Gordon Ramsay and his nemesis, the Pad Thai
Gordon Ramsay, a mainstream figure in countless TV shows over the past few decades, headlining popular shows such as Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, and MasterChef, among many others has made a return to Thailand to oversee the opening of his new restaurant, and to confront his arch nemesis, the Pad Thai, once more.
With his ventures in the culinary world, the Scotland-born chef has amassed over 17 Michelin stars in his career. Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Group lists over 90 restaurants worldwide, with one set to open soon at IconSiam in Bangkok.
His return to Thailand has reminded many of his previous attempt at Pad Thai over a decade ago in 2009 in the TV show The F Word. In the episode, the Michelin-starred chef arrived at one of London’s most popular Thai restaurants, The Blue Elephant, to cook alongside the head chef and prepare Pad Thai for the Buddhist monks at the Wimbledon Thai temple.
Ramsay, who in the early stages of his career, worked under the esteemed Marco Pierre White, is no stranger to cooking up some of the finest dishes.
But during his appearance on The F Word, as the chef prepares Thailand’s national dish, a dish Ramsay also loved to make at home, he was met with an unsoundingly negative reception from The Blue Elephant’s head chef.
“This is not Pad Thai at all”, the head chef remarked disappointingly. Ramsay responded by saying that he did not think the dish tasted bad, but was once again shut down by the head chef, who countered with “but not for me.”
The video has been viewed over 10 million times since it was posted over 13 years ago, with some commenters pointing out the differences between Western and Thai cuisine, iterating that Ramsay’s take on Pad Thai, by no means, was a bad attempt. But instead, it may not have been as authentic as the Thai restaurant’s head chef was looking for.
“The thing is, Gordon is a master of cooking high-class Western food. Their seasoning, cooking technique, and the way they plate the dish are completely different to other traditional Asian food. The Thai chef is completely right, nothing wrong with his comment on Gordon’s Pad Thai. I mean Gordon’s Pad Thai probably tastes very good, but cannot call that Pad Thai. Just like people complain about someone else’s pizza is not pizza, because it is not a traditional pizza.”
Ramsay appeared to have taken the ordeal in stride, returning to Thailand and sharing a Facebook post titled “When in Thailand….you learn from previous mistakes” with a photo of the chef holding up a plate of Pad Thai. His visit to Thailand however is mainly for business purposes as he oversees the opening of his brand-new restaurant in Thailand, Bread Street Kitchen at IconSiam.
The menu at his new restaurant is said to include Chef Ramsay’s iconic Beef Wellington, among other classics such as fish & chips and sticky toffee pudding. We are yet to see whether Pad Thai will be included in the menu.
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