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The Swedish Chef is a Muppet who appeared in the long-running '' The Muppet Show '' and was operated by Jim Henson and Frank Oz simultaneously. CHARACTER A parody of televised Cooking Show s, 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 begin with him in a kitchen, waving some utensils while singing his signature song in a trademark mock " does not exist in Swedish—it is a Danish/Norwegian letter whose Swedish equivalent is " ö "—the Chef's trademark word is nearly universally represented as "Børk". His pronunciation, however, more closely resembles "book book book".) After this introduction, the Chef continues speaking gibberish while preparing a particular recipe. His commentary is spiced with the occasional English word to clue the viewer in to what he is attempting. These clues are necessary as he frequently uses unorthodox culinary equipment (firearms, tennis racquets, etc.) to prepare his dishes. The sketch typically degenerates into a Slapstick finale where the ingredients or equipment 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's Gibberish gained a life of its own with the creation of a Unix Lex filter capable of converting standard English to "chefspeak" in 1992 . The filter quickly became a staple of Hacker culture and eventually spread to the mainstream with "Swedish Chef" translators on several websites such as Google . In 2003 Opera Software published a special "Bork" version of its Internet Browser which turned the MSN website into "Swedish." Mozilla Firefox also contains a popular add-on, called "Bork Bork Bork!", which allows the selective "translation" of text from web pages of the user's choice. It is sometimes said that The Swedish Chef character is based on real life Swedish chef . MERCHANDISING The first Swedish Chef merchandise item was a ceramic coffee mug produced by Kilncraft in the UK in 1978 . It was part of a series of 12 featuring various Muppet Show characters, and featured coloured line drawings on either a white or beige ceramic cup. In 1980 , Jones New York offered a small collection of blue and yellow Swedish Chef kitchen linens including an apron, pot holders, and toaster cover. Miss Piggy linens in pink were also available. From 1988 to 1989 , the Swedish Chef had his own short-lived Breakfast Cereal for sale in Grocery Store s, called " Cröonchy Stars ." Croonchy Stars brought with it a small variety of Swedish Chef items, most notably a stuffed Chef doll complete with non-removable wooden rolling pin and spoon. There was also a coffee mug bearing a picture of the Chef and the logos of Post Cereal and Cröonchy Stars. In 2000 , German company Igel released a large (35cm) plush Swedish Chef as part of the second wave of its stuffed Muppets line. In addition, there was a life-sized version available measuring nearly five feet tall. Though expensive, the huge Chef proved popular enough with collectors that the line was expanded the following year with five-foot plush versions of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Animal, Statler, and Waldorf. Also in 2000, UK food chain Little Chef released a small toy car called Swedish Chef's Sporty Sponge (the Chef riding a cake on wheels) as part of line of promotional Muppet Corgi cars. 2002 was celebrated as the 25th anniversary of The Muppet Show, which brought a flurry of new Muppet toys and collectables. Included in this was a line of action figures from Palisades Toys, which would run through 2005 and grow to include many dozens of figures. Palisades' Swedish Chef items include:
In 2003 , Sideshow Collectables offered a Swedish Chef bust statue as part of the third wave of its line of Muppet busts. With the Muppets characters being owned by Disney as of late 2004 , there is reason to believe that there will be a healthy amount of merchandise for the Chef and other Muppets in the foreseeable future. Other modern Swedish Chef items include yet another plush doll (this time a smaller 18" one), a Disney metal lapel pin, and a small tin of mints. STAMP The United States Postal Service released a Souvenir Sheet featuring Jim Henson and ten Muppets including the Swedish Chef in 2005 . {Link without Title} TYPICAL EPISODES
: The Chef announces he will be making ).
: While making a salad, the Chef demonstrates his unique technique for shredding: the "Boom-Boom," a nineteenth-century Pistol , which he uses for chopping the vegetables after throwing them into the air. The whole process is observed by a curious Statler And Waldorf , who comment on the rather unorthodox cooking style saying "If I did his food , I'd be dead."
: The Chef's attempt to cook a Lobster is ambushed by a gang of pistol-wielding moustachioed lobsters wearing sombreros and muttering in a quasi-Mexican dialect. They manage to free the victim from the pot, and intimidate the Chef by shooting the Cleaver out of his hand.
: Once again the Boom-Boom is in action, this time used to create donuts from muffins. ("Zee de moofin? Ond ik will mit de boome shooten!")
: Chef says he will be serving "bouncing" meatballs. He then proceeds to hit several with a tennis racket. TRIVIA
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