Idiot Sandwich Has Entered The Chat

You don't have to be an avid supporter of Gordon Ramsay or James Corden's fan to be a sucker for memes.

You might ask yourself why a college student would think back on a meme from six years ago and not only write a whole article about it but draw inspiration from it - especially amidst an ongoing pandemic.

Strangely, it was not for the comfort of the soul but rather for the comfort of my wallet and the benefit of my health.

The thing is – I used to hate cooking with a deep, profound passion. Always had, and only until recently – I thought that I still would. And since you cannot do well at something you despise, I was never particularly good at it either.

But then, some time ago, the inexplicable magic of the Youtube algorithm threw me a bone and recommended a sketch from James Corden's late-night talk show from six years ago called the Hell's Kitchen, or, as the Internet has renamed it: The Idiot Sandwich Sketch.

In the infamous sketch that produced endless meme gold, Corden and Ramsay partnered with a former The Talk's Julie Chen to make fun of everything that Ramsay is famous for besides cooking – Excessive yelling, unnecessary (yet absolutely hilarious) British rudeness and throwing ingredients around the kitchen and onto the contestants of the show.

Besides laughing, two other things occur to me at that moment:

Firstly, the pandemic is taking a toll on my health, and secondly, if I don't figure out how to cook, I'm going to go so broke and so nutrition-depleted that no amount of idiot-sandwiching memes are going to pull me back from it.

And what better way to start loving to cook than having Gordon Ramsay shout his lungs out at you? Motivation at its best.

I got prompted and used my studies-related, discounted rate at Prime Video to start browsing when I found the ultimate gem – Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course from 2012.

I sank my teeth into it immediately.

I was ready to start brewing ideas for establishing my own Ratatouille restaurant near the Chesapeake Bay by episode two.

So what have we learned from this, children?

Number one: Duality of life. If there is an upstream fight currently happening in your life, such as "I don't think I will ever let go of this relationship," or, "I don't think I can make myself like Math," or even something as trivial (or essential, depending on the point of view) like "I don't think I can ever learn how to cook";

My advice would be: Let yourself be inspired. There are about a million ways you can go about hating something, and there are equally a million ways you can go about loving it.

Number two: Triviality often hides a deeper meaning. I love that we can use our introspective thinking to dissect art. You'd never think that watching a comedy sketch about Hell's Kitchen would actually produce something as beautiful as a new skill, a newfound passion, or even a new way of saving money.

And finally: Why do I deem this show to be a guilty pleasure? I have two reasons for that as well.

For one: Any program in which Gordon Ramsay is not disgusted by you, merely gently and politely guiding you to become a better cook, should be considered illegal and shameful.

And two: Anyone (by anyone I mean me) who considers Gordon Ramsay's cookery course to be a peak of entertainment in their twenties and during quarantine on top of all that should be ashamed of this information instead of proudly spreading it. I mean, my peers are re-watching The Office religiously while I'm out here trying to figure out what a Ricotta is.

(Since we're discussing The Office – John Krasinski isn't looking half-bad these days, how long has that been going on?)

Stay well, and stay safe out there.