Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted’ On Nat Geo, Where The Intense Chef Goes To Extremes To Study Native Cuisines

It’s been pretty hard to avoid Gordon Ramsay on our televisions over the past 15 years (or the past 20-plus if you’re from the UK), and for the most part, the image of him has been the same: volcanic temper, lobbing f-bombs at will, getting in the faces of the people he’s trying to judge or help. But UK audiences have seen some of the more curious, humble side of Ramsay on the shows he’s made on that side of the pond, and that Ramsay is on display on the new Nat Geo show Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted. Read on for more…

GORDON RAMSAY: UNCHARTED: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: In a bit of a preview of what we’re to see in this episode, Gordon Ramsay is in the Andes in Peru, specifically the Sacred Valley, and he’s being told that a cactus growing on the precipice of a cliff is what he needs to pick to get to the delicacy he’s looking for. Ramsay rubs his face in exasperation.

The Gist: You know Gordon Ramsay from his shows that have aired in the UK and the States: The MasterChef franchise, Kitchen Nightmares, Hell’s Kitchen, etc. One of things you may or may not notice when you see Ramsay in his chef’s whites that the dude is in hella good shape. But in this new docuseries, the former triathlete is challenged by rough terrain and the resourcefulness of how native populations in the world’s remotest regions feed themselves.

The idea is that one of Ramsay’s chef friends, native to the area he’s in, gives him a week to come up with a menu for a cook-off, and then Ramsay sets off around the region for inspiration. In the Sacred Valley, for instance, a farming family invites him to dinner of guinea pig made in a broth enhanced by an herb that they pick from the rocky shores of a fast-moving creek. In another segment, he cuts down that cactus mentioned above to get the worms out of the inside. In another, he goes fishing on kayaks made from plastic bottles and other buoyant trash.

At the end of the week, he’s put to the test, cooking against the native chef in conditions he’s never faced, like an open fire pit. There’s no real winner or loser, but Ramsay seems to relish in both the physical challenge of exploring how the natives get food and the mental challenge in creating a menu the people he’s met along the way will enjoy.

Our Take: For many US viewers, the Ramsay on Uncharted may not be a familiar one. Yes, he still curses up a storm. But he’s also polite, respectful of the people who have invited him into their homes or farms, and takes the challenge of making a menu with centuries-old recipes and techniques seriously.

It’s more along the lines of the Ramsay that is seen on his British shows, like the UK version of Kitchen Nightmares that you may have caught on BBC America; instead of screaming matches, Ramsay shows just how intense and thoughtful he is.

Don’t get us wrong, though; he’s not doing an impression of the late Anthony Bourdain. While Uncharted does a fine job of showing just how beautiful — and dangerous — the Sacred Valley is, Ramsay and the show don’t try to get to the heart and soul of the people there or talk about issues that face them in modern times. He really doesn’t even go into the idea that food brings people together and that a meal is as much about the company you’re with as it is about the food.

No, this is mostly about the food, the terrain, and the methods the people of the region use, and how Ramsay works in these environment. The joy of the show isn’t just the scenery or glimpse into other cultures, though; it’s also seeing Ramsay humbled by, say, being in a village that’s at 10,000 feet of elevation and gasping for air when he exerts himself (while the natives that are with him chuckle), or being confounded by something that’s farmed from a cliff face or something equally dangerous. Even the wisecracks he makes in his voice overs don’t paper over the fact that it’s fun watching Ramsay flail around and admit he’s a bit in over his head.

Parting Shot: After the farmers who are the people eating the food from the cook-off approve of Ramsay’s dishes, he says in voice over “The food here kicks the ass of any restaurant.”

Sleeper Star: The scenery of the Sacred Valley, and the potato farmer who has cross-pollinated his crops to yield potatoes that are blue, bright orange, and beet red, the better to shield the flesh from the intense UV rays at high altitudes.

Most Pilot-y Line: Ramsay’s voice overs are corny, but when he’s grinding hard potatoes with a rock at the home of Andean farmers, a method the Incas used, he said, “This reminds me of a Fred Flintstone outdoor kitchen.” Thank goodness the farmers don’t speak English, or likely have ever seen The Flintstones, right?

Our Call: STREAM IT. Ramsay shows a more humble side in Uncharted, but the show is more about adventure and food than the people he’s visiting. And that’s OK. Just don’t expect it to go any deeper.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Stream Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted on Nat Geo