Do Not Read This If You Are Vegatarian

A debate has been raging in my own head for a couple of years now as to what is the best type of meat out there. There are as you would imagine three main contenders....lamb, pork and beef and even though there are plenty of other fantastic meats out there like game, poultry and venison they don't have the range of possibilities that the big 3 have! This is by no means the definitive answer on the subject as I am still in some doubt myself and my personal favourite changes weekly however after lunch today I have settled on Pork as my favourite meat at least until my next great meal and my fickle mind has been dragged off in another direction again.

I had a very simple bacon and cabbage roast lunch in a local pub today that got my mind racing on the whole subject again. Sure you can have a great steak or slow cooked oxtail, a great Irish stew or tasty lamb kebabs but I got thinking about the number of options there are with pork and it is quite literally staggering....A simple bacon buttie(sandwich for those not familiar with this), roast pork with lovely crispy crackling, black and white pudding, 1000s of varieties of sausages worldwide, Ham and pea soup, stuffed pork tenderloin, crispy pancetta, proscuitto, BBQ ribs, glazed ham, Pork ramen noodles and i could literally go on with this list from now until 2010 but I am sure you are getting the message. I think I am about as close as I possibly could be right now to agreeing in my own head that Pork is the finest meat, although I am going for a burger with friends tonight so that might all change.

World's Best Food Country (2nd Place)

2nd Place France

5th Place, South Africa
4th Place, Spain
3rd Place, America

I don't think there was ever a doubt that France would make it into this list but the fact that the strong favourite has been beaten into second place is a real turn up for the books.
When you think of good food France is probably one of the first countries that springs to mind and if it were not for the quality of our winner France would certainly have taken home the honours! I could go on about the reasons why France didn't win but I personally think there is more value on focusing on it's merits and with an entry of this quality there are no shortage of those!I've been lucky enough to spend a lot of time in France and it is clearly evident that the people live for their food. What i love the most is their culture of food and their respect for the value of the local artisan producers. In a world that seems to be obsessed with bigger and cheaper supermarkets and with bulk buying it takes a stubborn group of people to ignore the lure of the cheap quick fix but the French seem to be fighting their corner well! Don't get me wrong, you will still find plenty of big supermarkets in France including Carrefour, one of the world's biggest but the French would never allow their small local food suppliers to be treated as they are elsewhere in the world. This passion for food manifests itself all the way through the supply chain and I can say with some confidence that French produce on a whole is the best I have ever seen. Chefs (and France has the best standard of these in the world) can only be as good as the produce you give them and in Frane they have the best selection of truffles, fois gras, chicken, game, vegetables, seafood, cheeses, breads and every other kind of ingredient you care to name.

What I love the most about france is that it really doesn't matter if you are in a local bistro or a 3 star michelin restaurant, you will be guarenteed to be served great food at a modest price. Top that all off with some of the world's best wine and a surly french waiter and what more could you possibly ask for!

Damian Foxall Round the World

Watching Damian Foxall the heroic round the world Irish sailor tonight on the Late Late show made me think of my career sailing the oceans. When I say that I sailed the oceans it is technically true, I did sail across the atlantic and pacific a couple of times but I was lucky enough to do it in the comfort of one of the finest boats ever to be made, the 100 metre Tatoosh. For those of you who dont know I worked for Billionaires for a few years as a personal chef but that is a whole different story.

What annoys me so much is that in this modern modern day world of celebrity culture any old randomer who lives in a house for 12 weeks or happens to be a good gardener is propelled to ridiculous heights whereas people with real talents and huge courage like Damian are not given the respect they deserve. Let me tell you something...Sitting in the middle of the ocean on any sort of boat, yet alone a a 60 foot flimsy craft as sailed by Damian is very very fucking scary! The nearest land mass can be 1000s of miles away, the waves crashing over the boat and you are feeling as sick as a dog, you are literally totally and utterly alone! Well Damian was in that situation whereas I was in a similar situation but had the luxury of 6 engineers to fix any mechanical issues, Facebook access via internet, 3 chefs, a cinema, beer and a double bed. It is very hard to explain just how hard it is sail under the situations that Damian Foxall faced day in day out and most people will never understand what it is like (it can best be discribed as going to work tomorrow, staying there for 3 months, getting drenched every 5 minutes, getting very cold, going to the gym every 3 hours, sleeping very little, eating hydrated food, feeling like you have the flu constantly, non stop concentration, not seeing another person, missing your loved ones and not having a change of underwear)so that is why this man needs to be rewarded beyond the 15 minutesd of fame his achievements will receive.

I would love it if our culture changed and we could reward people like Damian Foxall as they should be rather than making huge stars out of peoople who have no evident ability and whose only talent is not wearing underwear on a night out!

Marco Pierre White Interview

Ask any household cook who their favourite chef is and the same old names will pop up; Jamie, Gordon etc etc but ask professional chefs and one of the names you will hear most often is Marco Pierre White. Some readers will remember him from the recent series of Hell's Kitchen but to be honest that is best forgotten as his best work was done where it should be by all chefs and that is behind the stove. He achieved his career zenith at 33 by being awarded 3 prestigious Michelin stars. However it wasn't just the Michelin guide who were taking notice but also the whole generation of budding chefs (including myself) who had found a new hero! His book white heat is widly regarded as one of the greatest cooking books ever written and so far removed from the glossy mass produced examples that abound these days. If you love food and consider youself a foodie I stronly urge you to buy it and drool in awe at some of his creations. The following video is long at 44 minutes but it gives an excellent and in depth insight into the mind of a true culinary genius. If you grew up with Marco as your hero you will thoroughly enjoy this.

Chris Walken Cooking Video

What do movie stars do when they are bored in between getting $10 Million per movie? Simple they put their pinnie on and do a little bit of home cooking! This video shows well known actor Christopher Walken(Batman Returns, Pulp Fiction etc)cooking a lovely looking roast chicken with simple instructions! What was he thinking and what is the cat doing at the end? All very strange!

Brilliant Gordon Ramsey Videos

Last week I showed a 50 second video of Gordon Ramsey on Boiling point 10 years 8 years ago and it shocked some people to see the transformation in the man. Today just under the surface of the swearing lunatic personality lies a very polished media savvy superstar chef who know how to work his audience. These videos show just what he was like back in the day and just how he has changed! You will never see a better insight into how a real restaurant actually works than watching these clips, magic!

Gordon Ramsey Quotes

Following on from the best food quotes of all time the other day and having watched Mr Ramsey on Kitchen Nightmares USA last night I feel that he actually deserves his own post on it's own so I've assembled a selection of his best rants and raves here.....

3.She thought that the price of the meal would be on the house. I told her that the only thing on the house was the roof.

Talking about Joan Rivers


2.“The problem with Yanks is they are wimps.”

Speaking about our American Friends


1.Everyone thinks you’re an asshole to work for because you get straight to the point. I’ve the most amazing relationship with my guys, and yeah, if things go wrong, they have to take it.

"Take it" is an understatement

To be honest quotes from Gordon don't actually seem that passionate when you read them, it's in his delivery and the mannerisms he uses that they Really come alive.

The interesting thing about Gordon is that he has actually been making TV for an incredibly long time and his personality has evolved considerably. He now knows exactly what he is doing and works it very well but I'd like to show you this clip from a behind the scenes documentary they Had about 10 years ago which shows the real face of Gordon. This footage shows exactly what it is like to work in a 3 star Michelin restaurant and the pressures that are involved. Quite a different Gordon, you certainly wouldn't argue with him! Scary!

Gordon's Cookalong Live Video

With TV becoming saturated with Cookery programmes C4 and Gordon Ramsey tried a new format tonight with the live cookalong. After watching it (without cooking along) i must say i was a bit underwhelmed. I think they make the cardinal mistake of trying to give Gordon a script which is a big mistake as we all know how witty and precise he is with his comments off the cuff. Quite a lot of his jokes had been pre written and it just doesn't suit his style at all. Because of the nature of the show and the speed it needs to flow at it just feels a little aggressive and jumpy. Anybody who works in TV will tell you that working live is the hardest thing to master and given that Gordon has to fit a three course meal and various other snippets into his show we'll have to take our chef hat off to him and give him the benefit of the doubt and put it down to the fact that it was the first show.


Until recently they had a similar show in America call Emeril Live and it wasd a fantastic success, the fact that I saw it towards the end of it's ten year run must have helped! I am pretty sure Gordon and the team will have to do a fair bit of tinkering to find the right format and i'd be surprised if people consistantly "cookalong" with him every Friday night but there is every chance that people will tune in to see Gordon's entertaining antics.

So has Gordon lost his magic touch with TV? Temporarily yes! Will this show make it in the long run? Yes, and don't rule it out becoming a huge success stateside either

Chicken Run and Jamie's Fowl Dinners

I have to agree like most people these two programmes shown recently on Channel 4 in the UK opened my eyes to the terrible conditions chickens are forced to live in across the UK and Ireland. I had a fair idea that they weren't exactly skipping through the Meadows or living a fulfilling life but to have the conditions they are forced to live in beamed into my living room last week was an eye opener. I think it is a very noble cause that Jamie and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have embarked upon by I do harbour a few reservations...

What annoys me these days is that every chef seems to have to find a new cause every year that whips up a public outcry! Now the cynic in me is telling me that this is more about the bottom line and book sales rather than a lifelong passion for the chosen cause. I would like to say that MR Whittingstall would be the one exception to this rule, i think that he is a truly passionate foodie and deserves praise for what he does. His success and book sales are simply a byproduct of his passion and knowledge which he fully deserves.

See the thing is these campaigns do work for a short period of time but there are factors, usually economic, that make these practices common place worldwide. I was recently in a well known supermarket where 2 organic chicken breasts were 11 euros. Can a single mother on benefits afford that? No. Would she rather buy a whole battery raised chicken for 5 euros, a bottle of wine and still have some change? Yes!


See its all very well these chefs who earn 6 and 7 figure sums per year lofitly preaching to us about what we should and shouldn't eat but when you earn 1500 euros a month and have 3 kids to feed you can stick your free range up your arse! How about these chefs started showing us recipes that use simple organic ingredients that are under a tenner and feed a family of 4! On second thoughts here is one to start you off! You'll find the ingredients list here on iFoods and i'll leave the decision on what type of bird you want to use up to you!

All time top 5 TV chefs

I was watching a TV cookery programme this evening here in Ireland which was particularly bad and i was thinking about what makes a great TV chef and thought it might be worth listing my all time favourite top 5. I came to the conclusion that it was not just to do with cooking ability but that personality had a huge amount to do with it. When reading this list make sure to remember that it is not an indication of who is actually the best chef but rather the best TV chef....

5. Marco Pierre white
Had a distinguished career as a chef and retired at the height of his fame and returned his 3 michelin stars in a blaze of publicity. Came out of retirement to host the recent series of Hell's kitchen stepping into the rather large shoes of Gordon Ramsey.
4. Rick Stein
A a man with a huge passion for the sea. At home on any sort of boat and his programmes often turn into travel shows rather than following a traditional format. HIs passion for food is unquestioned.
3. Bobby Flay
I only discovered Flay when i was in America last year but he has a natural talent without trying too hard. His recipes are relaxed, functional and easy to follow.

2.Jamie Oliver
He is not a popular choice with other professional chefs but at the end of the day he gets more people cooking and that has to be a good thing. Took the world by storm and is still going strong.
1.Gordon Ramsey
There could only be one winner! A genius with a razor sharp wit. Watch him in action below in one of his best moments!

What are your thoughts and who would you like to have seen in the top 5?

Favourite brunch treats

I was having brumch yesterday and i realised that it has to be one of my favourite types of food ever! So i got to thinking about developping our next set of recipes and I came to the conclusion that we really need a brunch section for all those weekend treats that we all love! I must say that my favourite is the always popular eggs benedict(see our video here) and i must say i have a soft spot for simple scrambled eggs and toast as shown in this Gordon Ramsey video...

So basically we want to get a bit of a debate going as to what the best all time brunch recipes are and what videos you would like to see on iFoods

Marco Pierre White with Gordon Ramsey

Check out this video on ifoods that somebody uploaded. I have never actually seen it but it shows Gordon Ramsey and Marco Pierre White when they were still friends about 8 years ago. Facinating!

Marco Pierre White Videos Hells kitchen

Something a little different from just news about iFoods.tvtoday. All of us here in Europe have been watching the new F Word where Gordon Ramsey's place has been taken but notorious 3 star Michelin chef Marco Pierre White and the public is split on what to make of him! Arrogant? Moody or my own particular view which hasn't changed in 10 years, genius! Is he made for TV? Yes but like anything he has to learn and the biggest miracle is that he has not been on our screens before this!


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