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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2019)
C4 EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE East Oregonian Saturday, August 3, 2019 Coming back to the small screen Gordon Ramsay gets his hands dirty for new travel food show By MARK KENNEDY Associated Press NEW YORK — For his latest TV show, famed chef Gordon Ramsay has defi- nitely left the comforting familiarity of his kitchens. On “Uncharted,” Ram- say visits global destina- tions to explore flavors far from routine. He eats guinea pig in Peru, fishes for eel with his bare hands to make a Maori dish in New Zea- land and forages for hearts of palm in Morocco. “It’s a million miles away from my high-end, three- star Michelin kitchen,” he says of the show airing on the National Geographic Channel. “It’s straight to the source.” After spending a week learning about the ingre- dients, Ramsay ends each hourlong show with a cook- ing competition, pitting himself against a local chef. Think of it like Anthony Bourdain crossed with Bear Grylls, and then add some “Top Chef.” Ramsay, who is also a host on Fox’s “Master- Chef,” told The Associated Press about being a fish out of water for once and how kitchens are changing. AP: For the new show, you’re climbing trees, fish- ing for eels and rappelling down cliffs. Are you having fun? Ramsay: I’m definitely having fun. It’s an extraor- dinary journey of discovery and peeling back those lay- ers with cultures that in this ever-moving foodie world — of London, New York and Paris — (that) don’t tend to focus on what’s going on with Maori cuisine. So it’s traveling to great lengths to dig deep. AP: A more humble side of you comes through. You aren’t often out of your ele- ment, are you? Ramsay: I find joy in being vulnerable, in a way. It’s about gaining knowl- edge and that’s never left me in two and a half decades. There’s a lot of chefs with one Michelin star, or two stars or even three stars that want everything per- fect everywhere they go and I’m the opposite. I want to go there and get stripped of those highfalutin accolades and become a local. AP: What’s it like to get up close and personal with the ingredients? Ramsay: For the last two decades, I’ve spent thou- sands of hours in kitchens with produce arriving at my fingertips. So, to do the opposite and get straight to the source, it’s actually been, to be honest, more of a therapeutic journey because I’m doing the opposite of what I’ve been doing for 20 years. AP: You eat lovely things, like a mushroom pizza and mangos. But you also sample grubs and camel meat. Was that hard to do on camera? Ramsay: I tend to for- get the camera. I remember being 21 years of age and having a tiny studio flat in Paris. And underneath my flat was a horse’s butcher shop. And every weekend I used to save 30 or 40 francs to buy myself the most amazing fillet. It was all horse meat. It’s still pretty prevalent today in France, horse butcher shops. That’s no different to a camel in Morocco. It’s about what’s local. AP: You’ve taken flak from some critics who accuse “Uncharted” of aping Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown.” Ramsay: Yeah. It’s like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I’m not stepping in anyone’s shoes. I’ve been doing travelogues since 2004, studying Vietnam, Cambodia and India, com- ing back to my chefs and saying, “Look, in Vietnam, there’s no dairy. They don’t cook with dairy. They buy produce twice a day. Get out there. Here’s a couple of thousand dollars: Go spend a month there, travel and come back.” AP: Do you recommend that every chef do what you’re doing and carve some time to explore? Ramsay: I’d recommend to every chef in the world to put down their tools and dis- appear for a month on a sab- batical. The problem is that when you get good, auto- matically you stop training because you’re caught up in the rapture of success and you don’t get a chance to go back to that coal face. AP: Speaking of rough places, do you think the bru- tality of life in kitchens is lessening? Ramsay: It’s definitely changing and changing for the better. The kitchen envi- ronment today, with a far more greater female pres- ence, has made things so much more relaxed in terms of temperaments. And so that’s been a blessing. So, yes, it’s definitely getting easier. And rightly so. AP: As a chef, do you Invision/AP Photo/Chris Pizzello Chef and TV personality Gordon Ramsay poses for a portrait to promote his National Geo- graphic television series “Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted,” during the 2019 Television Critics As- sociation Summer Press Tour at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. feel a responsibility to be environmentally conscious? Ramsay: I don’t enter the world of politics, but what I do authorize is a very sustainable, seasonal- ity approach to everything we cook. That is crucial. If we can stay within those boundaries, maintain a sort of 12- to 14-week season- ality aspect across menus, then we’re doing our job correctly. I’m a big fan of no waste and a clever utilization of the cheap cuts, off-cuts and unwanted vegetables is superimportant. That’s what makes or breaks businesses. It’s not about being flash and getting top marks in every food guide on the planet. It’s about your integrity as a chef on sustainability. Go dark in Oregon’s 8 best stargazing spots By JAMIE HALE The Oregonian PORTLAND — There are few experiences as hum- bling as staring into the cosmos. But while most of the stars above our cities and towns are obscured by the light we emit, it’s easy enough in Oregon to drive off into darkness to discover their greater beauty. Most national forests and natural spaces will give you some good view of the stars, but if you really want the darkest skies you should search the map made by Dark Site Finder, a website designed to aid stargazers and photographers. Zoom in on Oregon and you’ll see the expected sources of light pollution, emanating from all our big- gest cities (the Willamette Valley, generally speak- ing, is not a great place to see stars). But the map also shows low-level light pol- lution across much of the state, leaving only a single patch of pure darkness in remote southeast and cen- tral Oregon. Within that area there are several places to get a clear look at the cosmos, with campgrounds, hot springs, hotels and lookout towers in which to stay the night. Almost all of it is found in the high desert ecosystem, but the region isn’t just an empty expanse: Along the way, you can stop at incred- ible natural sites and see places teeming with wild- life, finding wonder by day and night. 1. Steens Mountain The highest point in Ore- gon east of the Cascades (excluding the Wallowa Mountains), Steens Moun- tain is a towering hunk of land that lords over the southeast corner of the state. It makes a great scenic drive and is known for its remote campgrounds and wilder- ness hiking, as well as sur- prisingly colorful fall foli- age. With scenic beauty and ample places to stay the night, Steens might just be The Oregonian Photo/Jamie Hale With scenic beauty and ample places to stay the night, Steens Mountain might just be the best stargazing spot in Oregon. the best stargazing spot in Oregon. 2. Alvord Desert Located on the southern side of Steens Mountain, the Alvord Desert deserves its own spot on this list due to the sheer difference in experience. A flat, expan- sive playa, the Alvord is so open and barren that you can drive on it, set up camp practically anywhere and enjoy the night sky. Late summer and fall months are usually the best times to visit. 3. John Day Fossil Beds The John Day Fossil Beds is a complex of incred- ible natural attractions that burst with color in the day- light. The Painted Hills (one of the Seven Wonders of Oregon) and Blue Basin (a Seven Wonders runner-up) alone rank as some of the strangest and most beautiful sites in the Northwest. The fossil beds also happen to lie under some of the dark- est skies in the state, which you can experience at the many campgrounds around the area. 4. Hart Mountain Hart Mountain is found due west of the Alvord Des- ert, and like Steens Moun- tain it’s another of East- ern Oregon’s towering land masses (technically called fault-block mountains). The area is known for its wild antelope refuge, natural hot springs and, of course, dark skies. You can also make a trek through the scrubby desert wilderness to the top of Warner Peak. There are two primitive campgrounds at the mountain, but back- country camping is also allowed. 5. Fire Lookouts There are more than a dozen fire lookouts on pub- lic land that you can stay in around Oregon, and three of them happen to lie in the darkest area of the state. The Hager Mountain, Bald Butte and Drake Peak look- outs are all found in the Fremont-Winema National Forest under dark skies in Southern Oregon. Stargaz- ing from a lookout should definitely be on your North- west bucket list. 6. Summer Lake Summer Lake is a large but shallow alkali lake in south-central Oregon, home to large flocks of migra- tory birds. The lake itself is within the patch of perfect darkness in Oregon, though the tiny nearby community of Paisley does emit a lit- tle light. Summer Lake Hot Springs, a popular resort, is right on the boundary of that light pollution, but it should be minimal enough to see plenty of stars. 7. Christmas Valley Christmas Valley, a remote town in central Ore- gon, is close to several fas- cinating natural attractions, including Fort Rock, Lost Forest and Crack-in-the- Ground. It’s also home to the Christmas Valley Sand Dunes, a popular spot for off-highway vehicles. The area is smack in the mid- dle of Oregon’s dark spot, though there aren’t many places to camp there other than Green Mountain Campground north of town. 8. Malheur National Wildlife Refuge One of the very best birdwatching spots in Ore- gon, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is also a great place for stargazing. Drive and hike across the high desert refuge by day, then stay the night at Page Springs Campground, at campgrounds on Steens Mountain or at the French- glen Hotel to watch the stars come out in full force.
