戈登·拉姆齐:顶级厨神,成功有道

出生在苏格兰的英国名厨小戈登・詹姆斯・拉姆齐（Gordon James Ramsay， Jr.）未必就是人类烹饪史上最登峰造极的饮食宗师，但他绝对是电视史上最大红大紫的顶级厨神。从《地狱厨房》（Hell’s Kitchen）到《厨房噩梦》（Kitchen Nightmares），从《厨艺大师》（MasterChef）到《地狱旅馆》（Hotel Hell），他主持的真人秀每播出一部就红火一部。人们一边吐槽着戈登那出口成脏的火爆脾气，一边又对节目中琳琅满目的美味佳肴以及同样精彩的撕逼大战欲罢不能。除了擅长打造节目，戈登还是一名退役足球员、米其林大厨、厨艺畅销书作家、餐厅老板、大慈善家以及大英帝国勋章获得者。但是在所有这些光环以外，坐下来和大家畅谈生活的那个他，也不过就是学徒们的严厉师傅、妈妈的贴心儿子以及孩子们的玩伴老爸――

这篇访谈虽然生词不多，但交谈双方的语速相当快，对我们的听力是个不错的挑战哦！先脱离文字听一两遍，看看你能否初步掌握大致内容；然后对照文章进行精听，检查看看之前的理解有没有错漏之处。

Alex Belfield （Host）： The world’s smartest man， Gordon Ramsay. You’re big over here， you’re big in America， you’re big everywhere， you’re a cook， you’re a chef， you’re a TV star， you’re a multimillionaire， you’ve got a successful family. You’ve got everything， haven’t you？

Gordon： Very lucky， yeah， a lot of hard work has gone into it， and when you get there， of course， you’ve got to work even harder to maintain it. So， yeah， I do 1）pinch myself， but I’m not very good at stopping and looking behind me. I’m too busy moving forward.

Alex： How easy is it for you to find someone who’s as dedicated and as passionate about food as you are？

Gordon： Yeah， erm， that’s a good question. I mean， I， I search long and hard every day for talents. And then once I’ve found the talent， I nurse the talent. Once it’s nursed， then it’s exposed. Once it’s exposed， and they’re sort of 2）stripped of everything they know. And they’re， you know， against the wall and standing there， you know， insecure， feeling 3）inadequate. Then we build them again. So cooking’s all about emotions， and， you know， it is the most insecure job to have ever. You’re standing in the kitchen， you’re with a bunch of foreigners， you can’t speak their language， and， by the way， you have to take an ingredient， make it into something， charge money for it， and then be successful on that dish. It’s hard， very hard to grasp. You don’t get there by working six and a half， seven hours a day. So I can tell you who’s gonna make it and who’s not gonna make it after being with someone for half an hour.

Alex： As soon as that.

Gordon： As soon as that， yeah. In terms of their touches， their insight， the way they 4）season things， the way they hold things， the way they feel about that particular ingredient. And I like to see them go on that journey I went on.

Alex： Can you remember the first moment where you became interested in food？

Gordon： I can， really. We were in Daventry and we’re travelling up on the 5）M6 up to Port Glasgow to go see our Gran. And Mom had made some bread and butter pudding. Because we were running late， we had to take it in the car， so I just remember I sat with this tray of bread and butter pudding， and that’s when I started to really seriously enjoy what the comfort of her 6）rustic home cooking was all about.

Alex： People didn’t particularly like you， although they watch you. Now they really do have great passion for you， probably， I think， because of seeing you with your kids. They mean so much to you. How often do you get to see them these days？

Gordon： They mean so much to me， and that’s my foundation in life. My relationship with them is the absolute opposite to， er， my relationship with my father. Jack and I are best mates， and， you know， 7）as far as the girls are concerned， I’m their boyfriend. So they’re gonna marry me when they grow up―you know， I tease them.

So we keep it real. They had a dollar pocket money each and every day， and I want them to grow up with that level of respect that it may only be 8）50 pence， but it’s a dollar， it’s paper， it’s money， respect it. If you want to buy something that’s going to cost you eight dollars， then you wait eight days to buy that. You’re not getting an advance from me. I’m over-firm on my children because I’m in danger of spoiling them， so I， you know， give…unknown to them， 9）Tan and I give away 90% of their Christmas presents they don’t even know they’ve had. And then they get one present every year. They don’t sit and waste time on an 10）Xbox， because that’s unhealthy for kids to sit there and get addicted to a screen and get lazy. I like to think that they stay really real. Jack goes to football. When I’m not at football with him on Saturday morning， I get fined. The girls got to gymnast every Saturday afternoon， and they swim twice a week. So， you know， I’m over-firm， but it’s all for the right reason.

亚历克斯・贝尔菲尔德（主持人）：这位是世界上最精明的人――戈登・拉姆齐。你在我们这里是位名人，你在美国那边是位名人，你在世界各地都很有名气；你是个厨师，你是名大厨，你是位电视明星；你坐拥千万身家，你还拥有一个美满幸福的家庭。你的人生什么都不缺了，对吧？

戈登：我很幸运，是啊，我为此付出了很大努力。而当你取得那么多成就之后，你当然要更加努力干活才能保持下去。所以，没错，我确实会掐一掐自己看看是不是在做梦，但我并不擅长停下来回首过去，一路向前已经够我忙的了。

亚历克斯：要发掘一个像你这么专心致志、热爱食物的人，对你来说有多简单呢？

戈登：是的，呃，问得好。我是说，我……我每天都要花上大量的时间和精力去发掘好苗子。然后，一旦找到一株好苗子，我就会好好栽培他。一旦培养起来了，他就要在众人面前表现自己。一旦进行自我表现，他们过去所懂得的一切就像全部作废似的。你瞧，他们就好像背靠着高墙，站在那里发愣一般，满怀不安，觉得自己无法胜任这份工作。然后我们就会对其重新培养。烹饪需要全情投入，而且你也知道，这是一份史上最没有把握的工作。你站在厨房里，周围是一堆外国人，你和他们语言不通――顺便说一句，你还要选一种食材，将它变成一道菜肴，用这道菜赚钱，最后凭借这道菜获得成功。这太困难了，很难掌握要领。要达到这样的境界，并不是每天干上六个半或者七个小时就能做到的。因此，只要与他们相处上半小时吧，我就能告诉你谁会获得成功，谁压根没戏。

亚历克斯：就那么一会儿。

戈登：就那么一会儿，没错。根据他们的手法和悟性，看他们如何调味，如何拿东西，对特定的食材会有怎样的感受。我也很想看到他们踏上我所经历过的这段旅程。

亚历克斯：你还记得自己第一次对食物产生兴趣是什么时候吗？

戈登：我还真记得。我们当时住在英国的达文特里。那天，我们沿着M6高速公路一路北上，去格拉斯哥港探望外婆。妈妈事先准备了些面包黄油布丁。因为我们快迟到了，只好将食物带上车，我记得自己坐在车上，身旁是这一盘子面包黄油布丁，那是我第一次真真正正地体会到她那质朴的家常菜中蕴含着多少温情。

亚历克斯：尽管人们都会收看你的电视节目，他们以前并不见得有多喜欢你。但是现在大家确实对你大有好感，我想这大概是因为他们看到你和孩子在一起时的情景吧。孩子就是你的心肝宝贝。如今你隔多久才能和他们见上一面呢？

戈登：他们是我的心肝宝贝，这是我的生活重心。我和他们的关系与……当年我和父亲的关系简直是完全相反的。杰克和我是好哥们，而且你瞧，对女儿们来说，我就是她们的男朋友。她们长大以后还要嫁给我呢――你也知道，我总爱逗她们玩儿。

我们的日子过得很实在，他们每天都有一美元的零花钱。我希望他们在成长过程中保持这种尊重金钱的观念，这点钱也许只有50便士，但它是一美元，是纸币，是金钱，要重视它。如果你想买一件价值八美元的东西，你就得等上八天才能买到它，别想从我这里预支。我对孩子们异常严格是因为我很容易溺爱他们，所以你瞧，我捐了……在他们毫不知情的情况下，塔娜和我将他们90%的圣诞礼物都捐掉了，他们根本不知道自己收到这么多礼物。然后他们每年会收到一份礼物。他们不会坐在Xbox前浪费时间，因为对小孩子来说，一直枯坐在那里、视线离不开屏幕以及懒惰成性都不是健康之道。我希望他们保持这种实实在在的生活。杰克经常去踢足球。如果我在周六早上不能和他一起踢球，还要被罚款呢。女儿们每个周六下午都会去练体操，他们一星期还要游上两次泳。所以你瞧，我确实特别严格，不过这也是为了他们好。