戈登·拉姆齊：頂級廚神，成功有道

出生在蘇格蘭的英國名廚小戈登·詹姆斯·拉姆齊（Gordon James Ramsay， Jr.）未必就是人類烹飪史上最登峰造極的飲食宗師，但他絕對是電視史上最大紅大紫的頂級廚神。從《地獄廚房》（Hell’s Kitchen）到《廚房噩夢》（Kitchen Nightmares），從《廚藝大師》（MasterChef）到《地獄旅館》（Hotel Hell），他主持的真人秀每播出一部就紅火一部。人們一邊吐槽著戈登那出口成臟的火爆脾氣，一邊又對節目中琳瑯滿目的美味佳肴以及同樣精彩的撕逼大戰欲罷不能。除了擅長打造節目，戈登還是一名退役足球員、米其林大廚、廚藝暢銷書作家、餐廳老板、大慈善家以及大英帝國勛章獲得者。但是在所有這些光環以外，坐下來和大家暢談生活的那個他，也不過就是學徒們的嚴厲師傅、媽媽的貼心兒子以及孩子們的玩伴老爸——

這篇訪談雖然生詞不多，但交談雙方的語速相當快，對我們的聽力是個不錯的挑戰哦！先脫離文字聽一兩遍，看看你能否初步掌握大致內容；然后對照文章進行精聽，檢查看看之前的理解有沒有錯漏之處。

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.

亞歷克斯·貝爾菲爾德（主持人）：這位是世界上最精明的人——戈登·拉姆齊。你在我們這里是位名人，你在美國那邊是位名人，你在世界各地都很有名氣；你是個廚師，你是名大廚，你是位電視明星；你坐擁千萬身家，你還擁有一個美滿幸福的家庭。你的人生什么都不缺了，對吧？

戈登：我很幸運，是啊，我為此付出了很大努力。而當你取得那么多成就之后，你當然要更加努力干活才能保持下去。所以，沒錯，我確實會掐一掐自己看看是不是在做夢，但我并不擅長停下來回首過去，一路向前已經夠我忙的了。……