TV review
Kitchen Impossible
Visiting friends? Tim Mälzer gets naked in Hamburg
The Austrian chef Edi Frauneder (left) and Tim Mälzer challenge each other at “Kitchen Impossible” in Mälzer’s hometown of Hamburg
© RTL / Markus Hertrich
Hardly an episode of “Kitchen Impossible” was more personal than this one: Tim Mälzer from Hamburg shows his private side. Where he grew up, where he likes to eat and who his friends are. But of all things, a Franzbrötchen is his downfall.
I am biased in this review: This is not only because the sixth episode of “Kitchen Impossible” takes place in my adopted home of Hamburg, but also because two of my favorite restaurants are portrayed. Marcel Stut’s “Batu” in Hamburg’s Sternschanze serves modern Chinese cuisine. The dumplings and noodle dishes are some of the best food you can get in the Hanseatic city – Mälzer also loves Stut’s noodles. Fabio Haebel’s “XO Seafoodbar” offers uncomplicated seafood cuisine, with dishes that you can only get there.
This episode is a declaration of love for Hamburg, an ode to the Hanseatic city. Home game for Mälzer actually. His guest is no stranger. The Austrian chef Edi Frauneder, who lives in New York City, has already cooked against him in his homeland in the USA. So now in Mälzer’s homeland. The culinary showdown continues here. However, this edition runs under the motto: “Mälzer’s City – Mälzer’s Rules”. For the first time in “Kitchen Impossible” history, the points from the first two challenges are counted directly – which puts one of the opponents in a bad mood.
These were the highlights from the “Kitchen Impossible” match between Tim Mälzer and Edi Frauneder
Those were the tasks
Edi Frauneder in Batu
Having just flown in from the USA, Edi Frauneder’s day starts with a participation in Tim Mälzer’s podcast “Fiete Gastro”, only to be surprised with the black box shortly before the end of the podcast – despite jet lag. Not a nice surprise! for Edi Frauneder. The dish comes from Marcel Stut from Batu: Baos with pak choi shitake filling & noodles with Szechuan ragout.
Tim Mälzer in Café Luise
When it comes to Hamburg’s specialties, one very special product cannot be missing: the cinnamony, buttery Franzbrötchen. Of course, Edi Frauneder knows that Tim Mälzer is a huge fan of the pastry and has even released his own Franzbrötchen cream. With this task, Frauneder pushes Mälzer to his limits. The mood is in the basement. Stubborn as Mälzer can be, he doesn’t even try the pastries. Which later becomes his downfall.
Edi Frauneder in the Rolin restaurant
Edi Frauneder takes the second box to Mälzer’s first workplace in Pinneberg. There the TV chef sends Frauneder to his long-time friend Marc Ostermann from the Rolin restaurant, where Mälzer worked after school as a 14-year-old. Frauneder’s job is also Mälzer’s favorite dish: a stuffed guinea fowl. It is masterful craftsmanship and a real culinary challenge.
Maltster in the XO Seafoodbar
Mälzer’s next culinary low blow: While he is strolling through his neighborhood, his friend Fabio Haebel serves him the next box. The content: one of Tim Mälzer’s favorite dishes – Pasta Krabbe from the “XO Seafoodbar”. The original chef Fabio Haebel is St. Pauli’s first star chef. In his “culinary living room” Tim Mälzer has to face one of the toughest challenges and recreate one of his own favorite dishes. Under the motto: Cooking with “friends”, he takes on this monster task.
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The most emotional dish
Tim Mälzer sends Edi Frauneder to the Rolin restaurant, where he grew up culinary. His first place of work. And lets him cook the dish that once he has eaten it, he will never forget it: stuffed guinea fowl according to classic French cuisine. “It is the place where I was able to discover my passion for gastronomy,” says Mälzer. “It’s about revealing a little more about myself than most people know.” This dish is one of Tim Mälzer’s absolute favorite dishes, which he would immortalize if he ever wrote his memoirs.
The biggest surprise
The fact that Mälzer has to recreate one of his favorite dishes from his good friend really bothers the TV chef. Pasta Krabbe, a dish that Mälzer has eaten many times but hasn’t given much thought to the dish until now. In the end he was also disappointed with his result. Mälzer doesn’t manage the bisque, which is the basis for the whole dish for the Pasta Krab, like the original. It’s a shame actually. Original chef Fabio Haebel also complains that Mälzer has forgotten to cook the way he cooks at home. With few ingredients but full of flavor.
That was heartwarming
Tim Mälzer has never shown himself as personally as in this episode. Not only does he give Edi Frauneder a joyride through his hometown, he also takes him to places he has never shown in public before. His grandparents’ house in Pinneberg, where he spent “the best time”. Or the first apartment in a prefabricated building on the seventh floor – when he lived alone for the first time. This is where his culinary career began because he had to cook food for the first time. He was fed up with convenience foods and cooked pasta. Mälzer is the son of a single mother who had to move frequently depending on the economic situation. Despite the fame, Mälzer never forgets where he comes from.
The biggest bankruptcy
Mälzer’s stubbornness can sometimes be his downfall. When he is asked to analyze the world-famous Franzbrötchen, he refuses to try them. A mistake, because in the end he can’t tell that sourdough is mixed into the flour for the Franzbrötchen recipe at Café Luise. Although his French rolls look good, they have little to do with the original. He is punished with a low score.
The winner
Tim Mälzer once again filled his mouth with too much. He probably never thought that he would fail in his hometown. But fellow chef Edi Frauneder completed his challenges with great professionalism. No wonder he ends up taking the winnings with him across the Atlantic.
This is what the other “Kitchen Impossible” episodes of the season have been like so far
Episode 1: With cardinal cuts and volcanic cuisine: testicle chef Richard Rauch flattens Tim Mälzer
Episode 2: “Bachmeier pulverized” – no one has ever let Mälzer get naked so charmingly
Episode 3: Haute cuisine instead of a charcoal grill: Tim Mälzer grills the fire master Stefan Wiesner
Episode 4: Maltsters and Schmaus make “Kitchen Impossible” hardcore again – culinary torture between slum cuisine and blood dishes
Episode 5: Tim Mälzer is completely in love: in a duel against the best chef in the Baltics, he becomes a cuddly cat
“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 viewed at RTL+ be streamed.
Transparency note: The star is part of RTL Germany