I have represented Tom Kime a number of years now and I have to say the man is truly a gentleman.  That he has survived the abusiveness of a number of kitchens over the years is only testament to his willingness and ability to succeed in one of the toughest careers a person can choose.  Following his training experience he vowed to himself long ago never to treat people the way he had occasionally been treated himself, so the only thing he’ll swear at is inanimate objects like eggs, and never people.  And there’s a difference – think on the one hand about Tom swearing at the omelette, then recall a scene from one of Gordon’s more angry TV episodes and you’ll get what I mean.  It’s the latter type of swearing that makes me uncomfortable.

Chefs swear.  They swear all the time and sometimes to a degree that it borders on an art form.  Yes it was inappropriate of Tom to swear on Saturday Kitchen, BBC’s Saturday morning show, and he knows children watch the show.  He is deeply remorseful about this and fully accepts that he won’t be back on the show ever again.  It’s a great shame, as Tom is a very talented chef whose specialty is Asian cuisine and world street food.  He is a rare master of spice blending and taste combining and makes all those delicious dishes that seem so foreign and difficult to achieve.  Try his books, Asian Bites or Street Food published by Dorling Kindersley to learn his secrets.  Or for more general seafood recipes, his latest book was a labour of love, entitled Fish Tales and published by Kyle Cathie. Tom wanted to write a book about sustainable fisheries – perhaps not a sexy topic but one that is close to his heart.

Currently based in Australia, Tom works between London and Sydney and has always enjoyed working with the Saturday Kitchen team.  It seems the BBC are making an example of him, as a stick to shake at various other BBC faces who let slip the occasional swear word.  Bad news for Tom, but bad news too for television foodie fans like me.

Tags: chef presenters

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