Where Did the Swedish Chef Muppet Come From?
According to Mental Floss, the genesis story behind the bushy eyebrowed muppet with his endearing Swedish-gibberish accent ("Yom-yom-yommm, mit de chocolad!") and wooden spatulas:
Swedish Chef Lars “Kuprik” Bäckman claims he was the inspiration for the Swedish Chef. He was on Good Morning America, he says, and caught Jim Henson’s eye. Henson supposedly bought the rights to the Good Morning America recording and created the Swedish Chef (who DOES have a real name, but it’s not understandable). One of the Muppet writers, Jerry Juhl, says that in all of the years of working with Jim Henson on the Swedish Chef, he never heard that the character was based on a real person.
Every year during the Muppets Christmas reruns time, we are reminded of the Swedish Chef and all his glory. My favorite moment in Swedish Chef history is when he uses his "boom-boom" shooting tactic to make donuts from muffins: "See de moofin? Und here mit de boome shooten!"
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18 Comments:
Swedish Chef = Love. Does anyone else remember the wonderfulness that was the Swedish Chef's cereal Cröonchy Stars?
BrooklynBrownie at 5:35PM on 01/02/09
haha I remember him mumbling "do dee dooo" haha that show was dynamITE!
hungrychristel at 5:47PM on 01/02/09
Much as I love the Swedish Chef, I think I'd think twice before owning up to being the real-life inspiration for him, if I were a chef. (BTW, my personal favorite bit with him was Maureen Stapleton exposing him for speaking mock Swedish, whereupon he promptly switched to mock Japanese. :) )
msmla at 6:32PM on 01/02/09
I absolutely loved Cröonchy Stars and I was sad when it disappeared! It was the perfect blend of sugar and styrofoam! ( I was going to put this through the Encheferizer... but decided not to. Bork! Bork! Bork! Bork!)
bronxbrinergal at 6:45PM on 01/02/09
How I miss the Muppets, especially the Swedish Chef. sigh. Oh, the memories!
passion4eating at 7:36PM on 01/02/09
The Swedish Chef Rawks! Perhaps he could get a gig at the cafeteria in Ikea.
Several years back, I was working in an open kitchen and we could dress up for Halloween. I dressed as the Swedish Chef and would only talk in Swedish (it was an Italian restaurant) Made for a fun evening!!
SayWhat at 9:38PM on 01/02/09
POPPIN CORNY! POPPIN IN YOUR FACE!
DanielJ at 10:34PM on 01/02/09
My favorite is when I saw episodes of the Muppet Show... in Stockholm. It was dubbed, except for the songs, and the Swedish Chef, who was subtitled.
kaszeta at 8:05AM on 01/03/09
When the Swedish Chef appeared originally it was assumed that Chef Tell was the inspiration. He was one of the first TV chefs and he was quite difficult to understand (he was German). I can't in retrospect rate his cooking but he was amusing.
ess12 at 10:57AM on 01/03/09
bork-bork-bork, i love the swedish chef...henson was a genius.
chocolate moose...the lobster banditos...beency-bouncy-burgers....spaghetti...cakenschmoosher...der boom-boom...
what i wouldn't do for a box of croonchy stars...
remember when he tried to cook big bird? lol.
i need to get a dvd boxset for me and my sister...feel like i'm 8 again.
gastronomeg at 2:38PM on 01/03/09
I love "The Muppets"--a show ahead of its time! Long before there was Aquavit, there was the Swedish Chef!
But you should have posted a link to some of his greatest hits. Here is one from You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu9A0LlLyvo
HeartofGlass at 5:56PM on 01/03/09
@heart--that is great stuff. I've been laughing all evening. I loved the attack dough: "Spreeenkle de fler, spreenkle de fler...."
buffy at 9:33PM on 01/03/09
@buffy--I know--me too! I loved the 'cooking the chicken' episode too!
They make me feel better about some of my kitchen misadventures--finally a chef on TV with whom I can identify!
HeartofGlass at 5:40AM on 01/04/09
He was my fave. Thanks for the memories!
juliebugsmama at 10:44AM on 01/05/09
I also had always heard that the inspiration for the Swedish Chef was Chef Tell.
Dughis at 9:50AM on 01/06/09
Chef Tell probably had some part in the inspiration but no one seems to have mentioned that Julia Child was "The French Chef." Without Julia there would have been no Swedish Chef. We would not have a lot else as well. Without Julia we'd still think Velveeta was cheese.
JohnFred at 11:43AM on 01/07/09
and of course, without Julia there would be no memories of Dan Ackroyd squealing, "Saaaave the liver!!" in his Julia send-up @ SNL.
Robbo at 8:47PM on 01/07/09
I thought Chef Tell was Swiss. He often ended his segments with the catchphrase, "very simple, very easy, very good."
Wasn't it "save the giblets?"
LadyMarmalade at 10:56AM on 01/29/09