Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver have taken eel off menus in their restaurants after receiving criticism from conservationists.

The seafood was served at Ramsay’s London restaurant Maze as well as La Veranda in Versailles, France, where he is a consultant. Oliver sold European eel at his London restaurant, Fifteen.

Ironically, both chefs have also recently appeared on the UK television series, “Big Fish Fight,” about sustainable fishing.

The eel is considered to be a critically endangered species, which has suffered a 95%-99% decline from its pre-1980 levels.

Overfishing has been traditionally recognized as the major contributor to their decline, but a study conducted by researchers at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands suggested PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, a common chemical pollutant, could be stopping their reproduction as well. Mother eels could transport PCBs to their young through the eggs and when they did, the young eels died quickly.

Ramsay, has angered conservationists in the past when he suggested people eat skate as an alternative to cod, even though they too are on the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) “do not eat” list and also classified as “critically endangered.”

Photo: Dave Pullig/Creative Commons

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Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay almost found himself burning in Hell’s Kitchen–literally.

The chef was visiting Costa Rica as part of a segment on UK Channel 4′s “Big Fish Fight” series to uncover the dark side of illicit shark fin trading when he was doused with gasoline by people involved with the industry.

Ramsay said of his potentially near-death experience:

“It is a multibillion dollar industry, completely unregulated. We traced some of the biggest culprits to Costa Rica. The day before we got there, a Taiwanese crew landed a haul of hammerhead sharks – police searched the boat and found bails of cocaine.”

“These gangs operate from places that are like forts, with barbed-wire perimeters and gun towers.”

“At one, I managed to shake off the people who were keeping us away, ran up some stairs to a rooftop and looked down to see thousands and thousands of fins, drying on rooftops as far as the eye could see.”
“When I got back downstairs they tipped a barrel of petrol over me. Then these cars with blacked out windows suddenly appeared from nowhere, trying to block us in. We dived into the car and peeled off.”

The Shark Conservation Act awaits President Obama on his desk. Passed by Congress in December, it prevents vessels from returning to U.S. coasts from sea with only fins and no sharks and non-fishing vessels to transport fins without sharks.

Shark finning is meant to satisfy the demand for shark fin soup in some places and results in the shark’s fins being cut off while it is still alive. Unable to swim, the shark will die, either by sinking or being eaten alive by other fish.

Photo: Alan Warren/Creative Commons

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Prashad, an Indian based vegetarian restaurant in the UK, has had to increase its staff since becoming a finalist on Gordon Ramsay‘s television show, “Ramsay’s Best Restaurant.”

The show, on Britain’s Channel 4, pits restaurants against each other in meal competition, narrowing the champions down to semi-finalist and then finalists. Prashad finished as the runner-up in a broadcast last September.

“Appearing on Ramsay’s Best Restaurant has enabled us to create these opportunities and we are very grateful for that,” said restaurant owner Bobby Patel, who’s had to hire three new waiters, three new kitchen staff and is currently recruiting more.

Prashad, located at 86 Horton Grange Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, has been featuring vegetarian deli and other menu items since 1986. Having both dine-in and take-out and delivery menus, Prashad features vegan, vegetarian, wheat-free and onion and garlic free dishes.

Besides the various curries and breads, we’d love to order the Hara Bara Burger with Massala Chips–a spicy mashed pea and cauliflower pate with equally spicy chips.

Another feature on the menu looks especially appetizing, but it has nothing to do with the food. Prashad list several famous vegetarians under the beverage section.

The goal behind Ramsay’s Best Restaurant is to discover restaurants that have not received the fame they deserve. Because of this, potential competitors must be independently owned and operated–absolutely no major chains.

If you know of a good British veg-friendly restaurant that could use some well-deserved attention, nominate it for Ramsay’s Best.

Photo: PR Photos

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Singapore Airlines has released a cookbook called Above & Beyond, A Collection of Recipes from the Singapore Airlines Culinary Panel. The panel is made up of some of the world’s top chefs, including Gordon Ramsay, who’ve provided expertise to the chefs at Singapore Airlines.

Fox took the cookbook’s debut as an opportunity to ask frequent fliers for their recommendations on meals by airline.

An omnivore chose Continental Airlines Indian vegetarian meal, saying the paneer curry and mixed vegetable dish beat the rubbery meat menu by thousands of altitudes. “The consistency of the paneer was true to what paneer’s consistency should be, and the curry and mixed vegetable dish had just enough spice and flavor.”

Delta fliers may want to avoid the salad, which was described as “typically wilted greens with a cup of greasy vinaigrette dressing. The fruit is not good. For some reason it always tastes like it’s carbonated, it’s the strangest thing.”

Those who have ordered vegan on a British airline may have inadvertently been stereoptyped as terrorist, though there was nothing more terrorizing than the non-vegetarian food available. One British Airways flier reported the two sandwich choices were either ham and cheese or cucumber with soft cheese.

Happy Cow has an extensive list of major airline carriers which routinely provide vegetarian and vegan options.

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Gordon Ramsay joked he would put his kid on a fence and electrocute him if he went vegetarian. Now another celebrity chef with a taste for both fine food and foul mouth has shared how he would react if his daughter went meatless.

Anthony Bourdain told the Miami New Times he will cope with the situation by making her smell pork every day. Lovely.

“I’ll say, “It’s a phase! It’s a phase!” I will live with it. I will love my daughter. But I will cook bacon around her every day.”

Bourdain had better get ready to grab the faux ham instead, because according to the LA Times, his daughter is a good candidate for going veg 10 years from now.

A 2009 poll by the Vegetarian Resource Group found that  11% of girls ages 13 to 15 considered themselves vegetarian, with the typical vegetarian teen being a non-black female.

Vegetarian teens are more likely to eat more fruits and vegetables and less saturated fat than their meat eating peers, according to a University of Minnesota Study, as 26% eat the recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables, compared to 14% or meat eating teens.

Bourdain is already indoctrinating his daughter with a hate for fast food, factory farmed meat like that served at McDonald’s, so it’s not unthinkable to imagine this seemingly vegetarian hating chef to support her in the future.

Photo: PR Photos

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Gordon Ramsay will prepare a vegetarian dinner for the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Tun Razak, and others visiting the Buddhist Maha Vihara temple in Kuala Lumpur for the Wesak Day celebration that celebrates, birth, life, enlightenment, and the passing of a great spiritual leader, Gautama Buddha.

According to The Star,  the chef’s production crew found out about the celebration through a food blogger who had attended a Sri Lankan Fiesta in March.

“Ramsay’s production crew read about it and asked her what other interesting events would be taking place and we told her about the upcoming Wesak Day and soon everything fell into place,” said Leslie Tilak, Buddhist Maha Vihara president.

Ramsay has been spending much time at the temple, learning the cuisine from local chefs, but the dish he will actually prepare for the celebration on the 21st of May is still unknown.

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Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry

The top 10 hottest male chefs have been profiled at Black Voices, and vegan chef Bryant Terry is hotter than a dish of haberno and serrano peppers drizzled with Tabasco sauce.

The food activist and author of Vegan Soul Kitchen takes traditional southern recipes like butter milk biscuits, removes the dairy, supplements pork and other meats with plant based protein like seitan and rounds it off with known southern vegetable players like seasoned greens.

“Based in Northern California, this “eco chef” and cookbook author is dedicated to promoting a “just and sustainable food system.” A friend of the environment and a pro in the kitchen? Perfect.”

Other hot chefs are the list are “Take Home Chef” Curtis Stone, Season 2 “Top Chef” contestant Sam Talbot and the British hottie but the mouth is potty Gordon Ramsay.

You’ll have to scroll down through the interview with “Top Chef Masters” Marcus Samuelsson before you can click through the slideshow.

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Olivia Wilde recently went to a restaurant that did not take good care of the vegetarian customer.

Her experience was so bad, she had to Tweet about it.

And this establishment was one Kitchen Nightmare.

“Went to a depressing vegetarian-hating restaurant with bad wine in WINE country. No excuses. Wish I was Gordon Ramsay and could fix them.”

You tell ‘em Olivia!

What’s the worst vegetarian-hating experience you’ve had in a restaurant?

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