Hell's Kitchen

I've always been a fan of cooking shows. Seeing how dishes were created, from an assortment of ingredients, into a wonderfully beautiful dish, always make me hungry with delight, and pleasure.

So it came to no surprise that I got hooked to reality shows involving cooking. I remember watching Jamie's Kitchen some time ago. Jamie Oliver, I have to admit, is a very good chef. However, he is not the best of teachers, and not as inspirational and charismatic as he should be when it comes to teaching. Therefore I found that the show lacking the attraction and the pull-factor. I never stayed till the end.

The same could not be said about Hell's Kitchen. The show is simply superb, and hilarious in a lot of ways. And the guy who made all this possible is Chef Gordon Ramsay. Personally, I have no idea who he is. But after watching the show for a few times, I got a feeling that the man is best suited as a commander in an army boot camp instead of a chef. He is brash, very strict and nonplussed about his choice of words. But he is a very successful and rich chef, owning more than 10 award-winning restaurants, and having won so many awards in the industry.

The show concept is easy. 12 aspiring chefs battled it out to be the sole winner. Every week, one contestant will be eliminated (some even quitted, not being able to withstand Chef Ramsay's profanity and berating). In the end, the two remaining contestants battled it out, taking charged of the kitchen and their own restaurant and serving one whole meal to a bunch of customers, who will be part of the judges. Of course, Chef Ramsay will make the final decision, after taking account on how the contestants fared during the competition.

The winner for the first season was Michael Wray, and personally I think he deserved to win. He is a good cook, very creative and innovative, although lacking in charisma and leadership. His rewards - he gets to open his own restaurant, all expenses paid. However, Chef Ramsay was so impressed with Michael that he offered him a chance to go to London with him and work alongside him to become a master chef. Michael accepted, seeing that there are still a lot to learn to be a great chef.

The finale for season 1 was shown last night, and I have to say, the suspense, mixed with the humour, were too much for me to handle. Each finalist was given 3 staffs (fellow contestants who were eliminated earlier) and one of them, Jeff Dewberry was fun to watch. He is big sized, soft spoken and likes men. At one point of the show, feeling the heat and pressure getting over him, Dewberry felt like fainting, so he took a breather outside. However, after much coaxing from his fellow team member, he entered the kitchen again, and Ralph (the losing finalist) said to him, "you're Gilbratar! You are the Hope Diamond!" to which Dewberry replied, "I'd rather you say I was Brad Pitt's wife!". I was laughing so hard that I threw up the cheese and egg and tuna sandwiches with mango juice that I ate earlier.

All and all, it was a very entertaining show. Chef Ramsay had the final say, "We turned an unknown into a master chef, and that has to be the perfect way to close Hell's Kitchen, tonight."