“Word cooking” at Masterchef

What do the television studios in Liosia, the OSE (Hellenic Railways Organisation) Railway Museum in Piraeus, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and luxury hotels in Chalkidiki and the southern suburbs of Attica all have in common?

What “invisible” thread binds Ms Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Mr Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Commission, and internationally renowned chefs from France, Great Britain, Spain, Denmark, Italy and elsewhere?

The answer to both these questions is Masterchef and Podium.

The above-mentioned locations are all places where various outdoor cooking tests were filmed with the Masterchef participants, while the personalities listed have all been on the competition’s judging panel at some time or another.

And how does Podium come into the equation? But of course, for offering interpreting services throughout the filming process, in various languages, including English, French, Spanish and Italian.

Podium started to work with the Masterchef production team approximately three years ago, as a result of previous successful collaborations with the cooking competition’s production company.

This was a very difficult and challenging project. An interpreter’s job is challenging and stressful on a good day; here, we have to add the requirements of television itself, as a medium, and the high response speed required in order to minimize the awkward “dead time” between the speaker’s response and the interpreter’s translation.

An even greater challenge, however, is to prepare for such a job. It is no secret that gastronomy, and the linguistic treasure related to food, is one of the most demanding, complex, profound and labyrinthine paths in any language – including our mother tongue.

Podium started to work with the Masterchef production team approximately three years ago, as a result of previous successful collaborations with the cooking competition’s production company.

This should not come as a surprise, since food is not only a basic human need, but is also related to every minor and major event in human nature, and therefore carries a huge intellectual, emotional, and by extension, linguistic and spiritual “weight” for mankind.

Add to all of the above, the difficulties arising from the very “technical” terminology associated with haute cuisine, with which a cooking competition like Masterchef is naturally associated, and the “recipe” becomes truly explosive!   

This should not come as a surprise, since food is not only a basic human need, but is also related to every minor and major event in human nature, and therefore carries a huge intellectual, emotional, and by extension, linguistic and spiritual “weight” for mankind.

Words and phrases like “coulis”, “agar” (a vegetable substance made from algae), “coagulant” “bind the sauce”, “seal the meat”, “emulsion” (not to be confused with house paint!), are but mere drops in the ‘ocean’ of culinary jargon, which could fill dozens or even hundreds of volumes.

Judging by the result, all the difficult challenges, both for the players competing for culinary dominance, and for Podium’s interpreters in the battle of words, were overcome successfully. For us, that is a ‘delicious’ outcome.