I’ve called out the guy myself for his curmudgeonly ways and nasty manners in the past. But I’m happy to call out his latest band of detractors. How dare they criticise Gordon Ramsay for backing Mom’s ‘Clean your plate’ rule?
Gordon Ramsay: Poses with his famous ‘Perfect’ Fried Eggs…
Gordon Ramsay has built a reputation on his penchant for speaking his mind. More often than not, it gets him in trouble. With someone out there. His latest row with social media trolls and detractors is no exception…
Why NOW?
It’s the eve of Mother’s Day, for Heaven’s sake! Why did the social media trolls have to call out Ramsay for a simple comment he made deep in an interview with the Times of London recently, about a little kernel of wisdom his mom bequeathed to him?
I don’t often agree with Ramsay on contentious issues… But when I do, I usually find myself in FULL agreement. Because he and I are actually two peas in a pod. Same generation. Same impatience with entitled younger folks. Same tastes (literally) in food – classic or contemporary.
I’m just slower to explode with indignation when someone adds too much pepper to the Paprikash (for his personal taste). Or something equally as subjective.
The latest controversy
But this time, I’m in agreement. And blast any blackguard who has the effrontery to disagree with his Mom – or mine for that matter – over one of the most fundamental foundation stones of my cooking philosophy!
In a ‘wide-ranging exploration’ of Ramsay’s life, philosophy and at times story career, he happened to mention that he, finds it “rude to leave anything on your plate.”
“Watching my mother work three jobs to put tea on the table for my sisters, brother, and me, I learnt never to waste anything,” he explained. “Those humble beginnings made me the person I am today.”
Him, and everybody whose working class parents lived through the the Great Depression. And who, themselves, were formed and informed by those hard, make-do, ‘Waste not, want not’ times.
Evenly divided
Social media comments about Ramsay’s off-hand admission were about evenly divided. But they all held in common one characteristic: No body who spoke out held back!
“I love you, @gordongram, but no. If I’m full, I’m not gonna gorge myself. I will take [the leftovers] home, though,” one user commented.
“Leaving food on the plate means the diner is done. He’s not entitled to know why or judge,” another added (judgmentally).
“Complete bollocks. Restaurant servings are often way too big…” a third person wrote
Yet another used the unnecessarily nasty adjective ‘toxic’ to describe Ramsay’s assertion.
My take
As often happens with this kind of dispute, it ends up telling us more about the critic than it does about the person or situation they’re trashing.
My Mom absolutely hates Gordon Ramsay. She once said he offends every principle of decency and good manners she stands for. But if she’d seen this particular interview – and witnessed the backlash – I think she would have nominated him for both a knighthood and a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for both his comment and his calm reaction to the trolls and loonies…
~ Maggie J.