Our saucy flirt with fame
Published 10:21 am Saturday, August 3, 2013
Thanks for attending! We’re astounded by the interest our readers have shown in the culinary arts. For today’s lesson, please move toward the kitchen counter and form a semi-circle around the stainless steel mixing bowls.
We’ll be preparing a simple-but-satifying summertime dish in honor of Gordon Ramsay, the celebrity chef who has taped two episodes of his TV show at an Everett restaurant this past year.
(Surgeon General’s warning: Eating some foods can harden your arteries and soften your glutes. And watching some reality TV can diminish your brain function.)
For starters, let’s select our ingredients. We’ll want something familiar but spicy, not unlike the central character himself on “Kitchen Nightmares.” Don’t be afraid to use this in mass quantities.
The second main ingredient should be fresh but not too complex; something as palatable and pliable as a novice restaurateur. Mix them together roughly. Salt with a bit of drama — maybe fire a key kitchen employee? Toss in a few cloves of humor, at the owner’s expense, naturally. And, finally, garnish with our signature seasoning: profane outbursts.
In almost no time, it’s done. And, as the chef has demonstrated, we can refrigerate this for months, reheat it and serve again. (Everett — not just once, but twice!)
Certainly, it’s been a thrill to hear the name of our city intoned on a popular food show. And it was a double thrill for some local folks who glimpsed the culinary cussmaster in person. (OK, OK you probably noticed the Herald’s staff could scarcely leave him alone.) One enamored female fan even held up the hand-lettered proposition: “CHEF RAMSAY, WILL YOU LIGHT MY FIRE?”
But, sigh … Our relationship with Ramsay is history.
It is a safe bet that he will not return to fly fish on the Stilly, tour the Future of Flight Museum or catch a Silvertips game.
Everett and the newly christened Prohibition Gastropub merely provided props, a locale and a cast of extras for Ramsay’s show. It didn’t hurt to remind television viewers across America that there is a place called Everett, Washington. And let’s hope the publicity boosted at least one downtown Everett business.
But our common tendency to crave fame-by-association brings to mind a dusty joke:
Guy: Hey, d’ya know who I am?
Gal: No, should I?
Guy: Didn’t you hear about that hero who caught those bank robbers single-handed?
Gal: Wow! That was you?
Guy: Nah. But my cousin used to date his sister.
Thanks for the flirtation, chef. Now, we’ll return to life as we enjoy it here in Snohomish County.
