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The programs stretch over three and a half hours, but the rhythm is right and viewers can join in at any time.
Tim Mälzer's cooking battle “Kitchen Impossible” is one of the most entertaining shows on German television.
The concept envisages that two prominent chefs compete against each other and only use their sensory impressions to cook special dishes as true to the original as possible that the other chooses - be it labskaus, a ramen soup or a filigree composition from the star kitchen.
It is always wonderful to see how top chefs fail with their analyzes and then manage to come astonishingly close to the template.
The shooting for the sixth season took place under corona conditions.
It was difficult for him to keep his distance, as Tim Mälzer tells on the phone.
ICONIST
: For the Christmas special from “Kitchen Impossible” you had your challengers Tim Raue and The Duc Ngo cook cauliflower-flavored snow from a three-star restaurant in Savoy, which they both are almost desperate about.
What meanness did you come up with for the new season?
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Tim Mälzer:
Basically, we try to find out in advance where the challengers might have weaknesses in order to then confront them.
That's why I like to choose dishes for which there is no classic recipe and which actually cannot be deciphered, so that the chef has to rely on his culinary intuition.
When I send a three-star chef like Sven Elverfeld into a private kitchen to cook traditional dishes from the Philippines, then the line between heroism and defeat becomes very fine.
ICONIST:
What did you
mess with your
teeth?
Mälzer:
One of the most beautiful dishes I have ever eaten on the show: the Grammerlknödeln from Salzburg.
I've made a lot of dumplings in my life, but this supposedly simple dish has blocked me.
The result was disastrous.
The creations by Heiko Antoniewicz were also a great challenge - for me one of the absolute gods when it comes to highly concentrated taste.
According to the name, his “Variations of the plum” seem innocent, but we're talking about moss, bark and branches, essences and different degrees of ripeness - the full program.
Tim Mälzer torments himself when trying to cook "Variations of the Plum"
Source: TVNOW / Endemol Shine
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ICONIST:
Because of the Corona situation, you only shot in Germany and Austria.
Did you find that a limitation?
Mälzer:
I really enjoy being in contact with others, the biggest limitation for me was that I couldn't get as close to the local hosts as I was before.
For me, every dish is a hodgepodge of impressions - the air, the temperature, the whole environment.
When I cook, I need to be close to other people; the distance requirement sometimes made me feel like an emotional cripple.
As far as the culinary variety is concerned, we didn't have to limit ourselves.
The spectrum ranges from the three-star kitchen at Tegernsee to an elderly lady who cooks brilliant Korean home-style food in a restaurant in Frankfurt.
We look into the pots of the world - even if we stay at home.
ICONIST:
What was the atmosphere like in the bars you visited?
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Mälzer:
When we started filming shortly after the first lockdown, you could already feel the uncertainty.
In the summer there was a slight glimmer of hope, then followed the disappointment and also the annoyance that the promised help had to be so long in coming - basically the atmosphere on site was a reflection of what we all went through in the last year.
ICONIST:
Poor Lucki Maurer, your challenger in the first episode, was in a pretty bad mood when you described him and his team as "the worst and most subterranean" you have ever come across.
In general, the language in your program is often more hearty than the dishes.
Does it have to be that way?
Mälzer:
That's not a scam, cooks are just emotional.
With "Kitchen Impossible" you are constantly confronted with your own failure and sometimes feel incredibly stupid, and the camera watches you, which you sometimes completely ignore.
That leads to very real frustration.
For me it is more like “fuck shit” than “oh man, that's stupid”.
ICONIST:
The behavior on the show is sometimes reminiscent of wrestling, where the opponents artificially puff themselves up to intimidate the opponent.
Mälzer:
Totally.
But the competition we're running is actually a loving one.
We don't want to hurt or humiliate each other.
The “shit talk” we have there is our way of exchanging tenderness.
Chefs among themselves: Tim Mälzer (right) and Ludwig Maurer
Source: TVNOW / Endemol Shine
ICONIST:
Why is the new season an
all-
male event?
Are there no female cooks in Germany who can compete with Tim Mälzer?
Mälzer:
That has nothing to do with competence.
There aren't that many cooks who are interested in this form of competition in front of the camera, so we've already received a few rejections.
There is a little more choice among male colleagues.
The necessary Gockel mode seems to be more of a man thing.
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ICONIST:
Can you imagine a vegan
version
of “Kitchen Impossible”?
Mälzer:
Of course.
I'm a big believer in vegan cuisine, I just don't like the ideology that is often behind it.
I like to cook without animal products, but forego the label “vegan” and prefer to talk about taste and complexity.
ICONIST:
How are your bars in Hamburg, the “Good News” and the “Bullerei”?
Mälzer:
As far as that goes, I almost feel like a long-term unemployed.
Except for three weeks in autumn, the "Bullerei" has been closed for almost a year.
I really miss hosting my guests there.
I miss the atmosphere, I miss the routine and the teamwork.
ICONIST:
How does it look economically?
Mälzer:
Let me put it this way: We try to minimize economic losses so that we don't lose the drive to go back to the market as soon as possible.
With the second lockdown, I made an early decision not to plan to reopen before Easter.
That is why the snack strategy that is currently being used does not matter to me.
Other companies have always hoped to be able to open - at Christmas or early January or mid-February.
That leads to new disappointments again and again.
ICONIST:
Most recently, the impression was created that a certain resignation has spread in the industry.
Mälzer:
What can we do?
We have developed hygiene concepts, rebuilt our shops and reduced the number of tables.
Now we can only hope that we can get started again at some point.
It has become relatively quiet, but intensive work is still going on in the background, including on the political level, in order to cope with the misery.
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ICONIST:
Your buddy Tim Raue just showed his bum on Instagram, only covered by a "censored" bar.
His message: "I'm bare." Do we have to be prepared for the nude photos of Tim Mälzer?
Mälzer:
Not that.
But it is not that easy to find new ways to draw attention to our need and not appear rude.
ICONIST:
Tim Raue was about the November
aid
, which apparently hadn't arrived in February either.
Mälzer:
I was just sitting with the managing director of my catering company, and we haven't received anything yet.
Politicians are promising aid packages, which is also popular with the public.
But basically, the promised measures so far are more verbal eroticism than anything else.
ICONIST:
Many restaurants try to compensate a little for their losses by sending pleasure boxes.
There was even an oversupply for Valentine's Day.
You too had a package in your program.
Does it do that?
Mälzer:
We did a lot, a Christmas box, a New Year's Eve box - and now also a “Kitchen Impossible” box.
This makes sense for someone I know.
I can keep my people busy and cover some of my expenses.
But no normal restaurant will be able to ensure its survival in the long run by selling pleasure boxes.
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ICONIST:
A few weeks ago you celebrated your 50th birthday in your empty restaurant with an online cooking event.
Doesn't sound like a dissolute party.
Mälzer:
Oh, I'm very happy that the video can no longer be seen on the Internet, because for me it was a dissolute evening.
A lot of messages and video messages came in from friends, and over 3,000 people cooked with me.
It felt like a kitchen party, even if the party was spread across many kitchens.
ICONIST:
Will gastronomy experience a boom after the lockdown because guests want to catch up on everything they missed in twelve months?
Mälzer:
I am against hasty openings.
But when the time comes, we will have a good time, I am sure.
A restaurant is also a place to be together, and that is perhaps what many people lack the most right now - to sit down somewhere, to be with people, to meet friends and have a good time together.
ICONIST:
Where would you like to eat first yourself, if it is possible?
Mälzer
: I plan to spend a culinary weekend in Copenhagen with my wife.
Here in Hamburg I would like to go back to the “Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten” soon, it always feels like a little break for me.
In addition, I would like to eat a plate of pasta at the “Bianc” and “Salt and Silver” and the Italian restaurant around the corner.
I can't wait to be a guest again.
Tim Mälzer, born in Elmshorn in 1971, is one of the most famous chefs in Germany. In Hamburg he runs the "bullerei" and the "good news". He's currently on the sixth season of his
TV show
"Kitchen Impossible" shot.
The first episode can be seen on February 14th at 8:15 pm on VOX.
This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG. We are happy to deliver them to your home on a regular basis.
Source: WORLD