The Swedish Chef is a Muppet character that appeared on The Muppet Show.
He was originally performed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz simultaneously, with Henson performing
the head and voice and Oz performing the character's live hands.
The Swedish Chef is now performed by Bill Barretta.
Character A parody of television chefs, the Swedish
Chef wears a toque blanche and has bushy eyebrows that completely obscure his eyes.
He was one of the few Muppets to employ an actual puppeteer's hands, originally Oz's,
in the designs – that is, they were visible to the audience through his sleeves and facilitated
handling food and utensils.
Nearly all Swedish Chef sketches on The Muppet Show begin with him in a kitchen, waving some
utensils while singing his signature yodel-esque song in his typical mock Swedish – a semi-comprehensible
gibberish mimicking Swedish phonology and prosody.
The song's lyrics vary slightly from one episode to the next, but always end with "Bork, bork,
bork!"
as the Chef throws the utensils aside with a clatter that seems to startle him.
After this introduction, the Chef begins to prepare a recipe while giving a gibberish
explanation of what he is doing.
His commentary is spiced with the occasional English word to clue in the viewer to what
he is attempting; for example, "Aweenda shmure da froog's legs" or "Yur puurt thuur chiir-ken
airn der bewl".
These hints are necessary as he frequently uses unorthodox culinary equipment to prepare
his dishes.
In the pilot episode of The Muppet Show, the Chef's commentary was supplemented by Chinese
subtitles, but this was abandoned for all other episodes of the series.
The sketch typically degenerates into a slapstick finale where the equipment or ingredients
get the better of him.
In one sketch, a misaimed explosive charge slightly damaged the face of the puppet.
The Chef's face remained scarred through the rest of the season.
The Chef is referred to by name in one episode, in which Danny Kaye plays his uncle.
Kaye reels off a very long name but adds, "But we call him Tom" – much to the Chef's
amusement.
In 2010, the Chef was seen wearing a wedding ring, implying that the character is married.
Inspiration Some claim that the Swedish Chef was inspired
by a real life chef.
One example is Friedman Paul Erhardt, a German American television chef known as "Chef Tell".
Another example is Lars "Kuprik" Bäckman, a real life Swedish chef.
Bäckman claims that his rather unsuccessful appearance on an early edition of Good Morning
America caught the attention of Jim Henson, who later bought the rights to the recording
and created Bäckman's Muppet alter ego.
Bäckman's Dalecarlian accent would explain the chef's strange pronunciation.
Muppet writer Jerry Juhl denied Bäckman's story and insisted the character had no real-world
counterpart: "I wrote, rehearsed, rewrote, brainstormed, and giggled uncontrollably a
thousand times with Jim Henson as we dealt with the Swedish Chef, and I never once heard
him mention an actual Swedish chef..."
According to Brian Henson in one of his introductions for The Muppet Show, "Jim Henson had this
tape that he used to play which was 'How to Speak Mock Swedish'.
And he used to drive to work and I used to ride with him a lot.
And he would drive to work trying to make a chicken sandwich in Mock Swedish or make
a turkey casserole in Mock Swedish.
It was the most ridiculous thing you had ever seen.
And people at traffic lights used to stop and sort of look at him a little crazy.
But that was the roots of the character that would eventually become the Swedish Chef."
Reaction from Swedes Swedes generally have a negative impression
of the Swedish Chef stemming from the fact that, to Swedes, his gibberish speech sounds
very little like Swedish.
The sing-song quality of the character's mock language is suggestive of Norwegian, not Swedish,
although the two languages are closely related.
Outside of Sweden, Swedes are often asked about the Swedish Chef, causing many to become
tired of the question.
Appearances Besides appearances in The Muppet Show, the
chef also appears in The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan,
­The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years, A Muppet Family Christmas, Muppet*Vision 3D
an attraction found at several Disney Parks, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure
Island, Muppets From Space, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, Studio DC: Almost
Live, a sketch for the cast of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and an episode with Hannah
Montana star Jason Earles and Cory in the House's Jason Dolley, the Popcorn, The Muppets,
and Muppets Most Wanted.
In popular culture The Swedish Chef has been impersonated on
Saturday Night Live by Andy Samberg.
The Swedish Chef appeared in Robot Chicken episode "Federated Resources" voiced by Victor
Yerrid.
The Swedish Chef's song has been humorously misconstrued as a "scathing editorial" against
former Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork by Stephen Colbert's political commentator character
on The Colbert Report.
The interface of the Google can be viewed in several different languages by choosing
a setting in its preferences, one of them being "Bork, bork, bork!".
Several videogames, such as Guild Wars have a "Bork, bork, bork!"
language setting.
The Swedish Chef appears in The Simpsons episode "The Food Wife" voiced by Dan Castellaneta.
He is seen in Marge's dream.
When they agree that "Everything's more fun with Homer", the Chef sings in mock Swedish
about Homer.
A roller derby skater for the Windy City Rollers from Chicago uses "Bork Bork Bork" as her
skater name in competition, and uses it as a tribute to her childhood as a fan of The
Muppets.
He appears in a 2013 ESPN SportsCenter commercial with the Swedish-born New York Rangers goaltender
Henrik Lundqvist, who "understands" the chef perfectly and translates for others in the
cafeteria line.
The chef then gets angry with a patron, ESPN's Linda Cohn, who does not order what he is
making.
Vancouver Canucks Swedish goaltender Eddie Lack has an image of the Swedish Chef on the
back of his goalie mask.
See also
Cröonchy Stars Jive filter
Swedish cuisine References
External links Bork, Bork, Bork!
Mozilla Firefox add-on - Translate pages to Bork and bork unwanted things.
Google "Bork!
Bork!
Bork!"
interface Svedeesh Chef Calculator iOS App