London: British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has his escape to India to thank for bringing back his zest for life.
The ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ star was at the centre of a storm last year over accusations of infidelity and a crumbling business empire.
But the father-of-three revealed he was able to pull through and restore his spirits after 35 days of hopping the subcontinent for his new cookery series Gordon`s Great Escape.
"The first half of 2009 was the most horrific time so it was the perfect time to escape to India and be out of it. I just had to get away. It was me and a rucksack and a month of being on the road going back to what I love – cooking,” a daily quoted him as saying.
"It was humbling. One minute I was all over the newspapers, the next I was on a continent where no one knew who I was. I’d had enough, really. I thought it was a good idea to escape. I’ve been fascinated by Indian cookery since my mum took me for a curry when I was a child. It wasn’t me running away. It was doing something that excited me," he added.
The 43-year-old treaded the slums of Mumbai that transported him back to his own impoverished childhood.
He continued: "There’s an amazing spirit that reminded me of my childhood. They use broken bits of cars to play cricket in the streets and you see makeshift gyms made of oil drums.
"But everyone’s so happy. Nobody was looking for sympathy and they were excited about their next meal. It took me back to long summers and getting excited about going home for gammon, fried eggs and chips. You left nothing on your plate.”
The restaurateur hopes to visit the country again with his children, Megan, 11, Jack and Holly, nine, and Tilly, seven, to “show them what real life is about”.
ANI
First Published: Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 12:09
