Humble Pie by Gordon Ramsay

Val Penny ♦ June 14, 2013 ♦ Leave a comment

Everyone thinks they know the real Gordon Ramsay: rude, loud, driven, stubborn.   Bearing in mind his turbulent private life I find it funny when he gives conciliatory family advice on his Kitchen Nightmares television program.  However, this is his own story.  In this bestselling autobiography, Humble Pie, Ramsay tells his life story starting long before he became the world’s most famous and infamous chef.  He tells openly of  his difficult childhood.  Ramsay talks frankly about his tough childhood, this was exacerbated his father’s alcoholism and violence. It also affected his relationships with his mother and siblings.   He also discusses his brother who suffers from a heroin addiction.

Ramsay also explores his first career as a footballer.  The whole family moved to Scotland when he was signed by the world famous Glasgow Rangers at the age of fifteen, and how he coped when his career was over due to injury just three years later.   He played only once for  Rangers before injury brought the footballing dream to a premature end.

Gordon’s early career as a chef learning his trade in Paris and London explains how his career developed from there.  I found his time in Paris under Albert Roux particularly interesting.  At the time of writing his book he had seven Michelin starred restaurants.  Gordon spills the beans about life behind the kitchen door and how a restaurant kitchen is run in Anthony Bourdain style.  It is really an fascinating book and one that I read quickly.

He explains his fanatical pursuit of gastronomic perfection.  (Ramsay now holds an impressive 11 Michelin Stars.) He also reveals the man behind his TV persona.  These are all the things that have made him a celebrated culinary talent and media powerhouse.

Gordon Ramsay’s radical career change in his teenage years led him to London and to huge success as chef, restaurant owner empire building celebrity. Gordon has published nine best selling recipe books and has starred in the hugely successful television series the Bafta award winning Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, Hell’s Kitchen and The F Word.

Ramsay tells how he copes with the impact of fame on himself and his family.  He describes his television career,  the intrusion of the rapacious tabloids and his own drive for success.  In 2006 he was appointed OBE and saw the launch of his New York restaurant.  He has since opened a new restaurant at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, USA.  The book is easy to read and if you are interested in learning about a varied life that succeeded in the face of adversity, I would highly recommend it.

Amongst the other biographies and autobiographies reviewed on this site are: As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/as-far-as-my-f…-james-m-bauer, White Slave https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/white-slave-by…o-pierre-white, I Don’t Mean To Be Rude But…https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/i-dont-mean-to…y-simon-cowell,  A Hebraic Obsession https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2014/11/04/a-hebraic-obse…y-mort-laitner, My Scotland, Our Britain https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/my-scotland-ou…y-gordon-brown,