The Origins of My Love Obsession with Cooking: Gordon Ramsay

In 2009, I spent a semester in London. While I was there, I was lucky enough to go to a Gordon Ramsay book signing and meet my culinary idol! 
Ok, so anyone who knows me knows that I am OBSESSED with Chef Gordon Ramsay. When I tell people about how much I worship this man, I get a lot of surprised looks and people always say, "how can you like him? He's such an a**hole!" I don't care what ANYONE says about him. He is a culinary genius and well, frankly, the reason why I began to cook.

As I mentioned in my personal blurb, a few years ago, when my mom went to Japan, I decided to step up to the plate. All of my life, my parents cooked my meals, especially mom. She is a fantastic chef, so I guess I always thought, "what's the point? My food will never be as good. She is the master." Well, I had no choice when she left.

It was just me and dad and we had three choice. 1) live off take away, 2) force dad to cook at 9 pm after seeing 60+ patients, or 3) try my hand at cooking. I decided on the later. I mean, millions of people cook, how hard could it be? That's when I met Gordon Ramsay.

I am an avid Anglophile and am always watching BBC America. That's where I discovered "F-Word." This is Gordon's fantastic cooking show. It was love at first sight. --- I should say, I've always loved eating and watching food, I just never had an inclination to cook ---. For the entire week that mom was away, I would watch F-Word, decide on a menu, go food shopping, and then spend the rest of the day making elaborate meals. (desserts too!)

Dad was gobsmacked. The first night I made dinner, his jaw dropped. He kept saying that he wasn't speechless and shocked because I attempted to cook, but rather, the fact that the food tasted amazing really impressed him. I mean, I was about 20 and hadn't even boiled an egg before and now I'm recreating Gordon Ramsay dishes to the T.

I guess, what I'm trying to say is, Chef Ramsay, I love and adore you. Thank you for showing me that I CAN cook and thank you for helping me discover how much I love cooking.

My cookbook collection. I hope it continues to grow! I also have a bunch of his DVDs at home. 
My personalized copy of "World Kitchen" that he signed in London at his book signing.
This is one of my prized possessions. 




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