The latest cooking series from Food Network star Robert Irvine is now streamed on Discovery + and The globe is unlike any other cooking show. In the competition, chefs use ingredients and utensils from all over the world and present local dishes. The limited series has a total of five episodes and was born due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“In every episode of this world tour series like no other, four talented chefs compete against each other in three rounds of culinary gameplay as they are transported via impressive LED screen backgrounds to the best food destinations in the world that let the chefs travel the world without ever To have to leave the arena “, it says in the official synopsis. “The award-winning chef Daniela Soto-Innes accompanies Robert on this global journey as Resident Judge, together with appearances by special guest jurors at every travel destination with connections to the region.”
ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Chef Robert Irvine about his latest show and how he came up with the idea The globe, the importance of diversity and the lessons we can learn from food.
Tyler Treese: How did you come up with the idea for The Globe?
Robert Irvine: We went through COVID and I was traveling after having COVID and spending six days in the hospital. I was on the move again, traveling and doing Restaurant Impossible: Back in business. I thought look at this. If you’re stuck at home, no one can travel. Nobody can see the family, nobody can do the things they want to do. How can we entertain them? I always had this idea about The Last Supper [of the world]where every head of state in the free world puts his national dish on the table, takes a bite and passes it to the right, and there will be no problems in the world, because food is a great unity and a great balance.
So I wanted to put that in the TV. I did something I do every year, Sky Ball, to feed all of the veterans in Dallas, and we use a 270 degree screen. I thought it wouldn’t be great to get a bird’s eye view of a country, have authentic ingredients, but the chefs don’t know the ingredients. I mean, I really don’t know what they are. Selected by the guest jurors. So imagine these unique ingredients from the country of origin, so which country we are going to, whether Abu Dhabi, Kyoto, Lima, Peru, all these places in between, don’t tell the chefs where they are going. Hit all of a sudden take me to this place, a pantry comes out. By the way, not only are you using ingredients that you are not used to, but we will also be using utensils and cooking utensils that you are not using. And you have a time limit and you have to cook, but here’s the kicker. With all of these unusual ingredients and implements, not only will you have to cook on a timeframe basis, but you will also be judged by someone who has ties or is from this country.
So Bricia Lopez, Dominique Crenn, 3-star Michelin chefs. I tremble in my boots when Dominique enters her [set]. I want to cook for someone at this level, that will really tell you: yes; No; that is wrong; This is correct. The coolest thing for me is that I’m learning about food. Robert Irvine, who has traveled the world and has been to most of these countries, is learning about food from these countries he has been to. And the viewer can take this journey, which is visually breathtaking not only with this great 270 degree screen, but also with the food, with the jury, with the chefs, and these are real chefs in themselves. They cook, they can cook, but do they know how to cook with these ingredients or equipment?
It’s such a great idea. You mentioned all of the different types of foods that are presented to you. Did something really stand out, like some type of food being served where you say, wow, I didn’t know I missed that?
Well I think there are a lot of those right? There are four cooks going through three rounds in each episode, and there are locusts. I just ate camel. There are so many different things that we wouldn’t even think about culturally. I think it is a whole new light to enlighten a viewer or to let him go on this journey and see the beauty of the country and the culture of the people. We’ve all seen cooking shows. You have all seen competitions. This is unlike any other competition. Not just with the judges. We didn’t have time clocks. We didn’t tell the judges what to say. I’m like you say what you feel, you feel what you say, and let the chefs cook because we do. So it was really exciting for me.
What’s so interesting and great about this idea. We see these chefs, experts in their field. They’re sort of a fish-out-of-water scenario in which they have to improvise with those ingredients that they have never used before. As the host, are you happy that you are only watching on the sidelines or would this challenge appeal to you?
I’ve traveled to these countries, I just got back from Abu Dhabi last week and saw things I played with, but there are so many new items in this competition. It’s really an education that the judges actually show that they pick up the ingredients and bring them to me on a table and show me what they would do with even doing things on the table. It’s really exciting. So I guess I wouldn’t look good, and I’m pretty good at what I do, but it’s not just the excitement and the new foods and the locations and the judging, it’s also the prizes for the winner of each episode . You can choose to go to one of the places where they cook with a friend or wife or husband or spouse, whatever. Whether it’s Kyoto, Addis Ababa, Lima, Peru, you get a fully paid trip there and the opportunity to advance to the finals where you can win $ 25,000 for that trip. More importantly, bragging rights to the right and saying, “Hey, we all hit and that’s how we did it.” I think it was really cool.
One of the topics that I really like about The Globe is that people exchange cultures through food, and that is also very realistic, even only regional variations. I could prepare myself like a dish that is different from someone from New Orleans or vice versa. Your wife Gail Kim grew up very differently from you. Have you been able to introduce each other to different foods and cultural variants?
Necessarily. It’s so fun because I would never eat spices. I’m not hot, I’m a cute person. Not in personality, but I love sweets. Well not Gail, she doesn’t like sweets. For her, everything revolves around spice and taste. So it took me to a whole other level. I tried to get her to make candy. When her mother visits us and I get to cook Korean, it’s a completely different way and I really appreciate it.
I’ve also come to appreciate the diversity of humanity over the past few years, haven’t I? Everyone is different and it’s okay to be different and try something new. By the way, if you think things are not going well. Oh it does. Why? Because they do it over in Japan or in Iraq. Well they do it in Abu Dhabi and I think that’s the nice thing about this show. There is no bar, there are no limits. It is what it is. We supply you with the best ingredients. It’s so fun because when I send her to one place on that big jumbo screen, 20 million pixel high definition beauty, I roll out the pantry so they don’t see any ingredients. So I tell them where to go, roll out the pantry, they are not allowed to look at it. I can say go and they go, and by the way, this is no other competition.
I’ve seen a lot of cooking shows, nothing seems like that.
It is real. It’s real and I’m very proud of it. I use this Last Supper analogy, we could sit any head of state around the table and let them try this food. I told you that, but it’s about diversity. It’s about education. It’s about food connecting people. This is this show. And you can sit in your living room, visit countries you have never heard or seen before and experience something unique.
You keep bringing up this Last Supper idea. What would you choose to represent England?
So funny. I think it would be Indian food. I know people say to me the Indian is not an Englishman. Yes, it is. And so it is Chinese. A curry does not come from India. It came from China. I think England is one of the most diverse countries in the world. I grew up, you know, Monday, Monday shepherd’s pie, Friday fish and chips, and Saturday curry. I think it’s time we celebrated this.
One of my favorite things to do is that they not only cook for chefs, but also bring people from the local area with them. It’s interesting because they might not have such a clinically refined palate, but they know what is authentic, and that’s so interesting.
I love that you just said that because I have a 69 year old woman who has cooked this food for a family all her life and so on, and she is judging. She’s not on TV. She judges what she knows, this food and her country and that’s what I love. There are real people, real ingredients and real challenges. There is no cook and I talk to you and people think cooks know and on TV we make them know everything. We are not. It’s not real. We don’t know some of the ingredients. We don’t know how to prepare them. We have to find out. That’s the beauty of this show. When someone tells you they know all about food. I don’t want to talk to them because that’s not real. We do not know it. We know our knowledge is limited and we need to keep learning. It’s all about this. Culture, food and learning education.
