11/10/2025

LYFE SATURDAY | OCT 11, 2025

24

Chasing Michelin glory

o Gordon Ramsay’s TV show highlights restaurants aspiring for iconic accolade C ELEBRITY chef Gordon Ramsay goes behind the camera for new series Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars that shines the spotlight on restaurants working to attain the coveted culinary accolade. The multi-starred restaurateur and TV personality is an executive producer of the eight-part Apple TV+ series, which visits eateries in the US, Britain, Italy, Nordics and Mexico seeking to gain, or retain, stars. “(It) is a sort of a real reflection on what goes on in these businesses: what’s at stake, what kind of jeopardy is up for grabs and then the emotions.” “This is (an)...unscripted, real version of life in the culinary world and the extent you go to for the badge of honour ... Actors want Oscars, football players want FA Cup winners’ medals, chefs want Michelin stars,” Ramsay said. Episodes show host Jesse Burgess meeting chefs as they compose menus, primp up dishes and seek to impress that lone diner who may be a secret Michelin inspector. There is also input from the anonymous Michelin inspectors, voiced by actors. “We ask them questions and they answer. In reality, it was all ... very secretive so that none of the producers or nobody actually saw the real-life inspectors. “They just judge the food on the plate,” Burgess said. Ramsay received his first Michelin star when he was head chef at London restaurant Aubergine. His own Restaurant Gordon Ramsay has held three stars since 2001. “You become an overnight sensation and then you’ve got the fight and the slug to maintain it ... you need to understand the word delegation, teaching, creating, and most importantly, passing the baton on. “I have one foot in the kitchen and one foot in the media world and am I there 16 hours a day? No, of course I’m not. I am there like a conductor and I’ll sign things off, but I want to hear from them ... And so maintaining it is where the real work starts,” he said. Asked if he still gets nervous when Michelin issues new editions of the guide, Ramsay said: “I do get nervous ... no one likes losing ... (going) down to even two stars is unique, but ... it’s major headlines if you do. I’m often asked, ‘What would you do if you did lose a star?’ Then, I’d fight and win it back.” – Reuters

SOUTH KOREA ranked second after Vietnam in per capita consumption of ramyeon , or instant noodles, last year, Yonhap News Agency reported, according to the Osaka-based World Instant Noodles Association (Wina). Wina said the country’s overall ramyeon consumption reached 4.1 billion units last year, ranking eighth worldwide, while its per person consumption stood at 79.2 in the country of 51.75 million people. The Korean figure followed the Southeast Asian country, with a population of 100 million, Vietnam’s 81 per person consumption, ranked fourth in overall consumption at 8.14 billion units. Thailand ranked third in terms of per-person consumption at 57, followed by Nepal at 54, Indonesia 52, Japan and Malaysia 47 each, Taiwan 40, the Philippines 39, and China, including Hong Kong, at 31. Per capita ramyeon consumption tends to be high in Asian countries with traditional noodle-eating cultures while, in contrast, the figure remains below 10 in many European countries. Veggie ‘burgers’ could face EU labelling ban PLANT-BASED “steaks” and “veggie burgers” may be on the way out in the European Union after the bloc’s parliament recently voted to restrict such labels to meat only, in a win for disgruntled farmers. Many of Europe’s livestock farmers see plant-based foods that mimic meat products as potentially misleading for consumers and a threat to their already troubled sector. Heeding their message, EU lawmakers meeting in Strasbourg backed a proposal to reserve a list of labels including “sausage” and “burger” to foods containing meat. A labelling ban is still some way off: the text needs negotiating with the bloc’s 27 member states before it can become law. But Celine Imart, a cereal farmer and right-wing lawmaker from France who sponsored the plan, cheered the vote as a “victory for farmers”. “A sausage means meat produced by our livestock farmers. Full stop. “This is a vote for recognising their work and for transparency for consumers,” she posted on X. Enjoying strong support from France’s livestock and meat industry body, the ban was approved by a comfortable majority of 355 votes in favour and 247 against. Food retailers in Germany, Europe’s largest market for plant-based alternative products, had spoken out against the text, along with environmentalists and consumer advocates. Irina Popescu, food policy officer at the pan-European consumer body BEUC called the outcome “disappointing”. “Our data shows that almost 70% of European consumers understand these names as long as products are clearly labelled vegan or vegetarian,” she said in a statement. EU consumption of plant-based alternatives to meat products has grown five-fold since 2011, according to BEUC data, fuelled by concerns over animal welfare and greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farms as well as health arguments. It is not the first time veggie burgers have found themselves in the crosshairs of European lawmakers, with a similar proposal for a ban rejected in 2020. – AFP Plant-based foods often mimic meat products.

Ramsay is an executive producer of the eight-part Apple TV+ series. – PIC FROM INSTAGRAM @GORDONGRAM Ramyeon consumption highest in Vietnam, followed by South Korea

In recent years, South Korea’s ramyeon consumption has steadily risen from 3.79 billion units in 2021 to 3.95 billion in 2022 and 4.04 billion in 2023. Last year, global ramyeon consumption climbed 2.4% on-year to 123.07 billion units with China, including Hong Kong, topping the list with 43.8 billion units, more than 10 times South Korea’s volume. Ramyeon consumption in Europe remains low, but demand is growing, helped by the global popularity of K-pop and K-food. Nongshim Co has released Shin Ramyun products featuring characters from the global hit animated movie KPop Demon Hunters . Samyang Foods Co, the maker of the world-famous Buldak spicy ramyeon , is also seeing rising demand for its products in overseas markets. From January to September, South Korea’s ramyeon exports jumped 24.7% on-year to 1.6 trillion won (RM4.8 billion), according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. – Bernama-Yonhap

Malaysia ranks 47th in per-person ramyeon consumption. – PICS FROM 123RF