T his famous Scottish chef and proud own- er of as many as 15 Michelin stars gained world celebrity status as the host of Hell‘s Kitchen and Master Chef, and we are currently watching him in 172 countries in the second season of the National Geographic series Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted. Ramsay is again em- barking on more exciting adven- tures, exploring the secrets of lo- cal cuisine in magical regions of Tasmania, South Africa, Indone- sia, Louisiana, Norway, India and Guyana. In his desire to uncover orig- inal and unusual recipes, he will have to conquer high mountains, endure three-metre-high waves and exceptionally low tempera- tures, swim through deep waters infested by great white sharks and run with bulls. Ramsay risks his life in his greatest and bravest mis- sion, coming face to face with un- covered snakes and caimans, but not in his cooking pot. For this is- sue of Elevate he reveals, among other things, what he will remem- ber about the second season of the series and whether something re- ally could have gone wrong dur- ing filming… “I‘ll remember this series for the new cultures and customs that I discovered, the recipes I learned and the adventures that I‘d prob- ably never have experienced in a normal life. I waded into the shal- low waters of the jungles of Guyana to chase caiman. Before you decide to do something like that, you have to go through a serious security briefing, because you don‘t know what awaits you beneath the sur- face – poisonous snakes, insects, indescribable predators. You must be fast to surprise a caiman... No other thoughts. ere were times when I wondered – what if this goes drastically wrong? And I was right to wonder. On one occasion I came across a very poisonous snake, lit- erally two inches above my head, circling a tree in a mango grove waiting for prey.”
INTERVIEW GORDON RAMSAY, CELEBRITY CHEF
Given that you consciously take risks by seeking new adventures, even danger- ous ones, how do you deal with unforeseen events? Anything could happen… - I like to manage on the spot. In filming the show, I don’t usu- ally like to be overbriefed. I need to fail two or three times before I get things right. When I was at- tempting to hold onto two bulls in Indonesia to ski in the mud of a rice paddy, it took a few tries. But every time I use the steering wheel on a car now, I can’t stop thinking about how to turn a bull in a pad- dy field. I sort of reminisce about what my life has been during the filming of this series. What is actually differ- ent in the new episodes of the series Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted? - Season 2 for me is like Season 1 on steroids. We’ve upped the an- te in terms of the destinations and adventures. It’s a little bit rawer, and we were ambitious. Where we filmed in Guyana, for instance, was one of the deepest and most remote areas of the jungle that I’d ever ex- perienced. Jumping out of a heli- copter into shark-infested waters in Durban, South Africa; net fish- ing in India; and diving in Tasma- nia all were quite challenging. But in pushing forward in this season, we’ve found much deeper insights and another layer of jeopardy. And yet, like most of the world, you spent the previ- ous months at home, back in the UK in the compa- ny of your family. Did you draw strength from your numerous travel experi- ences during the enforced circumstances of being grounded during the pan- demic? - I used some of the techniques I learned while travelling, like but- terflying black piranha, which I learned in Guyana. But I did it with a sea bass off the Cornish coast— split it straight down and opened it up, and grilled it over the barbe-
Dangerous hunt for the perfect morsel I waded into the shallow waters of the jungles of Guyana to chase caiman, not knowing what awaited me beneath the surface – venomous snakes, insects, indescribable predators. You must be fast to surprise a caiman... No other thoughts. There were times when I wondered what would happen if things went drastically wrong? And I was right to wonder…
Gordon Ramsay » Gordon Remzi | 33
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator