Pensioner Puts Heat On Ramsay

An 81-year-old amateur cook who specialises in microwave ready meals is putting the heat on Gordon Ramsay.

Peter Oakley's gastronomic skills may be distinctly lacking compared to those of the three-star Michelin chef, but he has proved a bigger hit on the internet.

And the Derbyshire widower even has his own culinary tip for Britain's highest paid chef - cut down on the swearing.

Last week, Ramsay posted an advert on video-sharing website YouTube looking for recruits for his new Cookalong show on Channel 4.

The next day, Oakley served up his own version, which initially attracted two times more viewers than Ramsay's.

The apron-clad OAP is seen in the clip constantly swigging from a glass of wine as he prepares a "delightful chicken casserole" in his bungalow kitchen.

With the deftest of touches, he pops the frozen, ready meal in a microwave, and stresses: "It's most important you time it right because soggy vegetables are the pits."

Oakley has become a web sensation under the user name 'Geriatric1927' (the year of his birth) after posting scores of clips on YouTube.

He told Sky News Online: "It was all a bit of fun really. I just live on my own, and I can't be bothered to cook fussy recipes. I certainly wasn't meaning to be mean.

"I just thought it'd be interesting to show how the geriatrics do it, with little thought for hygiene and everything, but If Ramsay was to invite me round and cook me one of his meals I know I'd enjoy it."

But there is one thing he believes the irascible chef could learn from him - and that is to stop turning the air blue all the time when he is cooking on TV.

"As an old person I personally don't like swearing, and don't see why there should be so much of it on TV, especially after the fuss about about Ross and Brand," he said.

"But I suppose it's just Ramsay's way. He's a very brilliant businessman, and a brilliant performer. But I suspect in real life, he doesn't swear all the time like that."

Oakley said his "cookalong the geriatric way" clip came about when he was invited to the head offices of YouTube's parent company, Google - and met the Queen.

He said: "A woman from Ramsay's cookalong programme was there, and she asked me if I would do my own version, so I did it and sent it off."

The simplicity of his meals has clearly struck a chord with internet users - and now the pensioner plans to film a guide to choosing and cooking meat at his local butcher's shop.

One viewer, who logged on as atomrose, said: "This is my kind of cooking...none of this Ramsay and Oliver rubbish. All I've got to do is learn to count - is that seven minutes in metric or imperial?"