'Humble Pie', Gordon Ramsay

Another day, another celebrity autobiography (it could only be Christmas). This time, I purloined my father’s copy of Gordon Ramsay’s autobiography. I have, at this stage, a confession to make. There is something strangely attractive about Gordon Ramsay. I know, I know, I’m mad, he’s a big ugly bully and horrid guy. And I don’t know why, but… (ditto new Dr Who, David Tennant. Although I was horrified when he appeared on The Friday Night Project speaking in his native high-pitched Glasweigan accent which is both disconcerting and also nowhere near as nice as his Dr Who English. Switch, David, switch!). Anyhow. Moving swiftly on.

For once, this was actually quite an interesting celebrity book, as at least Ramsay has achieved something significant in return for his celebrity unlike the latest rash of Big Brother types. He came from an absolutely awful background; I knew he was poor, but his family were in effect homeless and his father was emotionally and physically abusive to Ramsay and his whole family. He was a teenage player for Rangers until he got an injury and then apparently on a whim, decided to go to catering college. He became one of the early tough-guy celebrity chefs, though he started his career with the very first of that gang, Marco Pierre White, and clearly took a lot of crap himself. Since then he’s mostly been a consummate businessman, albeit with some disasters in between (boom and bust, much like Mr Everett). Now his whole life is his career; even his wife has a cookery book now, and his cute blonde gaggle of kids appear in his TV show The F Word. How he can quite justify that sort of exposure when the focus it meant to be on food I’m not sure, but I guess he can handle it.

Book. Reviewed. Done.