook with anything you would drink. Outside of that go by the general rule that anything from California is aged in steel, so it'll just develop fruit flavors and richness. If you need something slightly more earthy try and find a french wine since they're usually oak aged.