Posted: 10/06/2009

The F Word Series Three on DVD

by Elaine Hegwood Bowen

Gordon Ramsay’s The F Word is a great reality show whose Series Three is now available on a three-set DVD.

The F Word is not what you think it is. The “F” could stand for food, fruit, fondue, fish, fridge, feta, fire, fillet or some other outstanding word. The series is set in famed British chef Ramsey’s The F Word restaurant and follows aspiring cooks, as they avoid the knife under Ramsay’s strict, blunt and often explosive direction. The students include firefighters, amateurs, restaurant managers, homeowners and everyone in between.

Ramsay unveils mouth-watering dishes, recipe-based challenges and guilt-free fast food.
And he starts each episode by preparing the three courses that the fledging chefs are required to make to feed 50 hungry guests. It’s up to the guests to decide whether they want to pay for the meal or not; and these points, one for each appetizer, main course and dessert, are tallied to choose the winning team. The best performing brigade of the series returns at the end to cook at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s in London.

But The F Word is not all about cooking, Ramsay sometimes adds comic relief by taking on other chores: he goes diving from crabs, which he cooks right on location outside, paired with bread and wine; he decides to raise two lambs that he’ll eventually slaughter and serve at his restaurant; he invites celebrities onto the set to challenge him in various cooking debates or techniques; he goes deer hunting, but realizes that if he had to totally depend upon hunting to feed himself that he might just turn into a vegetarian.

I enjoyed watching Ramsay interact with his charges, the celebrities and the many diners who show up to sample the delicious food. The F Word brings to the forefront a side of Ramsey that’s not apparent in other cooking shows that feature him.

“The F Word is a little bit of everything…edgy and friendly…,” says the Ottawa Citizen. “[Ramsay is] abrasive, foul-mouthed and ultimately fascinating,” says the Daily Mail.

The F Word is such a delightful series that even those out there who don’t cook well will enjoy watching Ramsay instruct, discipline, reprimand and praise his students, all in one fell swoop. With Ramsay’s reputation on the line, the amateur chefs had better get it right—or get out!

The F Word Series Three 3-DVD set, which includes six complete printable recipes, is available from B.F.S. October 6. Visit Web site www.bfsent.com

Elaine Hegwood Bowen is an editor, writer and film critic in Chicago.

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