Celebrity chef Narda Lepes inspired this post after she showed me around her one-night wonder of a kitchen on the top floor of Buenos Aires' ACA (Argentinean Automobile Club) charity dinner for ArgenInta foundation. She travels frequently to cook, so it's difficult to narrow down just one curious kitchen. Brimming with anecdotes, she and her mobile Boca De Lobo team have cooked in a carpark for a fashion designer, at Boca Juniors football club, constructed their own ovens to cater for 200 diners and dealt with tardy chorizos – the mind boggles – as well as surly waiters.
On TV screens for 25 years alongside brother Christian, Roberto Petersen has cooked in his fair share of curious kitchens. Currently in Los Petersen Vikingos on El Gourmet, I met him at Madryn Al Plato, Chubut, in July 2015, where true to form, he and Christian were sautéeing vats of prawns in garlic and olive oil on Puerto Madryn's seafront. One of his more curious culinary experiences also took place in Patagonia.
While preparing the meal itself wasn't tricky, Roberto says logistics most certainly were. "Putting together a picada at the refuge wasn't difficult but getting rucksacks filled with food for 50 guests to it… was a different story. And although this wasn't the first time I'd been to the refuge, it was the best.
With dozens of TV series, cook books and DVDs to her name, Dolli Irigoyen is one of Argentina's best-loved and most respected chefs. She's filmed on locations at numerous places such as at Perito Moreno glacier with just a chef's jacket to keep her warm; this photo of her preparing rosemary-infused kid with peppers and olives taken in San Luis in 2008, has a double-sided story to it.
Dolli says: "I was filming a series of DVDs for La Nación newspaper and had the chance to visit San Luis. I cooked outdoors in a field, where the idea was to use local ingredients such as lamb or kid, but I was also preparing that particular dish for [singer-songwriter] Fito Páez. He was recording at a studio in San Luis, so I had the chance to cook for him.
"Cooking outdoors is great fun, as is working with fire, although it can have its disadvantages. The wind, the temperature, the sun and the light all play their part when filming for TV, as you have to wait for precise moments. The challenges of cooking outdoors have their benefits, though: that dish came out marvelously plus I also cooked a peach tart in a clay oven.
"We ate outdoors with Fito on a terrace then he played some songs for me. Along with the team – cameramen, sound technicians, lighting assistants – we spent the rest of the day eating. Behind that photo, there's a whole team working, buying and assisting. And when it's like that, I cook for everyone and we all enjoy eating together.
With a slew of shows for El Gourmet TV channel under his belt, Córdoba-born chef Pedro Lambertini has filmed in much of Argentina. He set up a curious kitchen in his native Córdoba, filming Frutos de las sierras de Córdoba in 2012.
Pedro and team had to set up a makeshift kitchen in the middle of a stream. "First, we had to fix my work surface in the water so it didn't move. The idea was I'd cook on the table in the water, get out of the stream to tend the rabbit braising in stout in a pot atop the parrilla and a frying pan with pears in it, then go back to my table.