Dutch chef wins Belgian TV program Snackmasters
December 21, 2023 - The winner of the Flemish edition of SnackMasters was announced last night. In the third season of the popular program on VTM, chef Hendrik Buysse from Zeeland won the competition from seven well-known Belgian chefs. Later in 2024, the program will also be shown on RTL Z.
From Big Mac to ‘Pims Koekje’
In the 7-part series of Snackmasters, two chefs compete each time to recreate a well-known snack. Last night, in the finale, the chef from The Netherlands defeated Chef Timothy Tynes from Antwerp with his exact copy of the Pims cookie. The snack is famous for its cake batter with an orange marmalade in the center, sealed with a shell of extremely thin, shiny chocolate with the famous Pims logo inside.
In the semifinals, Buysse took on Belgian TV chef and presenter Loïc van Impe. In this episode, they reproduced Dr. Oetker's Ristorante frozen pizza mozzarella. In all, Buysse sent home 7 Belgian chefs: Wout Bru, Roger van Damme, Jelle Beeckman, Julius Persoone and Stijn Rothier.
Winner of SnackMasters 2023 and co-owner of BlendBrothers, Hendrik Buysse: "Extremely happy with the result and this culinary challenge! Normally, together with my brother (Blendbrothers) I advise chefs and restaurateurs with new culinary ideas, we develop drinks and food for the hospitality industry and publish cookbooks for hobby chefs. Working in reverse is particularly challenging, but cool that what I taste can also be sublimely replicated."
Episode one recreated the Big Mac, one of the world's most iconic snacks. From the bun, the burger, sauce, cheddar, and pickle to the iceberg lettuce. During this episode, Buysse managed to amaze the judges with his flawless reproduction of the Big Mac sauce.
Third season of SnackMasters
Snackmasters is a television program that has been broadcast by vtm since September 15, 2020. The challenge for the participating chefs is to recreate iconic snacks as well as possible within 48 hours. The presentation this time was in the hands of Belgian rapper and vlogger Jonas Van Boxstael, also known as Bockie De Repper and singer of the Dutch-language band Bazart and presenter Mathieu Terryn.
The 3rd season started on Nov. 1, 2023. It aired weekly at 8:40 p.m. on VTM and can be watched on demand for subscribers via VTM GO. Later in 2024, the program will be shown on RTL Z.
About Blend Brothers
Chef Hendrik Buysse began his career at Oud Sluis (***) and continued as chef at Edwin Vinke (Kromme Watergang **) and as sommelier at De Jonkman (**). Kamiel Buysse worked for years in the cocktail bar at Pure C (**) and then as a mixologist at The Upper Room Bar of The Jane (**). Now they are full-time Blendbrothers and travel the world.
Blendbrothers is a culinary company focused primarily on consulting, assisting chefs and restaurateurs creatively and culinarily. They have also developed several of their products for the hospitality industry such as their line of non-alcoholic Bag-in-Box cocktails VirGin by blendbrothers, sauces, cocktail foams Espumas, and artisanal croquettes.
Close collaboration between the brothers has led to trips around the world: from Brazil to Beijing and Belgrade to Bali.
In recent years, the duo has also released several cookbooks, including Eat This! (2021) Eat This Fish! (2022), and Eat This Meat! (2023).