WTVM.com and WTVM News Leader 9, Columbus, GA | "Hell's Kitchen" Chef Feeding Soldiers
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A world-renowned chef and the star of the hit Fox show "Hell's Kitchen" was on Fort Benning all of Thursday.
He was not only cooking a feast for soldiers, but helping them with a problem of thousands of wild, feral hogs on the army post.
World class chef Gordon Ramsay, known for his foul-mouthed demands in the kitchen on his TV series, was much nicer to Fort Benning troops, giving them some laughs, even going through a few obstacles with army recruits, but that wasn't his biggest challenge.
"I'm hunting down a wild hog, killing it, skinning it, cooking it, and eating it. It's a chef's dream," Chef Gordon Ramsay of "Hell's Kitchen" said.
He, along with Fort Benning environmentalists and hunters, used a cage to catch one of the 4,000 wild hogs on Fort Benning.
"We got a big one, huge one, 180 pounds, so needed help lifting that one up," Chef Ramsay added.
And the famous chef cooked it up for hungry soldiers.
It's also part of Fort Benning's program for eradicating feral pigs, 1800 removed from post last year, after they continually and quickly dug up and destroyed acres of property.
"They (wild pigs) take away from the native wildlife we have, so we're trying to keep the population in check, so there's more resources available for other endangered species," Ft. Benning wildlife biologist Mark Thornton said.
Chef Ramsay told us, "These guys (soldiers) need to train, and train hard, without falling down and breaking ankles (in holes made by pigs)."
And for incentive to catch the wild boars, there's also a bounty system.
"If you kill a pig, you bring us the tail, fill out an information sheet, we give you a voucher and you get $40 for each tail," Thornton said.
Chef Ramsay, shooting a segment on Fort Benning for a show on BBC America, also hopes to help with the local pig nuisance.
"There's a dual benefit - we get to hang out with some cool dudes and eat at the same time."
Our last question was about the sauce used for the pig feast.
Chef Ramsay smiled andf said, "Sauce...that's a secret, you think i'm going to sit here and tell you that?"
Auburn University students are also studying the overpopulation of wild hogs on Fort Benning. Chef ramsay says the same pig problem is happening in the UK, where he's from.
-by Jason Dennis
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