The Controversial Opinion Gordon Ramsay Has About Greek Food

We may be going out on a limb to say no country ever went to a real war with another over the quality of their food, but celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay certainly started a social media one when he decided to share his thoughts on which cuisine was superior, Italian or Greek.

In the TV show "Gordon, Gino and Fred Go Greek," which aired this week in the UK, Ramsay decided to take the culinary bull by the horns when he weighed in on the friendly Mediterranean food rivalry between Greece and Italy — by throwing his lot in with the Greeks. "Honestly? I think Greek cuisine is better than Italian cuisine," Ramsay said to his companions, fellow chef Gino D'Acampo and maître d' Fred Siriex, as the three enjoyed a glass of wine aboard a luxury cruiser (via YouTube). 

"No, you're not serious!" a seething D'Acampo responded.

Ramsay didn't offer up his opinion without backing it up. He prefaced his bombshell by saying Greek food doesn't get the same love as French or Italian cuisine. His view was supported by their travel companion, Fred Siriex, who noted that Greece is "one place in the world where people live up to 90, 100 years, and that's because of the food and the climate ..." 

D'Amato was having none of it. "The Italian diet is one of the most famous diets in the world," he retorted. "People [there] are living many, many years" (via Greek City Times).

This isn't the first time celebrity chefs have come to verbal blows over which Mediterranean country has the best food. Over in Australia, chefs Matt Preston and George Calombaris have waded into the same blue waters to present their arguments over which cuisine reigned supreme. Preston named some of our favorite comfort foods — from lasagna, to pizza, to risotto — as proof that Italian cooking was superior, while Calombaris offered up feta, kebabs, and moussaka as examples of the greatness of Greek food (via Taste).

But Calombaris and Ramsay may be in the minority on this one. According to polls from CNN Travel and Ranker, diners chose Italian food as their favorite. That's not to say Greek food doesn't rank, because the cuisine appears in both listings' top 10 — at number 7 on CNN Travel's list, and number 3 on Ranker. 

One social media user proposes this as the reason why: "Italian cuisine is more recognizable, marketed as a higher-end cuisine, posh, a meal to impress etc. ... Greek cuisine served in restaurants in the UK or abroad (not in Greece) is very limited and often not cooked well. Greek cuisine is best in Greece from mums and grandmas."