The Upscale Oil Both Guy Fieri And Gordon Ramsay Think Is Overused

Objectively speaking, Guy Fieri and Gordon Ramsay have a lot in common: They're both chefs with long, lucrative careers as TV personalities, and they're both absolute fountains of memes. But the two of them might as well be complete opposites in bearing. Ramsay's persona is that of a surly, bellowing taskmaster, a Michelin-starred martinet who treats the kitchen like an active war zone.

(It's an attitude he inherited from his mentors, including Joël Robuchon, the in history.) Fieri, meanwhile, is the blinged-out, spiky-haired Mayor of Flavortown, a man whose bombastic demeanor and sartorial choices keep the good times rolling despite the occasional . So when these two agree on something, like their mutual distaste for the misuse of truffle oil, it's worth a listen.



Ramsay, as usual, did not mince his words when a "MasterChef" contestant used white truffle oil in the first episode of Season Two, describing it as "one of the most pungent, ridiculous ingredients ever known to [a] chef." Fieri was somewhat more diplomatic, but he still made his opinion known to EatingWell. "Just because you have a bottle of it doesn't mean you need to use all of it," he said.

"It's kind of like free perfume at the Macy's counter. Don't put it all on!" Fieri and Ramsay dislike (artificial) truffle oil for a reason It should be noted that Ramsay's quarrel is not with truffle oil in and of itself; indeed, he once referred to natural truffle oil as "a chef's dream." His problem is with the overpowering, .

, are beloved by foodies, and truffle oil is a common way to approximate luxury. Even the good stuff is overwhelmingly strong, but those who use artificial truffle oil have a bad habit of pouring it on all willy-nilly. "They pour it, and it comes out in abundance," Ramsay once groused.

"This thing needs to be let out in tiny, tiny, little [amounts]." Fieri concurred, saying, "Truffle oil is so amazing to work with, but unfortunately, if you don't use it judiciously, it'll get away from you." As tempting as those truffle fries might seem, it's worth remembering that the oil almost certainly contains no truffle; best case scenario, they're infused with a few cast-offs.

As with , if you want the genuine article, you're going to have to pay handsomely — which you may or may not be able to afford. But hey, maybe if you ask Ramsay and Fieri, they can lend you some. Recommended.