Aureon

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,819
Definitely. Talent conquers all.
Funny you'd say that.
High-level chefs, in this day and age, actually cook very little.
They do set up the menu, but their day-to-day is far more about finding ingredients than cooking

So, no. You don't serve third-tier ingredients in a starred restaurant, full stop.
 

Burai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,106
Hahaha, no.

Fast food restaurants don't use ingredients. Everything is shipped in, already prepared and seasoned. They just cook/heat it through and assemble it on site.
 

Lowrys

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,723
London
It would taste better but there's a ceiling to how good something can be with shit-tier ingredients. Whereas when you use the best ingredients, the ceiling is the chef's skill.
 

bananab

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,898
He would have to be a wizard to somehow reverse engineer giant tubs of premade glop from Sisco
 

vypek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,689
Probably better but not something super amazing. I'm pretty sure this is even similar to a challenge Gordon has on some of his shows when chefs are competing
 

DopeToast

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,295
If he had the time to do it, I bet he could make something pretty good. I'm sure you could make a decent burger with what McDonald's has in the kitchen, if it's as fresh and made-to-order as possible.
 

Mona

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
26,151
Say Gordon Ramsey walks into a shitty fastfood restaurant like Pizza Hut

giphy.gif
 

bionic77

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,922
No the quality of the ingredients is garbage.

It is not just technique. These high end restaurants spend a lot of time in procuring the best and most fresh ingredients.

I am sure Gordon could make some awesome food with the crap in cans they have at pizza hut, but he would never serve it in one of his high end restaurants. Maybe Hells Kitchen but I doubt even that.
 

LegendofJoe

Member
Oct 28, 2017
12,123
Arkansas, USA
I have a friend who is a professional chef and restaurant owner. He goes to great lengths to grow/raise his own fresh ingredients. It's a critical part of his business.

So while I am confident he could make some great dishes with fast food ingredients, they still wouldn't compare to what he serves at his restaurant. The same is undoubtedly true of Gordon Ramsey.
 
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SeeingeyeDug

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,018
You would have to make a stipulation that the resulting product would cost exactly the same amount as it did before for the restaurant.
 
Oct 27, 2017
2,506
Henderson, NV
Hahaha, no.

Fast food restaurants don't use ingredients. Everything is shipped in, already prepared and seasoned. They just cook/heat it through and assemble it on site.
Definitely this. I'm actually more surprised by how few people here have worked fast food growing up. Everything comes in frozen and pre-mixed. Unless your fast food place has a fix-ins bar, there's NOTHING any chef can do. This excludes Fast food spots with more options like The Habit or Fish Grill. I imagine that they could do magic there.
 

steejee

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,894
I mean that's basically the theme of Chopped.

That being said there's a limit - as others have noted a of restaurants (basically all fast food, most fast casual) send locations pre-prepped ingredients. There might be enough to work with though, especially since you can do a lot with just chicken plus salad ingredients.
 

Dan Thunder

Member
Nov 2, 2017
14,263
I'd think so depending on the chain as a Michelin star is based on a lot of factors not just food, and even a starred restaurant will have dishes that aren't as good as others.

Personally I don't agree with the 'all fast food equates to garbage ingredients' theory. Pizza Hut will have access to a huge range of proteins, veg and carbohydrates that will be as good as any number of non-fast food establishments that a highly trained chef could easily make into something more high-end.

Yes there will be some establishments where it's everything arrives frozen and is basically reheated but there'll also be ones that use a lot of fresh produce, even if pre-packed.
 

SapientWolf

Member
Nov 6, 2017
6,565
Great food has spices that a fast food restaurant won't have. But I bet they could make massive improvements with whatever they have on hand. They couldn't call themselves chefs if they couldn't.

For example, you could improve the fries a hundredfold just by using oil that has a taste. Fast food fries have been garbage for over a decade. I still remember the beef tallow days.
 

Aldi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,636
United Kingdom
There was a series on british TV a long time ago called 'Take on the takeaway' where michilin star chefs would take on Fast food places.

The Rules were:

They could not spend as much on the ingredients as the meal from the take out
The Meal had to be cooked and prepared in the same time it took to be delivered
The judge would then be blind folded and do a blind taste test and decide the winner.

Even with all the restrictions the chef would often win.
 

HammerOfThor

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,867
Using the food on hand? No. Regardless of how "fresh" they say their stuff is, everything those places have are made to require minimal preparation by the staff, its really just heat, build, serve.
 

Burai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,106
I'd think so depending on the chain as a Michelin star is based on a lot of factors not just food, and even a starred restaurant will have dishes that aren't as good as others.

Personally I don't agree with the 'all fast food equates to garbage ingredients' theory. Pizza Hut will have access to a huge range of proteins, veg and carbohydrates that will be as good as any number of non-fast food establishments that a highly trained chef could easily make into something more high-end.

Yes there will be some establishments where it's everything arrives frozen and is basically reheated but there'll also be ones that use a lot of fresh produce, even if pre-packed.

I've friends that have worked Pizza Hut. Let me assure you that they don't.

Definitely this. I'm actually more surprised by how few people here have worked fast food growing up. Everything comes in frozen and pre-mixed. Unless your fast food place has a fix-ins bar, there's NOTHING any chef can do. This excludes Fast food spots with more options like The Habit or Fish Grill. I imagine that they could do magic there.

You don't even need to have worked there. Pizza Hut can deliver pizzas in under an hour on a Saturday night. They aren't doing that with fresh ingredients.
 

Doggg

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Nov 17, 2017
14,653
A great chef might be able to make marginal improvements, but make something great? Probably not. Can't polish a turd.
 

SPRidley

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,306
McDonalds has something similar in Spain since some years ago. They usually invite a famous chefs every 3 or 6 months to design a burger (or a showdown were 2 famous chefs are invited to create 2 burgers and see which one sells better at the end of the run). Supposedly they use the same ingridients (plus the ones the chef adds for the design that are not usually present in normal mcdonalds food) but who knows how much of that is true (the real chef making the burger design with better quality ingredients, and mcdonalds then makes them with lower quality ingredients of the same type). Even then, they are usally the most expensive stuff in the menu, 9-10 euros burger alone with no menu.
landing_FINpromocion_generica_v3.jpg
 

Parthenios

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
13,671
Fast food restaurants already excel at taking their selection of processed ingredients and reconfigerating them into as many arrangements as possible. I don't think you can make anything transcendentally better without better (and fresher) ingredients.
Right--what combination of ingredients at Taco Bell isn't already on the menu?
 

nullref

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,089
Definitely this. I'm actually more surprised by how few people here have worked fast food growing up. Everything comes in frozen and pre-mixed. Unless your fast food place has a fix-ins bar, there's NOTHING any chef can do. This excludes Fast food spots with more options like The Habit or Fish Grill. I imagine that they could do magic there.

On second thought, I think you're right. My first instinct gave way too much credit to this hypothetical kitchen in terms of basic supplies on hand.
 
OP
OP
JackSwift

JackSwift

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,304
Now it's got me wondering... which fast food restaurant would offer the best chances given their ingredients on hand?
 

Goldenroad

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Nov 2, 2017
9,475
There is literally no way to make McDonalds fries taste bad (other than by letting them get cold), so yes, I'm sure Gordon Ramsey is able to fry up an order of McDonalds friess. If someone with no knowledge of cooking can do it, I'm pretty sure a great chef can figure it out too.
 

FantaSoda

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,992
There aren't enough actual ingredients at fast food restaurants. Really what he would have to work with are components that are so premade he really wouldn't have the ability to alter it very much.

Back in the day there were two types of pizzas at pizza hut that had dough that wasn't already premade: thin crust and the Big New Yorker. Each day a doughmaster would come in and make the dough in these big mixers they have in the back. However, there isn't a lot of agency for the doughmaster, you just add the flour mix (which comes to you premixed in this big bag) to the water (I can't remember if we added oil, it's been too long) and then it mixes in these vats and then it is proofed.

For the pan style and hand tossed pizzas, they come as frozen discs of dough. For the pan pizzas, each night one of the pizza hut people squirt a shitload of oil in a cast iron deep dish and then toss one of those frozen dough discs in there. Hand tossed pizzas get cooked on different pans, so you spray the pans down with cooking spray. These pizza discs thaw and rise overnight (the pan pizzas thaw and soak up all that oil).

The sauce is premade, the cheese is premade. I mean you would have the actual pizza toppings but you couldn't season them or anything. I'm trying to remember how the ingredients like bell peppers and onion work. I want to say that they came in precut. I certainly don't remember ever cutting up vegetables at my time there.

There isn't any garlic or even like seasonings. Everything is premade which is why a pizza hut pizza in New York tastes exactly like one in California.
 

Sou Da

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
16,738
Maybe fast casual places like Friday's, Chili's, etc but places Taco Bell? Nah.
 

Zombine

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,231
I mean you could definitely improve things like presentation and care put into the food.
 

C.Mongler

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
3,901
Washington, DC
Better than what Pizza Hut normally serves? Probably. Something that would be served at a Michelin restaurant? Highly doubt that.

A large part of fine-dining is just cooking with quality ingredients. Fast-food places don't use quality ingredients; they use pre-cut, pre-cooked, pre-seasoned, easy and quick to assemble ingredients.
 

bye

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
8,437
Phoenix, AZ
No the quality of the ingredients is garbage.

It is not just technique. These high end restaurants spend a lot of time in procuring the best and most fresh ingredients.

I am sure Gordon could make some awesome food with the crap in cans they have at pizza hut, but he would never serve it in one of his high end restaurants. Maybe Hells Kitchen but I doubt even that.

I'd even say quality of ingredients is equally, if not more important, than talent/technique.

you don't need to do hardly anything to make waygu beef taste good, for example, including even cooking it. making something gourmet out of fast food ingredients would require tons of ingenuity and pure magic.
 

Powdered Egg

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
17,070
You don't need these wack ass celeb chefs to improve fast-food. Any lay person can walk in and improve, it's all about the spices, oils, sauces.

They have soda too, I've made some fantastic meat dishes where I've boiled the meat in soda before cooking on the grill.
 
Oct 27, 2017
5,024
Fast food restaurants already excel at taking their selection of processed ingredients and reconfigerating them into as many arrangements as possible. I don't think you can make anything transcendentally better without better (and fresher) ingredients.

I disagree. Using ingredients bought at a certain price, a pizza chain may make the best traditional pepperoni pizza that doesn't do anything experimental.

A chef could try making a lot of different things with those same ingredients and use hand techniques that would take too much time to be cost effective for a busy pizza chain. Simple ideas even my non-chefy brain can think of are sandwiches and a sort of beef wellington but they essentially have the basic ingredients to make a whole lot of dishes.

I think the trickiest scenario is actually if it was a burger chain because then you run into more restrictions on the cookware available. Every piece of equipment is designed to batch produce fries and burgers of a certain consistency so that could limit which techniques are available.
 

mikhailguy

Banned
Jun 20, 2019
1,967
I'm sure anyone who's ever worked at a fast food restaurant has already made off menu stuff that are better than anything on said menu. I know I have made some pretty tasty burgers with blue cheese, avocado, mushrooms..etc in the past
 

Caddywompus

Member
Mar 10, 2018
946
If you've ever seen shows like Cutthroat Kitchen or Cooks versus Cons it's truly amazing what a skilled chef in the kitchen can pull off with ridiculous ingredients.
 

PBalfredo

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,518
I disagree. Using ingredients bought at a certain price, a pizza chain may make the best traditional pepperoni pizza that doesn't do anything experimental.

A chef could try making a lot of different things with those same ingredients and use hand techniques that would take too much time to be cost effective for a busy pizza chain. Simple ideas even my non-chefy brain can think of are sandwiches and a sort of beef wellington but they essentially have the basic ingredients to make a whole lot of dishes.

I think the trickiest scenario is actually if it was a burger chain because then you run into more restrictions on the cookware available. Every piece of equipment is designed to batch produce fries and burgers of a certain consistency so that could limit which techniques are available.
Pretty much all of those avenues are already being exploited by fast food chains. Dominos, for example already makes sandwiches and their stuffed cheesy bread isn't far off from what you're proposing, just with a much smaller ratio of meat.

20080820-dominos-sandwiches.jpg


20111214-chain-reaction-dominos-cheesy-bread-primary.jpg


dominos_bacon_jalapeno_stuffed_cheesy_bread_04.JPG


But the breading still going to taste like their prepared pizza dough because that's what it is. Just as those sandwiches are just assorted pizza toppings and cheese on buns. They're all just the same food in different forms.
 

nullref

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,089
If you've ever seen shows like Cutthroat Kitchen or Cooks versus Cons it's truly amazing what a skilled chef in the kitchen can pull off with ridiculous ingredients.

I've never been a big fan of these shows, because despite the skills of the cooks, the end results generally look (to me) pretty compromised (at best) by the ingredients and timeframe. Sort of sad rather than inspiring.
 

KingM

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,517
McDonalds has butter. If you ever order an actual muffin, they always give you butter with it. I just don't know what lemon/citrus you'd use in a Hollandaise.
They should have lemon for their tea.

As for the topic, they'd be able to make something good. Perhaps not started, but even for that there's a wide range of what they make. Something like a worse quality version the sandwiches and burgers that pop up in various places would be doable at a more well stocked chain.