Gordon Ramsay on Hell's Kitchen Season 10 and MasterChef Season 3: "Get Out of Your Comfort Zone, Learn a Second Language, and Become Vulnerable"

On June 1, 2012, Fox held a press call with Gordon Ramsay ahead of the dual two-night premiere of Hell's Kitchen Season 10 and MasterChef Season 3, both debuting on Monday, June 4th and Tuesday, June 5th. Ramsay spoke about what keeps two long-running shows interesting, the 30,000 applicants who showed up for MasterChef Season 3, a blind contestant who became one of the season's most compelling figures, and his advice to anyone who wants to become a great chef.

Get out of your comfort zone. Learn a second language and become vulnerable. When you're in a vulnerable situation and you're not in charge, you'd be surprised at what you learn. Becoming vulnerable makes that mind work ten times quicker.

What keeps ten seasons of Hell's Kitchen interesting

Asked what keeps two shows going after this many seasons, Ramsay was direct: "There's something quite rewarding about becoming vulnerable, and I like being pushed to the absolute limits. I like being under pressure. I like finding talents. I like discovering new things. If there's one thing I've learned over the last seven years working in America, it's the cultural aspects — whether it's the most amazing Mexican dish, Pan-Asian or Japanese-influenced or Californian, East Coast against West Coast, or even a soul food dish. I get excited when I come across something I haven't tasted before." On Hell's Kitchen specifically: "It's been close to my heart more than any other show I've ever worked on. I quite like the un-glamorous side to cooking, where you have to get down and dirty and sometimes in their face."

30,000 applicants — and a casting call at 5:45 a.m.

Ramsay described the scale of the MasterChef Season 3 response: "In excess of 30,000 applicants — that was huge. I went to two of the casting calls. One was in Washington, and at 5:45 in the morning I was absolutely dumbfounded — it was literally minus three degrees and there was a queue 200 meters long of individuals, moms and dads, young girls and guys, standing there holding a dish to go into that audition. For the desire of that individual to fulfill their real natural ambition and cook for a living, as opposed to something that they thought would sound better in their community as opposed to listen to their heart." He compared it to the early days of American Idol: "I used to sit back nine, ten years ago and look at Idol and look at the thousands of people that auditioned. I think we're on the cusp of something of equal comparisons."

Christine — the blind contestant who cooks like an angel

Ramsay spoke at length about Christine, the season's first-ever sight-impaired contestant: "We had to make it clear from day one — it's a competition. Joe, Graham, and I were judging her on exactly what she cooked, on the same strength as everybody else. There were highs and lows for her. There were times when we were standing in the middle of the competition and no one picked her, and there were times when people wanted her first on their team. At the end of the day she had her ups and her downs, but she cooks like an angel. She had an amazing palate. She lost her sight later on, into her teens, and she remembered how to put food on a plate from there. I was pretty impressed — not just with her finesse, but just the way she handled the downside in terms of putting herself in dangerous situations and managing to keep her neck above the water."

Junior MasterChef — and a room full of 12-to-14-year-olds

Ramsay revealed that he, Joe Bastianich, and Graham Elliot had already tested a junior version of the format: "Graham, Joe, and I had a little room packed full of twenty 12-to-14-year-olds. Honestly, I could not believe how good these individuals were. They got presented with a mystery box — a steak was in there. The food was just astonishing. I'm not talking little food snobs. I'm talking about girls that want to bake, guys that want great pasta dishes. Junior MasterChef — who knows, potentially next year." On the celebrity version: "Kim Kardashian would be my first guest — I'd show her that eating Indian food doesn't need to be as bad as she thinks it is. And David Beckham from the boys, because secretly, he knows how to cook."

Raw vs. overcooked — and the answer might surprise you

Asked whether raw or overcooked food makes him angrier, Ramsay's answer was counterintuitive: "When food's raw, you can do something about it. You can actually get it cooked properly. So when it's overcooked, I get incredibly upset." On raw chicken specifically: "There's no such thing as pink chicken — it's unacceptable. I've been on the other side of things when I've eaten pink chicken and I've seen what it's done to me and also seen what's happened to customers. We're talking about serious, serious ramifications. I get upset because my goal is to stop it, and they don't understand the backlash of what you can do to a restaurant, to your reputation, by serving something raw."

His advice to anyone who wants to become a great chef

On whether passion alone is enough: "No. Passion — desire, I think, really. Can you teach someone how to cook? Yes, you can. If you saw what I grew up with when I was with mom and dad and what we didn't have at the table — trust me, we weren't spoiled. A takeout was a treat, and if we did get a takeout then it was split. So you can teach, but you need the desire." His advice: "Get out of your comfort zone. Learn a second language and become vulnerable. When you're in a vulnerable situation and you're not in charge, you'd be surprised at what you learn. Becoming vulnerable makes that mind work ten times quicker when you want to learn something. I like going into situations, still today, not knowing that particular ingredient or that particular dish or that particular culture 100% because I love to discover it. That's the exciting thing about food — discovery." Hell's Kitchen Season 10 and MasterChef Season 3 premiered Monday, June 4th, on Fox.

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