Who do you think is the best living chef? I don’t know if it’s Gordon Ramsay, but he has to at least enter the conversation. The guy has made an undeniably huge cultural impact. Is his personality greatly exaggerated on TV? Yes. Are his overproduced, over-the-top reality shows an example of a pop culture phenomenon that has long since worn out its welcome? Probably. But many people who know Ramsay from shows like Hell’s Kitchen might not know that the veteran chef has plenty of tutorial cooking videos in his catalog, too, and they’re full of valuable advice.
It’s in these videos that we get a glimpse of the softer Gordon Ramsay, the one who was often on display in the British version of Kitchen Nightmares (and was so unfortunately absent from the American version). When Ramsay is calm, there is something incredibly relaxing about his voice. He’s authoritative, slapping his hand in his palm to punctuate his lessons, but also nurturing. As far as great kitchen voices go, Ramsay is up there with the great Jacques Pépin: his instructional whispers alleviate your worries. This is actually quite easy, they suggest, and it’s true. Gordon Ramsay’s recipes are as achievable as his tone is smooth.
Most of his videos cover basic cooking skills with succinct instructions, excellent production, and the eagerness of somebody who wants you to succeed. The best way to learn how to cook is from a chef, and if you can’t do that in person, there are few resources more readily available than Ramsay. His beautiful cooking tutorials—often drowned out by his splashy pranks and glorious tirades—can help a home cook at any stage of their development. So here are his five best, most amazing (sorry, I will be talking like him now) lessons on how to become a better chef.