 Next time you think you've had a hard day at the office, think again. How about a six-day week of 17 hour shifts - with Gordon Ramsay as your boss.
That's what Angela Hartnett went through when she began work for Ramsay back in 1994 - well before he'd made a name for himself with his F Word - and his f-words.
Now Hartnett, 38, is one of the country's most respected chefs, with her own Michelin star, TV series, cookbook, MBE - and still working for the man who seems to swear as much as he seasons his food.
This month she comes to the NEC for the annual culinary get-together that is BBC Good Food Show - where she will be overseeing the Gordon Ramsay Scholar, an annual competition to find the brightest young chef in the country.
In previous years, regional heats were held around the country (including the Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies); now the semi-final and finals all take place during the five days of the Good Food Show - the winner coming away with a new car, £5,000, jacket and knives - plus a three city stage at Ramsay's signature restaurants in London, Paris and New York. "It's going to be amazing," says Angela, who has had more time to oversee the Scholar Award since her restaurant at The Connaught in London closed for refurbishment. "The last few years we've had heats around the country but it seems to work much better with everything under one roof, it all works really great. "I don't like competitions myself," she adds. "I like organising the judges, but I don't particularly like taking part, it's not my thing." Instead, Hartnett has got where she is via the more traditional route - long, hard hours in what is a male-dominated industry; only Premiership football and the offices of a lads' mag come close. "It still is very much a male industry, which from my point of view can be very advantageous, 'cos you end up standing out a lot more from your male colleagues; they're probably a lot better chef than me, but because there's so many of them it works to my advantage," she jokes. "Basically I have always wanted to cook, that was something I wanted to do and I enjoy doing it, I've always had a passion. "It is tough and it is all about perseverance," she warns. "You have to want to do it - I think in cooking, there's no point going into it just because you think it's glamorous and easy, it's not - it's long hours and hard work. "To be honest everyone thinks cheffing now is extremely sexy and all that, and yeah it is a great industry, but people like Gordon got where they are from years of hard graft, they haven't got it overnight, and sometimes people think that's what happens." Despite having a sweepstake run by her fellow chefs on how long she'd last when she first began working for Ramsay, Angela has gone on to become one of the most respected names in the industry, male or female.
 "Gordon's always been a kind boss," she says. "He's a hard taskmaster, but he's always very fair so he'd always try and send me home early, he never spoke to me like he spoke to some of the other guys - he was quite chauvinistic in that respect, it was interesting. "There are three of us remaining from the early days, still all there, which says a lot about Gordon." Angela has plenty of great advice for the next generation of Hartnetts and Ramsays: "I think you've got to go for consistency - one thing everyone always says is less is more, and it's really a mature mind that understands that," she says. "You go to judge some competitions and they put so much on the plate that it's too much, you've got to tone it down a bit - it's much better with less on the plate, there's less to screw up. "That's why in some respect when we do the structure [of the Scholar Award] we give them all the same to cook, a recipe, so there's no room for manipulation and do their own interpretation; some may think that's wrong and that's why you want to be a chef, but you've got to be able to make the basic roast dinner or a lemon meringue pie. "If someone can't do those basics then they shouldn't really be in the kitchen." She adds: "Everyone watches [cookery] programmes and buys books but they don't necessarily cook, and most people don't necessarily do the basics, which is a shame." Despite working for 13 years with a man who could claim the title of World Champion Swearer, Angela insists she has a very different management style to Gordon Ramsay: "I don't scream and shout as much as a lot of male chefs do, I find it's not the way I get things done," she says. "I do do it occasionally; I think we have a very good team which works closely together and everyone knows what's going on - it shouldn't just be one voice, it should be lots of voices." * Angela appears with the Gordon Ramsay Scholar Award at the BBC Good Food Show, which runs at the NEC from November 28 to December 2. www.bbcgoodfoodshow.com Ticket Hotline: 0870 040 0390
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