The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Tuesday, June 5

Hi, all!

I’m afraid I have some slightly bad news. You nice people can’t really use the “no one reads the links” joke anymore because my mom reads them. If it’s any consolation, I found out that my older sister never checks the links (and sometimes doesn’t read my tweets, either).

Ramble of the Day

There are some things that are packaged in such a way that it is perfect in almost every aspect, so much so to the point where the recipe becomes incredibly difficult to replicate successfully. You might be thinking of a complicated dish, or perhaps Oprah Winfrey, sometimes known as the only person in America to make daytime television universally appealing. However, I am talking about reality television, and specifically what makes certain shows unique to their specific audiences. The topics: an international cooking competition show currently on Netflix.

More specifically, the show I watched was Korean cooking competition show Chef & My Fridge, also known as Please Take Care of My Refrigerator in South Korea. I watched only an episode, and I noticed quite a bit about how much the show compares to its American equivalents.

Quite simply, Chef & My Fridge is unlike anything I have ever seen before. The simple concept is this: a famous person’s fridge is wheeled into the studio, and after examining the contents, two of the chefs on hand compete to win said famous person’s stomach. What that does not tell you that the hour you sign up for features very little cooking and a lot of banter. There are two main hosts plus two more commentators of sorts, who poke fun at each other and the six chefs in studio, and every last one of them is sitting at a big table. The first episode on Netflix opens with the heads of the four hosts appearing in bubbles in each corner of the screen as they encourage a chef to do an impression of a mussel.

Once that is out of the way, they invite two famous people to take a seat at the very large table for more banter, and they do not hold back. The episode I watched was from the show’s first season, and Hong Jin-ho, former professional video game player and current TV personality, was the resident celebrity guest. (Actor Shim Hyung-tak was also there, but his fridge was examined in the next episode, which I have yet to complete.) They poked fun at Hong’s bachelor lifestyle, a rumored relationship with Korean singer Lady Jane, and his fridge. To give only one example, they shamed him for not eating his mother’s kimchi. They do this all while inserting sweating animations wherever they can. There’s even a silent commentator who writes all of their thoughts at the bottom of the screen somewhat like subtitles, but adds additional commentary.

It is such a spectacle, and I have to imagine would be really hard to recreate. A British version would just be different, and an American version would simply be a disaster. There are a few versions of the show in other countries, like China and Thailand, so I have to imagine it works in certain other places. It really does not make sense to the unfamiliar viewer until said viewer sees it, but once you begin comprehending it, it’s quite the entertaining ride. I highly recommend it.

tl;dr: I attempt to explain a Korean cooking competition show.

Links of the Day

Yaya Touré has accused Pep Guardiola of discriminating against African players.

Loris Karius picked up a concussion during Liverpool’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid.

Every team participating in the World Cup has officially submitted their 23-player squads.

Graham Potter is the new Swansea City coach.

Manuel Pellegrini and wife Carola Pucci were mugged at gunpoint in Chile, but both escaped the incident uninjured.

Today’s longer read: Donald McRae interviews Neville Southall on inclusion, skeletons, and England at the World Cup for The Guardian