Gordon learns the hard way

10:18am Monday 12th May 2008

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As Gordon Ramsay hits the headlines over his remarks that we should only eat seasonal vegetables, Kate Whiting finds out how hes prepared to risk life and limb in pursuit of the right ingredients for his latest TV cookery show

I HAVE already eaten about half of my scrambled eggs when Gordon Ramsay jokes that he cooked them with sea urchins. Were sitting in his self-named restaurant at Claridges in London surrounded by pastries and pots of coffee and I suddenly feel quite nauseous.

Maybe its the thought of the sea urchin lurking somewhere in the egg next to the smoked salmon and muffin or maybe its just Gordons overbearing personality first thing in the morning.

One minute hes talking seriously about the plight of veal calves and the next hes jumping up and showing us his chest, to prove he avoided nipple chafing on the London marathon. Its all a bit much for breakfast.

The irrepressible chef is back on Channel 4 for another series of his hit magazine show, The F Word. Gordon's Healthy Appetite campaign will include helping a mum in Darlington cater for her eight children.

And the sea urchins will feature in a new slot called Teach Gordon Ramsay A Lesson, where he travels the world in search of new flavours and daring culinary adventures. In fact, they nearly got him into trouble.

He says: I was diving for sea urchins off the west coast of Ireland. It was just amazing because it was a drift dive where the two currents, incoming and outgoing, meet. Youre in a boat travelling at 12 knots and all of a sudden youre dropped off into the water.

YOURE just pushed along on the surge.

Unfortunately, I got lost, but I came back up quickly before a helicopter came.

Ive done a lot of dives, but we were getting deeper, and 15 minutes later I was three miles out in the Atlantic. I got a b******ing when I came up because I should have stayed closer to my buddy.

Then theres making an F Word beer in his garage (Its like Charlie And The Chocolate Factory in there now with all these siphons and barrels, but the smell is amazing) and his next ambition, noodling for giant catfish in the Mississippi.

You dive and the catfish get attracted to your flesh. They start sucking on your elbow and you grab them by the gills and pull them out of the hole.

I like that level of discovery really. Very few chefs put themselves in that situation of jeopardy, he says.

Since the series first launched in 2005, 41-year-old Gordon has shown how fearless he is both in the kitchen and out, with tasks including rearing animals and then taking them for slaughter.

This year, his equally acid-tongued sidekick, Janet Street Porter, has the task of rearing veal calves on her farm in Yorkshire, but Gordon says he wont be there to see them die. Its quite an emotional bond and having them in my back garden was a little bit too close for comfort. It was pretty horrific last year with the lambs, he explains.

Last year, animal protestors dumped a ton of horse manure outside one of Gordons restaurants in protest over an F Word stunt in which Janet ate horse meat. The fiery chef admits it was awkward, but insists hes not worried about a backlash over the veal.

Veal is something were squeamish about in this country, because were all attached to it emotionally. But its delicious and its incredibly healthy, he says, his enthusiasm almost contagious. Its definitely possible to rear nicely and we highlighted that with the pigs and the lambs. There are unethical ways of rearing veal. But we dont do that in this country, its proper veal.

I dont want to do it to attract any form of controversy or to upset anyone, but just to show that the right way of doing it is the only way.

This year, the F Word will run for 12 weeks over the summer, with the usual format of Gordon and his brigade cooking for a restaurant. But this time all his chefs will be celebrities, who will have to create a three-course meal for 50 diners each week.

Among them will be Geri Halliwell, while Ricky Hatton will trade in his boxing gloves for oven gloves as Gordon teaches him how to eat more healthily.

Gordon adds: Thats been the big message this year, trying to get the nation to understand that healthy food doesnt have to be boring food. You can eat really well, without feeling youve got to put on weight at the same time.

Once hed sorted Rickys diet out, being Gordon, he couldnt resist stepping in the ring.

We sparred a bit and I said Right. Let rip! And I stood there in absolute shock. The power through this bag was extraordinary C I got pushed on the ropes, I got winded, lost my breath and fell flat on my face.

Gordons Healthy Appetite campaign will include taking a pop at fellow chef Delia Smiths latest cook book and TV show, How To Cheat At Cooking.

Im embarrassed from a chefs point of view.

Embarrassed and somewhat deeply saddened because I think as a nation it was one step forward and 25 back. We can be better than that, he says.

SO why does the father-of-four think the UK is so unhealthy? Its easy to answer that one. I am a parent. Its discipline and its laziness.

You give in to children for peace of mind really, he says.

We havent got that innate understanding of how important it is to eat well from an early age.

You think of this strict regime we have in terms of advice on smoking and drinking and drugs and we should be just as assertive with our conditioning of children. Parents should be up for ransom if diets spiral out of control.

Our time with Gordon is running out. Hes got more world conquering to do.

Hes off to Tokyo and then theres the opening of his latest restaurants in Paris and LA C with one in Australia planned for next year.

When things are going too well, its too easy, I need to dig it around and turn it upside down and get back to the coal face.

And with that, the charming chef leaves us to digest our eggs.

ö The F Word returns to Channel 4 tomorrow.