Rachael Ray got be one of the most trusted celebrities, essentially, because she is nice. It probably doesn't hurt that she is also cute and friendly, but if she wasn't as nice as she is, she wouldn't be as popular. In fact, people really like their celebrities to seem nice and friendly, with only a few exceptions. The number one exception, the scariest celebrity on TV, happens to be a chef as well: Gordon Ramsay. Ramsay is known for yelling, screaming and occasionally reducing people to tears on his TV shows Gordon's Kitchen Nightmares, Hell's Kitchen and the F Word. He not only has a bad-boy attitude on TV, but he defends the fact that it - treating other people as though they are completely incompetent idiots - is his true character and not just an act.

If you're curious as to which other celebs made the British list, they included Anne Robinson (#2, from The Weakest Link), Fanny Cradock (#5, one of the first celebrity chefs), and Simon Cowell (#10, from American Idol).

I have just been flicking through the August issue of Olive and ran across an interesting snippet of info from Gordon Ramsey. He writes a regular column Ramsey's Rant and this month covers the look and presentation of food. As well as being of interest to the dinner party entertainment crowd I also thought the points were of interest to the budding food photographer.

The key to food presentation is to keep it simple and not make the dish appear to have been prodded by 16 different people.

Food Presentation Dos

• keep it clean and simple
• use odd number of ingredients on the plate
• add hot sauces right at the end
• visualise what a dish will look like before arranging it on the plate
• cut things in half if they look too big

Food Preparation Dont's

• use herb garnishes unless they go with the dish
• go for looks rather than flavour
• clutter the plate
• serve the food cold because you spent too long dressing it
• move things around the plate once you have put them down, this will just make a mess

Ramsey also suggests imagining the plate as a clock face. Hot food tends to be served with the meat or fish at 6 o'clock (ie near the base of the dish) with other ingredients at three and nine. For cold food the main ingredient is usually put in the middle with the rest dotted around it. A presentation ring helps for getting some height.

The picture here was submitted to the Slashfood Flickr group by by Posies Place

The UK's Evening Standard newspaper claimed that parts of one of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey's shows were faked. Specifically, they made accusations that the restaurant kitchens pictured on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares were actually normal kitchens, up to code, that were made to look like the "health hazards" that Ramsay said they were. The paper also speculated that Ramsey had resorted to other tricks to make the kitchens he was supposed to be renovating appear to be poorly run.

Ramsey sued, accusing the paper of libel and falsely defaming him. And he won.

With their claims proven to be untrue in a court of law, the Standard has agreed to pay $138,000 to Ramsey in damages and to publish a public apology in the paper.  Ramsey said, "I won't let people write anything they want to about me. Even I have limits and on this occasion the line was crossed."

The Times today lists the top ten 'celebrity chef' restaurants in London and the South East.

1. Royal Hospital Road, 68-69 Royal Hospital Road, London SW3, London, SW3 Chef: Gordon Ramsey [details]
2. The Connaught, London, W1 Chef: Angela Hartnett "one of only a handful of women in the country to hold a Michelin star" [website]
3. Millennium Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London, W1 Chef: Brian Turner "Turner himself is often to be spotted nipping in and out of the kitchen" [website]
4. The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire Chef: Heston Blumenthal [website]
5. Fifteen, 15 Westland Place, London, N1 Chef: Jamie Oliver [website]
6. Locanda Locatelli, 8 Seymour Street, London W1 Chef: Giorgio Locatelli [website]
7. Notting Grill, 123a Clarendon Road, London W11 Chef: Antony Worrall Thompson [website]
8. Rhodes Twenty Four, Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street, London EC2 Chef: Gary Rhodes [details]
9. Lindsay House, 21 Romilly Street, London W1 Chef:Richard Corrigan [details]
10. Smiths of Smithfields, 67-77 Charterhouse Street, London EC1 Chef: John Torode [details]

[Photo Andrew Barrow]

What do you get if you throw Gordon Ramsay into a pot with Royal Doulton China? Yep, a Gordon Ramsay branded set of china and glassware.

They are available in 'chic white' with a sot ripple design with prices starting from £10. Now Royal Doulton has a fine website that lists loads of china and even offers prices to ship to Canada and The United States. What it doesn't have at the moment is any details of this new Ramsay range. Where I did find it listed was at a company called China Etc whose website can, very usefully, show prices in US, Canadian and Australian dollars plus Euros.

Psst... Wanna be on TV? You have to cook though - have to cook VERY well!

If you and your friends are amateur, but top notch foodies, Gordon Ramsay wants to cook with you for an evening. Yep, tiz true! You could spend the day soaking up Gordon’s techniques and skills directly from the man himself and appear on the upcoming second series of Gordon Ramsay’s F-Word on Channel 4. Sorry, that means it is for Brits only. 

The plan is that each week of this second series, Gordon will be featuring a new kitchen brigade who will cook for all of the F-Word guests under his guidance.  If you and your friends think you have what it takes to make it in Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen, this is your chance to prove it!

To apply visit this website - The F-Word.

• Proper Cornish Pasties have been voted Best Stadium Food in a recent survey of 3,000 football fans. An outlet at the Bristol Rovers stadium beat off competition from food stalls at 149 other stadiums.
• Gordon Ramsay is looking at floating his restaurant empire on the London Stock Exchange. Such a move would fund plans to turn his latest maze in Mayfair into a global name.
• Gloucestershire based Wickwar Brewing Company is donating 5p from every pint of its top selling Long John Silver beer to support a Bristol charity dedicated to creating a pirate trail in the city centre. The trail will b based on characters from the swash-buckling adventure Treasure Island.
• The world's most expensive bottle of wine has just been sold for US$90,000 to the Antique Wine Company in the UK
• The humble cup of tea has been voted the top icon of England (others were Stonehenge, Punch and Judy, S.S. Empire Windrush and Holbein's portrait of Henry VIII)
• Pulses are a good source of iron but, according to the Food Standards Agency, need to be eaten with other food such as peppers, dark green vegetables or a drink rich in vitamin C to help the body absorb the iron. Iron from pulses is hard for the body to absorb.