''Surprise Chef'' is an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

cooking Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to Outline of food preparation, prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric ...

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

that was broadcast on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

from 2001 to 2003. The show revolved around

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

Aristos Papandroulakis Aaron Aristos Papandroulakis (born 1965 in Bunbury, Western Australia) is an Australian chef best known for hosting the Seven Network cooking show ''Surprise Chef''. He also hosted ''BYO Chef'', also for Seven. Papandroulakis has authored two c ...

, who would surprise an unwitting Coles supermarket shopper with an offer to cook

dinner Dinner usually refers to what is in many Western cultures the largest and most formal meal of the day, which is eaten in the evening. Historically, the largest meal used to be eaten around midday, and called dinner. Especially among the elite, ...

for them in their own home. If taken up on the offer, Papandroulakis then set himself to cook a filling meal using only the ingredients available to him from their pantry, fridge or what groceries they had bought. He also set himself a "challenge ingredient"; in one episode this involved using a bottle of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

as a

marinade Marinating is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. The origin of the word alludes to the use of brine (''aqua marina'' or sea water) in the pickling process, which led to the technique of adding flavor b ...

. In bookending segments, Papandroulakis was also joined by co-presenters Ian "Herbie" Hemphill and Flip Shelton, who gave tips on food preparation and meal ideas. Later, Greg Duncan Powell, Jon Fitzgerald and Ben Canaider joined the cast, giving advice on choosing

wines Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

, while

Cindy Sargon Cindy Sargon is an Australian chef, entrepreneur, television presenter and voice over artist. Career Television Sargon was a co-presenter on the third and fourth seasons of ''Surprise Chef'', and has hosted '' Melbourne Woman'',

replaced Shelton in season 3.

References

External links

''Surprise Chef'' at the National Film and Sound Archive
* Seven Network original programming 2001 Australian television series debuts 2003 Australian television series endings Australian cooking television series {{food-tv-prog-stub

See also

References

External links