“How do they want the steak?” “They asked for it well done, chef.”
It’s the response that no chef is happy to hear. Well done steak, it’s never going to taste great as all the goodness has to be cooked out of the meat and with every second it sits in the pan past optimal, it just gets tougher.
Most chefs, through gritted teeth, will smile, chuckle to themselves about the crazy order, and get on with over cooking the meat. Some might refuse to cook it.
In the case of Gordon Ramsay, he gets highjacked by a reporter after his Maze restaurant in London served a steak exactly as it was ordered - well done! However, what Ramsay isn't going to do is apologise to this ‘gotcha style’ journalist who tries to call them out on the silly order.
It all happened a few years ago when Ramsay’s restaurant group invited a group of Australian journalists to dine at Maze in London ahead of their opening of Maze in Melbourne. One journo ordered their steak well done and was unhappy with what arrived - saying it was, wait for it, too well done. All fine, accept he didn’t complain to the actual wait staff serving his steak, instead he waited until after the meal had finished to confront Ramsay during an interview, presenting two pictures of said ‘well done’ steak to the chef.
What follows is classic Ramsay as he comes down hard on what is a bit of a slimy move.
Take a look and let us know what you guys think of ‘well done’ steak - happy to cook it or a disgrace to the meat gods? Let us know on Facebook.
