Ingredients award-winning chefs would never use

By William On Apr 22, 2023

James Martin recently caused a stir by claiming that a ‘hideous’ product should be completely banned from the kitchen.

And he’s not the only celebrity chef to launch a scathing attack on ingredients that are likely in your fridge or cupboard.

The much-loved Julia Child, who wrote The Joy of Cooking, said there’s a certain spice she’d never add to a dish and it should be tossed on the floor.

Meanwhile, there is a certain oil that Gordon Ramsay would like to see because people never use it in the right amounts.

Here, FEMAIL reveals the ingredients you should also banish from your cupboards if you want to follow the culinary steps of these famous chefs.

JAMES MARTIN: MARGARINE

TV chef James Martin called for a ban on cooking margarine ingredients, saying it’s ‘awful’

The former Saturday Kitchen chef, 50, said margarine is horrible and tastes like plastic. (stock photo)

In a recent interview with the The Sunday Post.

The Saturday Kitchen star who wrote a book about butter in 2021 explained how he grew up with “full fat milk, butter and cream” in the house at all times.

As such, the chef said margarine is not an acceptable substitute for a stick of butter and advocated that supermarkets stop selling it altogether.

He hissed, “Margarine should be banned. It’s horrible, horrible stuff, it’s two elements away from plastic, it’s horrible stuff.’

While butter is made from cream or milk, margarine uses a mixture of oils without saturated fats.

The chef advised people who want to live a healthier life to take a good look at this the ‘hidden salt and fat’ in ready-to-eat foods instead of swapping butter for margarine.

What do these award-winning chefs have to say?

Judy Joo, founder of Seoul Bird in London and Las Vegas: Pre-chopped garlic or ginger.

‘I avoid cooking with pre-chopped garlic or ginger. Even though it seems easier, it just doesn’t compare to the real thing and the taste is below par.

“You lose a lot of the natural goodness, and they’re usually loaded with additives and artificial preservatives.”

Aktar Islam, Chief Patron of Opheem in Birmingham: Ready-to-use barbecue sauce

“I love BBQ sauce as a meat marinade or condiment, but the pre-made sauce is way too sweet and usually masks the flavor of whatever I pair it with.” I prefer to make it myself because it is so simple to do.

“I use ketchup as a base, apples, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, garlic, smoked paprika, chili, muscovado sugar and pomegranate molasses. Super easy to make and so much tastier.

Tommy Heaney, founder of Heaneys in Cardiff: Canned vegetables

‘I can’t stand canned vegetables. I like to say it tastes like Nan’s food, but luckily my grandma was a good cook! The only canned vegetable you can find in my cupboard is sweet corn.

‘We’re lucky to have great vegetables growing in the UK, there’s just no reason to buy canned vegetables. If you must buy veggies that last, ditch the canned stuff and get the frozen peas.”

He added, “It’s the ready-to-eat food, it’s the packaged food, the hidden salt, the hidden fat.

That’s the problem in this country. It’s not the butter in a butter block or butter you put on your toast. It’s the fact that there aren’t as many people cooking in the UK as there are in France, Italy or Spain.’

The chef previously advised people not to use semi-skimmed milk when he revealed the recipe for his giant Yorkshire pudding during a TV cooking segment.

In This Morning last December, the chef said it would be a shame not to use whole milk.

‘You get all the goodness out of milk [when it’s semi-skimmed],” he said, adding that it was a waste of time to use the lighter product.

GORDON RAMSAY: TRUFFLE OIL

Gordon Ramsay has spoken out about his aversion to truffle oil, which he said people don’t dose properly

Kitchen nightmare chef said truffle oil is ‘the worst thing’ and people shouldn’t use it (stock image)

The British chef does not mince words and is very vocal about his disdain for white truffle oil.

On a 2011 episode of US MasterChef, he called the spice “one of the sharpest, most ridiculous ingredients chefs have ever known,” and made one contestant swear she would never use the product again.

Ramsay hasn’t banned truffle oil from his restaurant, but he still thinks it’s “the worst thing,” as he shared PopSugar in 2021.

His enmity with the oil stems from the fact that most people don’t know how to use it in the right amounts.

He said of the trendy spice, “When [people] use it, they use the same f***ing top [as any other oil]. So they pour it in and it comes out in abundance. This thing needs to be let out in small, small, small [amounts].’

RACHAEL RAY: COOKED SALMON, MAYO AND DRIED BASIL

Food Network star Rachael Ray admitted that she hates cooked salmon and doesn’t use dried basil

Rachael has not specified why she bans dried basil from her kitchen, but it could be related to the taste or consistency (stock photo)

There are a few ingredients that Rachael Ray has spoken out against over time.

The New York chef said she “detested” cooked salmon.

‘I can not stand it. I’m sorry, I know it’s very popular,” she said on the 2020 Rachael Ray show.

She also said on her website that she would never use dried basil in her concoctions, even though she didn’t explain why.

It may be due to the difference in taste and texture between fresh basil and the dried version.

And while she adds it to dishes and will eat it occasionally, the Food Network star also revealed she was afraid of mayonnaise and will avoid it when she can.

“We didn’t grow up with mayonnaise in my house,” Rach explained on her show. “We just didn’t have it around. It’s weird to me.’

JULIA CHILD: CORIANDER

The late Julia Child was known for her aversion to coriander and banned it from her kitchen and restaurants

The celebrity chef said the best way to handle coriander was to “throw it on the floor” (stock photo)

The colorful chef brought French cuisine to American dishes, but if there’s one ingredient she’s left out of all of her recipes, it’s cilantro.

She hated the spice so much that they banned it from her kitchen at home and in her restaurants, and forbade her cooking staff to use it in their recipes.

Child famously said she had the perfect solution for dealing with cilantro, and it was, “Unwrap it and throw it on the floor.”

That may be because she was part of the 10 percent for whom the ingredient tastes like soap.

These people have a variation in a group of olfactory receptor genes that allows them to strongly perceive the soapy-flavored aldehydes in coriander leaves.

INA GARTEN: PREGRATED PARMESAN CHEESE

Ina Garten is a champion of store-bought food, but she said grated Parmesan is the one thing she’ll never buy (pictured in 2009)

Ina hasn’t revealed why she banned the pre-grated ingredient, but that could be because pre-grated Parmesan isn’t as fresh as the Italian cheese’s black (stock photo)

As Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten has published several cookbooks about her favorite foods and easy recipes to make at home.

But there’s one ingredient the chef recommends not skimping on, and that’s Parmesan cheese.

The cookbook author told Time magazine that the pre-shredded piece of dairy is the one ingredient she wouldn’t buy.

However, she hasn’t revealed why she would abstain, though it may have to do with the fact that cheese’s flavor is believed to change when it’s kept grated, and it also spoils more quickly.

So grating your Parmesan cheese while you’re at it is the best way to keep it fresh and tasty.