Cooking Shows Reach a New Level of Absurdity in Trailer for Hulu’s Chefs vs. Wild

You thought Netflix’s Iron Chef reboot was suffused in silliness? Well, the over-the-top theatrics of Kitchen Stadium can’t hold a candle to the weapons grade absurdity that Hulu has cooking. The streamer just unveiled its new series Chefs vs. Wild in a first trailer you can view below, and you can’t help but laugh at the sheer gimmickry of dropping cooks into the wilderness so they can prepare “five star meals” from foraged materials, while trying not to die from hypothermia. Or as Hulu puts it:

Reaching the peak of the culinary world has never been this demanding. In each episode of “Chefs vs. Wild,” two different world class chefs will be dropped into the wilderness where they’ll embark on a grueling and unprecedented mission—survive and forage enough wild ingredients to create a restaurant worthy, five-star meal. Episodes will culminate in the chefs going head-to-head in a “wilderness kitchen,” using their foraged ingredients and ingenuity to create savory dishes and, ultimately, impress the judges.

Said judges—who presumably will be hanging out at a luxury glamping site while they wait for the bedraggled chefs to arrive and cook for them—are “renowned chef and adventurer” Kiran Jethwa and wild foods expert Valerie Segrest, who “will judge participants on their ability to turn foraged ingredients from British Columbia’s coast into the best five-star meal.” The series premieres on Sept. 26, 2022, with two episodes each week.

This zany concept may well be deliriously entertaining, but there’s also no getting around just how preposterous and contrived the whole thing is. How funny would it be for the chefs to simply not be able to find any edible plants, or sources of protein? Can we really trust that the producers aren’t simply supplying these folks with picture-perfect cuts of elk and salmon? I want to see one of these chefs lovingly present a plate of smoked dirt, grubs and pine cones, and maybe then I’ll believe that some part of it is real. In the meantime, enjoy the chaotic trailer below as you wait for Chefs vs. Wild.