Gordon Ramsay tried to recreate Puerto Rican crispyrice on his YouTube show.- He said he was making pegao, but a Puerto Rican chef said it was closer to fried rice or a dish that resembles a stew.
- Viewers took to social media to share their thoughts on Ramsay's video.
"I'll show you a local," Ramsay said as he introduced the dish he went on to cook. "It's a beautiful dish used with leftover rice. It's called pegao, and it's gonna be done almost like a sticky rice in a cast iron."
Ramsay says the point of his video is to figure out how to "elevate" the dish, which he describes as "a staple" and "nothing fancy" with a "unique" flavor profile.
Though he's usually the one dishing out criticism, viewers were quick to share their thoughts on his segment
Alejandra Ramos, a chef and Puerto Rican woman, wrote an essay about the segment for Today.com in which she details how even just the first line of Ramsay's video is incorrect.
-Alejandra Ramos (@alwaysalejandra) July 1, 2021
Ramsay used the term "pegao" - which Ramos says stems from the Spanish word "pegado," meaning "stuck" - as the name of an entire dish featuring specifically leftover rice, sausage, and chicken.
However, Ramos explained that pegao isn't actually a dish. She said the term instead "refers specifically to the crispy, thin layer of rice that sticks to the bottom of the pot when making traditional island rice dishes like arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas)."
Ramsay also said in his video that the dish should be made in a cast-iron skillet, but Seattle cook Eric Rivera said rice is typically cooked in an aluminum vessel to achieve the crunchy finish.
-Eric Rivera (@ericriveracooks) June 28, 2021
"Pegao is probably the most sought after part of a rice dish," Rivera tweeted as part of a longer thread of thoughts on the video and its implications. "Similar I the way of going to a lechonera and asking for pork skin. The supply is scarce but one bite is the best bite and that's what pegao is. Again, you made is not even mamposteao so I'm giving you a break there."
One Twitter user called Ramsay's video a "hate crime," while another pulled from Ramos' piece and echoed her sentiment that the chef could have used this on-air opportunity to draw attention to issues
-Muñeca_Dañá (@AntillanaSoy) June 28, 2021
-Guillermo Mena (@GuilloMena) July 2, 2021
-Carmen Mercado (@candela1969) July 3, 2021
Not all responses were negative, though. Some thanked Ramsay for bringing Puerto Rican cuisine into the spotlight.
-E. Fuentes (Boxing/Life Coach) (@E_Fuentes70) June 28, 2021
But Ramos noted that a group of people speaking out about something like a cooking video is about "representation" and "respect."
"It's about the right that we all, as residents of this earth, have to be seen, honored and heard," Ramos wrote.
You can watch Ramsay's video below:
Representatives for Ramsay didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.