Anyone who lights a fire must be able to put it out again – at least that’s what Tim Mälzer must have thought. He first completed safety training with his Swiss competitor Stefan Wiesner at the volunteer fire department in Bargfeld-Stegen. After all, dealing with fire needs to be learned. Stefan Wiesner gets Tim Mälzer wet and is completely in his element as soon as he can light a fire.
Stefan Wiesner is a real guy. Instead of knives, his ax is sacred to him – which he uses in a variety of ways in the kitchen. The Swiss chef is known as “the witcher from Entlebuch”. The 62-year-old likes it rustic. He likes to cook on an open fire. Mälzer mocks the Swiss unique: “He extracts flavor from stones, cooks with rusty nails – he has dedicated himself to a cuisine that I don’t even know what to call it.” But Wiesner is successful with his cuisine: he has been running his parents’ restaurant Rössli since a young age. He earned 17 Gault Millau points. His dishes are inspired by nature and art – an alchemical cuisine. He passes on his knowledge to (hobby) cooks in seminars. In 2017, Mälzer had to try his original dish. Now, after a long time on “Kitchen Impossible,” Wiesner is once again behind a classic stove. And this despite the rule he had imposed on Mälzer for his participation – to only cook with an open fire.
Stefan Wiesner cooks haute cuisine at Les Créatifs in Johannesburg: Mälzer sends Stefan Wiesner further away from the Swiss mountains than he has ever been: South Africa. Wiesner still feels in his element when he tries dishes prepared over an open flame at the market in Johannesburg. When he sees his task, things will soon change: fine cuisine lurks in his box. A nightmare for the self-proclaimed sorcerer. The original recipe comes from chef Wandile Mabaso. He has already cooked in restaurants in New York and Paris. The task: “Indian Ocean” – a creation made from seafood, potato balls and five sauces
Tim Mälzer cooks goulash at Soro Lume in Bucharest: Mälzer thinks that Romanian cuisine is not on the same level as other world cuisines, and is convinced of the opposite by Stefan Wiesner’s task. In the box, the Hamburg chef can expect a modern interpretation of Romanian cuisine instead of home cooking. Here, of all places, Mälzer loses his analytical talent – and he buys the wrong type of meat. The original recipe comes from Mihai Toader, who traveled through Romania for six years to bring the essence of the country to his restaurant. The task: goulash from three cultures
Stefan Wiesner cooks Jamaican chicken in Dublin: Stefan Wiesner’s heart leaps with joy when Mälzer sends him to the Big Grill, the largest barbecue festival in Europe, in Dublin, Ireland. But instead of an Irish classic from the grill, there is a grilled chicken with Jamaican influences waiting in the box. And Wiesner has to prepare plantains for the first time in his life. Nico Reynolds, who created the original recipe, wants to combine his Jamaican and Irish roots in his kitchen. The task: jerk chicken with plantain and coconut béchamel
Tim Mälzer cooks at SY23 in Wales: Stefan Wiesner surprises Mälzer and sends him to a restaurant that proves that there is more to the grill than neck steaks. Instead of grill classics, there is star cuisine! In Aberystwyth, Wales, malting is pushed to its limits. At the last moment he recognizes ingredients that he didn’t buy. And finally creates the yuzu flavor for a tart from oranges, lemons and limes. In terms of taste, it obviously comes close to chef Nathan Davies’ original. The task: turbot in mussel dashi and chip with caviar sour cream, yuzu tart
Even if the creations of the Welsh chef Nathan Davies make Mälzer sweat, the Hamburger raves when he tries the star cuisine. If he were to create star-rated cuisine one day, then this is how he thinks it would be, says Tim Mälzer. Nathan Davies combines the fresh seafood and fish straight from the sea off Aberystwyth with influences from Japanese cuisine: miso, dashi, mirin and rice vinegar play a major role. But the subtleties of the dish present Mälzer with one or two challenges: “This constant oily mess in the sauce drives me crazy,” complains Mälzer, because it is almost impossible to analyze all the ingredients in it. But he has to admit that it makes the sauce very tasty.
Stefan Wiesner actually made it a condition that he was only allowed to cook on an open fire if he was to compete in “Kitchen Impossible”. But rascal Tim Mälzer doesn’t really stick to it and simply declares the gas stove to be an open flame. And so Stefan Wiesner ends up far outside his comfort zone in classic, upscale cuisine. And in addition to potato balls and seafood, I have to identify and cook a total of five sauces. “If I have to go into a 3-star store and cook with gas, I think it’s shit,” he announces before the task. He would have preferred to cook on the rustic grills at the market in Johannesburg. But in South Africa, far from the Swiss mountains, Stefan Wiesner has to remember the classic cooking techniques again – he hasn’t cooked like that for at least 30 years, the chef says. But he doesn’t really get involved in the delicate style and simply crushes the lobsters with an axe. And when he doesn’t know what to do, the cranky chef asks his fingers for advice – his connection to his inner self. They seem to know the right answer. The result surprises everyone.
At Soro Lume in Bucharest you won’t find a classic gas stove or oven in the kitchen. Instead, there are five ovens – with coal, wood or iron plates – and a Thermomix. Mihai Toader traveled through Romania for six years to incorporate the country’s different cultures and influences into his cuisine. For example, he uses Hurut, fermented herbs with a milk product from Transylvania. In the “Goulash of the Three Cultures” Mihai Toader combines the culture of Armenia, Romania, Hungary and the Roma. Guests may not expect fine dining when they enter the Knight’s Hall. Tim Mälzer would like to recreate the restaurant with its ovens.
It’s a close race between the two very different opponents, but in the end Tim Mälzer is a step ahead. Stefan Wiesner was able to master his big challenge with star cuisine, but was unable to score enough points for the seemingly simple Jamaican chicken. But Tim Mälzer is and remains a master at using completely different ingredients to somehow come close to the original in terms of taste. And so in the end it is 12.9 to 12.7 for Tim Mälzer.
“Kitchen Impossible” can be seen on Vox every Sunday from 8:15 p.m. This and later all other episodes of “Kitchen Impossible” can be streamed on RTL.
Transparency note: Der stern is part of RTL Deutschland
