Gordon Ramsay on shark fins - General

[video=youtube;r65FgUYdBOc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r65FgUYdBOc&feature=g-vrec&context=G2ea9bc7RVAAAAAAAACw[/video] [B]Skip to 3:57[/B] Gordon Ramsay tries the most expensive soup in the world, Shark fin soup. This is fucked up :P

It's just absolutely disgusting and useless. When you have a chef like Ramsay saying that shark-fin is "tasteless" and that "anything could go into it", combined with the high prices (90 quid a bowl!) of the dish, it just [I]boggles my mind[/I] why shark-fin soup is made. It's sad how status plays such a huge factor.

[QUOTE=Prez;35146005]It's just absolutely disgusting and useless. When you have a chef like Ramsay saying that shark-fin is "tasteless" and that "anything could go into it", combined with the high prices (90 quid a bowl!) of the dish, it just [I]boggles my mind[/I] why shark-fin soup is made. It's sad how status plays such a huge factor.[/QUOTE] Coming from a Chinese family, it actually makes a lot of sense why sharkfin soup is made. It is indeed a status symbol, but you don't seem to get how much displays of opulence and affection play into Chinese culture. Let me make this clear, I am not for shark finning in any way, shape, or form, and would enjoy it if sharkfin soup was banned altogether, however it's important to understand why people are so attatched to this clear, gelatinous, tasteless piece of cartilage if one is to find a solution. I've had sharkfin soup maybe twice in my life, once when I was little as I can recall (and I really enjoyed it) and once on my grandfather's 90th birthday as only to not offend my grandfather. Both times were for special occasions, and both times my grandfather had ordered it for the entire family of 19, so it was not cheap. Now, he had nobody to impress, we were all family, and nobody was going to look down on the cherished patriarch, but what he was doing was in effect a display of grand wealth, or really a willingness to part with wealth in a grand display of love to the entire family. We were worth more to him than all the money that he had spent on the fin in a single night, and that was how he displayed his love. The bowl of soup is a symbol of wealth and acceptance, analogous by western standards to an expensive bottle of old campaign. If you are offered the soup, then a person is bringing you closer to him or her, since they believe you are worth every penny they paid for it. It is not the fin itself which is important, but the symbol that the fin represents, and that is why they can get away with selling a nasty ass fish fin for 90 pounds.

Blame the traditionalist egomaniacs in china who think eating it often is like owning a Lamborghini and shit

That is awesome that he is working to stop that bullshit.

That's a good show and everyone should watch it. He even had gasoline dumped on him by some of the fishermen/processors. [quote=Ramsay] At one, I managed to shake off the people keeping us away, ran up some stairs to a rooftop and looked down to see thousands of fins, drying on rooftops for as far as the eye could see. When I got back downstairs, they tipped a barrel of petrol over me. Back at the wharf, there were people pointing rifles at us to stop us filming. A van pulled up and these seedy characters made us stand against a wall. The police came and advised us to leave the country. They said, “If you set one foot in there, they’ll shoot you.”[/quote] [url]http://www.examiner.com/ny-in-new-york/gordon-ramsay-doused-with-gasoline-held-at-gunpoint-while-filming-documentary[/url] Some pretty serious shit. [editline]15th March 2012[/editline] It was actually that scene in the OP, but they cut out him getting doused in gas. Can't remember if it's in the full show or not.

Apparently shark fin soup is supposed to make your penis bigger :v: But yeah coming from a Chinese family, shark fin soup is literally just to make people feel rich. Pretty silly considering substituting it with crab meat is still just as tasty.

[QUOTE=Tetsmega;35146309]Apparently shark fin soup is supposed to make your penis bigger :v: [/QUOTE] Name an expensive chinese food that doesn't... or at least isn't either an aphrodisiac or gives you "vigor".

Its absolutely disgusting what these people do. Its the same as the fur industry. It serves no purpose to kill exotic animals for something that is entirely a luxury. Especially when they don't even kill them humanely. I don't care who I'd offend, I'd never accept anything made of real fur, nor would I eat shark fin soup.

[QUOTE=doomkiwi;35146077]Coming from a Chinese family, it actually makes a lot of sense why sharkfin soup is made. It is indeed a status symbol, but you don't seem to get how much displays of opulence and affection play into Chinese culture. Let me make this clear, I am not for shark finning in any way, shape, or form, and would enjoy it if sharkfin soup was banned altogether, however it's important to understand why people are so attatched to this clear, gelatinous, tasteless piece of cartilage if one is to find a solution. I've had sharkfin soup maybe twice in my life, once when I was little as I can recall (and I really enjoyed it) and once on my grandfather's 90th birthday as only to not offend my grandfather. Both times were for special occasions, and both times my grandfather had ordered it for the entire family of 19, so it was not cheap. Now, he had nobody to impress, we were all family, and nobody was going to look down on the cherished patriarch, but what he was doing was in effect a display of grand wealth, or really a willingness to part with wealth in a grand display of love to the entire family. We were worth more to him than all the money that he had spent on the fin in a single night, and that was how he displayed his love. The bowl of soup is a symbol of wealth and acceptance, analogous by western standards to an expensive bottle of old campaign. If you are offered the soup, then a person is bringing you closer to him or her, since they believe you are worth every penny they paid for it. It is not the fin itself which is important, but the symbol that the fin represents, and that is why they can get away with selling a nasty ass fish fin for 90 pounds.[/QUOTE] the only thing i got from this is doomkiwi (#1 facepunch super star) is cheinesee

[QUOTE=doomkiwi;35146077]Coming from a Chinese family, it actually makes a lot of sense why sharkfin soup is made. It is indeed a status symbol, but you don't seem to get how much displays of opulence and affection play into Chinese culture. Let me make this clear, I am not for shark finning in any way, shape, or form, and would enjoy it if sharkfin soup was banned altogether, however it's important to understand why people are so attatched to this clear, gelatinous, tasteless piece of cartilage if one is to find a solution. I've had sharkfin soup maybe twice in my life, once when I was little as I can recall (and I really enjoyed it) and once on my grandfather's 90th birthday as only to not offend my grandfather. Both times were for special occasions, and both times my grandfather had ordered it for the entire family of 19, so it was not cheap. Now, he had nobody to impress, we were all family, and nobody was going to look down on the cherished patriarch, but what he was doing was in effect a display of grand wealth, or really a willingness to part with wealth in a grand display of love to the entire family. We were worth more to him than all the money that he had spent on the fin in a single night, and that was how he displayed his love. The bowl of soup is a symbol of wealth and acceptance, analogous by western standards to an expensive bottle of old campaign. If you are offered the soup, then a person is bringing you closer to him or her, since they believe you are worth every penny they paid for it. It is not the fin itself which is important, but the symbol that the fin represents, and that is why they can get away with selling a nasty ass fish fin for 90 pounds.[/QUOTE] In other words the value of sharkfin soup is purely symbolic. Pretty dumb reason to eradicate entire species and commit so much of animal cruelty.

frankly i'd rather see this limited to where it actually is what it's worth meanwhile we're still ignorant of other cultural practises

it's blocked in the UK....oh channel 4 you soo funny

Never said it was utilitarian sil, cultural crap doesn't make logical sense a lot of the time. That being said, not knowing about why people eat sharksfin in the firstplace has created some pretty stupid attempts at fixing the problem, probably the dumbest is the promotion of cheaper fake fins in attempts to curb poaching... which of course won't work since that defeats the whole purpose of the soup. [editline]15th March 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Vedicardi;35146486]the only thing i got from this is doomkiwi (#1 facepunch super star) is cheinesee[/QUOTE] Then my personal anecdote has failed at expressing the true reason that people eat sharkfin and I dishonor my family. Ill go kill myself now.

dw doomkiwi we'll show these ignorant westerners

[QUOTE=doomkiwi;35146833]Never said it was utilitarian sil, cultural crap doesn't make logical sense a lot of the time. That being said, not knowing about why people eat sharksfin in the firstplace has created some pretty stupid attempts at fixing the problem, probably the dumbest is the promotion of cheaper fake fins in attempts to curb poaching... which of course won't work since that defeats the whole purpose of the soup.[/QUOTE] Yeah I understand, I did some fact finding about this when I first watched ramsay going after the finners. And yeah I agree completely with you on the way they're trying to fix the problem. They are trying to fix something that they don't understand, it's just not going to work.

It saddens me incredibly knowing there's a chance of seeing the ocean die. Not just indiscriminate fishing, but the way we treat the ocean as a whole.

I'd rather eat the shark meat than the fin. Shark meat is delicious. Tastes similar to swordfish, which is also delicious.

Problem is, There's so many fake sharkfin and so little real ones that its hard to tell which is which. And most fake ones don't have signs telling you its fake. And the good thing is it taste the same, so you'll never know.

[QUOTE=gamefreek76;35150451]I'd rather eat the shark meat than the fin. Shark meat is delicious. Tastes similar to swordfish, which is also delicious.[/QUOTE] Shark meat isn't particularly delicious but it's p. good.

[QUOTE=s0m3_guy;35146883]dw doomkiwi we'll show these ignorant westerners[/QUOTE] They came to learn god damn it, if they're gonna learn they're damn well gonna learn the whole story. Fucking Gweilo.

[QUOTE=doomkiwi;35146833] Then my personal anecdote has failed at expressing the true reason that people eat sharkfin and I dishonor my family. Ill go kill myself now.[/QUOTE] Don't commit [b]sudoku[/b]!

shark fin sounds retarded as hell as a meal anyways

[QUOTE=Tetsmega;35152843]Don't commit [b]sudoku[/b]![/QUOTE] I'll do it! I only need 2 more fucking numbers... wait fuck I messed up, now I need to start over. I think I'm the only Asian ever to fail math...

why do channel 4 block stuff on youtube for UK residents, no I don't want to go on your shitty website to watch a 10 minuet clip or go onto your personal channel to sit through constant adverts and shitty buffering speeds that stop working after 10 minuets

[QUOTE=Vasili;35155576]why do channel 4 block stuff on youtube for UK residents, no I don't want to go on your shitty website to watch a 10 minuet clip or go onto your personal channel to sit through constant adverts and shitty buffering speeds that stop working after 10 minuets[/QUOTE] I think you may have just answered your own question.

[QUOTE=thegrb93;35146140]That is awesome that he is working to stop that bullshit.[/QUOTE] Aha your avatar.

Which culture was it that used to eat baby monkeys because they thought the youth of another species would prolong life. Why did I just remember that?

[QUOTE=Tetsmega;35146309]Apparently shark fin soup is supposed to make your penis bigger :v: [/QUOTE] I don't see how that can be true. If mainly Asian people drink it, why aren't they hung like a horse.