Two chefs at the end of the world with a culinary challenge to take up. Cuisine Impossible returns on TF1 this Friday at 9:05 p.m. A new cooking show combining friendship and adventure embodied by two star chefs of the new generation Juan Arbelaez and Julien Duboué. The concept is simple: each sends the other to a foreign country with the aim of reproducing a typical local dish in 24 hours, with no other clues than tasting. After a first edition in 2019 in Morocco and Iceland, the two chefs are now competing, among others, in Croatia and Canada.
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A culinary challenge on the other side of the world
"We are not here to show our prowess in culinary techniques, we are here to make people understand that the product is essential to the recipe and we find ourselves looking for it, dropped in the street, in a countryside", says Julien Duboué on Europe 1. In this new culinary show, the cook from the Landes found himself in the north of Croatia, on the border of Serbia, to try to reproduce a "Fish-Paprika", fish stew with tomato specialty of the region. “To cook a typical dish that isn't in the books, I couldn't help myself much. Besides, I found myself catching the fish I needed. casserole because there were four different fish in the dish and I only found two, "he jokes.
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Because the show remains a competition, good child, between the two cooks, friends in life. "The basis of the game is that we both put ourselves in situations that are critical, we know each other very well, we are friends in life and knowing what our weaknesses are helps us in this show to destabilize, ”says Juan Arbelaez.
The chef, of Colombian origin, was sent by his friend to Canada, a 1.5 hour drive from Montreal to try to reproduce a bison meat pie, baked beans, a soufflé omelet and meatballs. "When I saw the ticket for Montreal I told myself that I was going to end up in a gourmet restaurant, on a magnificent roof-top I finally took the car for 1h30, I found myself in the middle of the forests in Quebec and suddenly we're confused, "he recalls. "The difficulty of this exercise is that we have learned to never reproduce or copy someone's dish and today we have to put all that aside and do the opposite completely."
A show embodied
Besides discovering an unfamiliar cuisine in a limited time, the two chefs also face the challenge of presenting a show. With more or less ease. "I have always had a strong voice, people called me the crocodile when I was little, I had a big mouth and small legs", laughs Juan Arbelaez. "TV takes me out of our comfort zone a bit, I also like this feeling of putting myself in a bit of danger." For Julien Duboué, the apprehension of the cameras was gradually made, overcoming a greater shyness.
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Cooking programs hit the spotlight on the small screen. Top Chef , whose two leaders are former candidates, notably broke all records during confinement. But this new program succeeds in doing well by combining gastronomy and travel, against a backdrop of challenge and complicity between the two men. “What works about this show is that we don't present it, we live it,” concludes Juan Arbelaez. "We're not playing a role."