For fans of TV dramas and celebrities in general, there's no way you haven't heard of famous celebrity couple Prin "Mark" Suparat and Kimberley Anne Woltemas. Ever since the couple recently announced their plan to get married after dating for over three years, fans are excited and eager to know more about the pair.
(Photos © HBO Asia)
Well, the good news is you can now feel even closer to them as HBO Asia recently launched MarkKim + Chef, a new cooking show hosted by Prin and Kimberley. It streams on HBO and HBO Go with two episodes weekly, every Friday.
Inspired by the American show Selena + Chef on HBO Max, MarkKim + Chef follows the soon-to-be-married stars on an adventure as they take on yet another commitment -- learning to cook tasty meals for each other under the tutelage of some of Thailand's top celebrity chefs. This series showcases the couple's culinary escapades and features guest appearances by their family and friends, including TV stars Rasri "Margie" Balenciaga Chirathivat and Napapa "Pat" Tantrakul.
Over the course of 10 fun-filled episodes, viewers can witness the transformation of Prin and Kimberley's culinary skills as they learn to prepare and cook a variety of dishes, with prominent guest chefs in each episode including chef Black (Phanuphon Bulsuwan) who guides them through Thai and German fusion; chef Randy (Chaichat Noprapa) who assists them in preparing a Japanese "Homakase" meal; chef Nooror Somany Steppe, owner of the renowned restaurant Blue Elephant; chef Tam (Chudaree Debhakam) who helps Kimberley with her struggle making pasta from scratch; chef Pam (Pichaya Soontornyanakij) who guides Prin in filleting a salmon; and chef Pom (Thanarak Chuto) who inspires the couple with his 40 years of experience in Chinese cuisine. The final episode features chef Willment, the executive director of the World Association of Chefs' Societies in Asia.
HBO recently held a press conference where both Prin and Kimberley talked about the making of MarkKim + Chef, as well as shared their experiences preparing a homecooked meal, how they navigated the kitchen together, overcame challenges and created lasting memories.
What can you tell us about MarkKim + Chef?
Prin: The atmosphere of this show is something very cosy. Everything is filmed at home and in our own kitchen. You will get to see us in a simple manner, chatting with each other without a script at all. Everything feels very intimate.
How do you two normally like to cook?
Prin: Personally, I'm a steak lover. But in the past when I requested it, Kim usually ended up making me stir-fried vegetables, or soup instead [laughs].
Kimberley: I love to cook, but I'm not very good at it. I can't even cut vegetables properly. So I thought it was a good time to improve my skills in the kitchen. And since learning to cook from this show, I feel our skills have increased a lot.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate each other's cooking skills prior to this show?
Kimberley: Mark is probably 4.5 [laughs].
Prin: Before, I would give her a 5. But personally, Kim is meticulous and determined. So after learning during the filming, I think she cooks a lot better now. So I'd rate her skill at about 8/10.
(Photo: Golf Thanaporn)
Since this is a cooking show, do you think viewers at home will be able to learn and get cooking tips and tricks as well?
Prin: Of course, I think viewers can watch this series and try cooking along with us.
Kimberley: Even people who are not yet skilled in cooking can understand this show easily because, from the first episode, we start cooking various dishes from the basics, almost like a kindergarten level [laughs]. However, we gradually increase the level of difficulty with each episode.
What was it like working with all these famous chefs? Was there any pressure learning from some of the greats?
Kimberley: We can't give away too many details about each episode or the guest chefs we had on the show. But I'd say it was a lot more intimidating than just cooking by ourselves. But it was super fun. Being able to get some of the greatest chefs on board with this, it just came together.
What do you think you learned most from this series?
Prin: I think I've had the opportunity to learn a lot of culinary subtleties that I didn't know about before. Especially in terms of choosing different types of ingredients to use. Normally, I didn't even know that some dishes required this kind of ingredient.
Kimberley: In the past, when I cooked my own food in the kitchen, we had help such as raw materials or some ready-made items. But after interacting with each chef, we had to learn to make almost all the ingredients ourselves from scratch. So it's not just about getting food done in the kitchen. We also understand more about the art of cooking.
