The F-Word
Series 1
Each episode is centered around Ramsay preparing a three-course meal at the F-Word restaurant for 60 guests.
The Times' restaurant critic
Giles Coren acts as a field correspondent. Food writer Rachel Cooke also provides several reports on healthy eating. Regular segments within an episode include:
*Conversation with celebrity diners like
Sharon Osbourne,
Martine McCutcheon,
Joan Collins, and
Jonathan Ross. Ramsay often invites them into the kitchen to learn a recipe or cooking skill.
*Two (or three) commis squaring off to earn a position at one of Ramsay's restaurants. 12 commis chefs appeared in the series out of a thousand applicants. After several elimination rounds, Milla defeated Russell for the job in the final episode.
*Ramsay raising turkeys in his garden, so that his children gain a better understanding of where their food comes from. Chef and television presenter
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall regularly offers tips on raising free range turkeys.
*As part of the "Get Women Back in the Kitchen" campaign, Ramsay visits several English households to help women who wanted to improve their culinary skills.
*Pudding (dessert) challenge, usually between Ramsay and a celebrity guest. The winner has the honour of serving his or her pudding to the guests at the F-Word restaurant.
*
Giles Coren and Rachel Cooke examining several food and restaurant related issues from male fertility to misleading packaging in supermarkets. Coren's segments also featured him sampling more unique foods such as squirrel meat and horse milk.
Series 2
Janet Street-Porter is this series' field correspondent. There were other changes from the format in Series 1:
*The restaurant seated 50 paying guests. If diners found any of their food unsatisfactory, they could choose not to pay for that item.
*A different amateur brigade worked in the F-Word kitchen each week.
*Instead of turkeys, this series featured Ramsay raising pigs in his garden.
*The celebrity pudding challenge has been modified to a general cooking challenge. For example, the series premiere featured a lasagne cook-off.
*This series emphasized the importance of Sunday lunch, with Ramsay teaching families how to prepare this meal on a regular basis.
*Giles Coren only appeared in the series in a limited capacity; he reported on the
Pimp That Snack phenomenon and even baked a "pimped"
Jaffa Cake for submission on the website.
Women in the kitchen
A major component of the programme is Ramsay's "Get Women Back in the Kitchen" campaign. In a self administered
survey he found that three-quarters of women couldn't cook, with some 78% never cooking a regular evening dinner. Women found cooking to be a chore, whereas men found it to be an enjoyable activity. Ramsay claimed that women "know how to mix cocktails but can't cook to save their lives." [
1]
Ramsay's findings were met with mixed reaction. While some of his contemporaries like
Nigella Lawson previously stated similar opinions, other celebrity chefs like
Clarissa Dickson-Wright (
Two Fat Ladies) felt Ramsay's proposition was "rubbish and about ten years out of date". [
2] Wright felt that these comments undermined the increased enrollment of women at
culinary schools across the United Kingdom.
As a result of this survey, The F-Word features a segment where Ramsay goes to the house of a woman who has requested his assistance. There he shows them how to cook a typical meal and gives them encouragement to attempt other dishes on their own. His intentions have been misunderstood by some who believe that he thinks women belong in the kitchen or should be doing the cooking for their husbands, whereas his real desire is to help women who want to be able to cook but lack the confidence or motivation.
Turkey slaughter
The penultimate episode of the series featured the slaughter of six turkeys raised in Ramsay's garden. The scene had been preceded with a content warning. 27 viewers complained about the slaughter, leading to an investigation by
Ofcom. Conversely, the media watchdog and
Channel 4 also received 18 letters of support to counter the complaints. In 2004, Ramsay had also been criticised by the broadcast watchdog for swearing on-air.
It should be noted that Ramsay raised turkeys in his garden so that his children (and viewers) could gain a greater appreciation of where their food came from. A few months earlier, another Channel 4 series,
Jamie's Great Italian Escape (featuring
Jamie Oliver) also received similar complaints after it featured the slaughter of a lamb.
*
Series 1 official site*
The Daily Record: "How do you eat a plate of gannet? A. Er, like a gannet."*
Macleans.ca: "You go, Gordon Ramsay"*
BBC - "Complaints as Ramsay kills turkey
