REVIEW. Kokkedoor Vuur & Vlam on kykNET is a sizzling 13 course flamethrower TV dinner.

9 out of 10 TVs 

by Thinus Ferreira

Like a phoenix, risen from the ashes of the old, the revived Kokkedoor Vuur & Vlam reality show on kykNET and pivoting to a fire-inspired season, is both beautiful television - enjoyable to watch - and an enduring testament to the kind of high-quality TV South Africa can produce.

Kokkedoor, the long-running Afrikaans reality cooking competition show with English subtitles has been revived by kykNET (DStv 144) after four years. 

So beautiful it's done that this Homebrew Films show is the perfect 13 weeks to spend Thursday nights at 20:00 in front of the television during the remaining winter nights throughout August.

Filmed on location in the caravan park of the quaint seaside town of Struisbaai - a stone's throw from the southernmost point of Africa - the average DStv subscriber will enjoy the entertainment, drama, stress and mishaps that all sizzle up when 20 South African braai contestants come together in the custom-built studio kitchen.

It's however the meticulous attention to detail in television making that is worth watching as well and which will delight and leave in awe, everyone from film students to anyone interested in the art of crafting quality video content.

With producers Jaco Loubser and Paul Venter, Tania Reed as line producer, the astoundingly creatively gifted Sanet Olivier as director, and with Chris Lotz as a true wizardly cinematographer, the production values of Kokkedoor: Vuur & Vlam flicker as export quality thermic television.

While the majority of viewers will be(come) more invested in which of the braai contestants are doing what and how they're advancing - and who's getting eliminated - part of the unmistakable joy of watching Vuur & Vlam is in giving your attention to the way it's made: it's filmatic quality, it's entire mise-en-scène, and the elaborate behind-the-scenes production work that surely went into getting everything you see on screen, exactly to look like you see it on screen.

Together, food producer Herman Lensing, technical director Willie Naude, art director Bathoni Robinson, content producer Errieda du Toit and content directors Marcel Spaumer and Annemie Lombard appear to be a Marvel's team of TV-making superheroes - utilise everything from shadows to lighthouses, tender cuts to pumpkins and old tin cans to movingly-mined backstories to craft high-quality commercial television that is simultaneously pause-and-stare worthy TV art.

It's probably no coincidence that the judges Bertus Basson and Kobus Botha are framed with the contestants behind a long table pastiche of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper: The producers of Vuur & Vlam are literally giving the audience a visual clue that they're not just in the business of making television - they're also trying to make art that comes to life.

It seems obvious to state that after several seasons of doing Kokkedoor, Homebrew Films got the contestants mix, the pacing, the challenges, the veritable "food porn" on display, the hilarious contestant quips, the breathtaking landscape and slow-motion shots, the grading and colouring, as well as the music spot-on perfect down to a tee.

Yet it remains remarkable and wonderful to watch TV making maestros in motion, doing something right not just because they have to but have mastered the skills to and because they intrinsically love to.

Kokkedoor: Vuur & Vlam is a 13-course TV dinner served hot with delicate attention to absolutely everything. It's sizzling television.

While more South African television (sadly) isn't like this, the technical production values and what Vuur & Vlam shows on-screen is a vivid, vibrant and fiery in-your-face TV token of what's really possible and what can be made in film at the southernmost point of Africa.

ALSO READ: 21 000 pieces of rooikrans wood, 1.4 tons of meat: How kykNET's Kokkedoor: Vuur & Vlam fired up a TV food-making frenzy.

21 000 pieces of rooikrans wood, 1.4 tons of meat: How kykNET's Kokkedoor: Vuur & Vlam fired up a TV food-making frenzy.

by Thinus Ferreira

It's safe to say that the southernmost point of the African continent has never seen such a commotion as when the TV people from the city arrived in mid-April to fire up the sleepy coastal town of Struisbaai.

For five weeks, a film crew of 120 people from Homebrew Films in Cape Town and the 20 contestants fanned the flames and fired up the cameras in the caravan park of the town where the contestants were competing inside a specially-built "braai kitchen" for the fiery new reality show competition Kokkedoor: Vuur & Vlam.

Not only did the producers acquire 1.46 tons of meat but Kokkedoor: Vuur & Vlam also burnt through 21 000 pieces of rooikrans wood across the 13 episodes inside the specifically built grey building erected in the corner lot of Struisbaai's caravan park on the edge of the beach - complete with a ocean view.

Now, with the pulsating bright light of a beautiful Struisbaas lighthouse beckoning DStv subscribers to watch, Kokkedoor is back from Thursday night 27 July at 20:00 on kykNET (DStv 144) after a four-year absence - this time testing the mettle of South Africa's braai kings and queens.

The contestants hail from small towns and big places across South Africa, from places like Cradock and Wellington to Malmesbury and Aggeneys, and include a pastor, dog breeder, chartered accountant and even a former air hostess.

After its start in 2013, Kokkedoor on kykNET morphed into Koekedoor with baking, Kokkedoortjie with kids, and Koekedoortjie with kids baking. 

Now Kokkedoor: Vuur & Vlam, produced by Paul Venter and Jaco Loubser, once again with meticulous attention to detail, is literally playing with fire as 20 fiery contestants compete to become the ultimate braaimaster.

The group of 20 contestants are initially divided into 10 "remember braaiers" - people passionate about traditional dishes with no formal chef training or professional experience and selected for their skill as home cooks and their knowledge of dishes from days gone by.

Then there are also 10 "twist braaiers": people selected for their qualifications and experience in a recognised restaurant or professional kitchen.

The judges are TV chef Bertus Basson and braai expert Kobus Botha who lives in France, with food writer and TV chef Herman Lensing who is the food producer for the 13 episodes.

Within four weeks the show booked 2 352 accommodation nights within the Cape Agulhas municipality where the 120 people stayed for the duration of making this Kokkedoor season. 

Homebrew Films also worked with the Struisbaai Vaardigheidskool, a skills development project, with students who helped as part of the Kokkedoor catering team.

What the show bought for the contestants to braai was 770kg beef, 385kg lam, 185kg pork and 120kg of fresh fish - 1.46 tons of meat in total, with viewers who will once again see a beautiful and well-stocked pantry that contestants run to, to grab what they need for their competing dishes and recipes over the fire.

Homebrew Films stresses however that there wasn't wastage of food. The meat not used was reallocated for the hundreds of meals for the production team of 120 people and the meals prepared by the contestants were also donated to the school.

Sanet Olivier, director, says the latest Kokkedoor season "added flame" to the TV fire.

"Fire brings a new energy to Kokkedoor. It brings a new energy to the floor. The flames are hot. It makes people sweat. It makes people passionate. Things happen quickly and things happen real. The contestants are struggling but they are like moths to the flames". 

"People might think Kokkedoor: Vuur & Vlam is about fire and chops. It is about that but it's about heat. Flames. Ash. It's about how you understand a fire in all its facets," she says.

"Every contestant has a massive obsession with braai. They're all people you can identify with."

Errieda du Toit, back as content producer and researcher, says the contestants are confronted with braai challenges testing their braaing instincts. 

Herman Lensing says "Viewers are definitely going to look at fire with new eyes".

Bathoni Robinson, art director says the approach was not to make a reality competition show but a film.

"I imagined that we were not shooting Kokkedoor but a movie in which, coincidentally, we're making food. My approach was let's make it as authentic as possible. Let's add little touches evocative of viewers' nostalgic memories of cooking."

ALSO READ: REVIEW. Kokkedoor Vuur & Vlam on kykNET is a sizzling 13-course flamethrower TV dinner.