Scene from Episode 2 of 'Milwaukee Kitchen'
Conceptual artist Paul Druecke has worked in many mediums, both in Milwaukee and nationwide. For his current project, “Milwaukee Kitchen,” he brings it home—to his own kitchen—for a unique YouTube cooking show that’s more than just cooking. In each episode, musicians, poets, friends and neighbors stop by to hang out in the kitchen with Didier Leplae as he prepares recipes from treasured cookbooks.
Druecke says a lot of things converged for the genesis of “Milwaukee Kitchen,” but the idea started brewing from the political climate at the end of 2016. “I think for anybody who is producing culture, that was a moment to kind of reflect and think about what is necessary to put into the world,” he says. “I found myself reading cookbooks and watching standup comedy and became interested in a project that could entertain and challenge its audiences.”
Leplae has a natural ease navigating the kitchen and including guests in food preparation. He is an avid reader of cookbooks, and he frequently watches cooking shows and videos. “Paul asked my wife, Kiki [Anderson], and I if we were interested in helping out with this cooking show project,” Leplae states. “He had me in mind for being a sort of host, and Kiki helping behind the camera. Allegedly, one of the reasons he thought of me is because Kiki once joked to him that I am like a male Martha Stewart.”
Choosing the recipes is a very organic process, Druecke notes, and like Leplae, he’s also fascinated by cookbooks. “A lot of people use cooking books to cook with, but they are also amazing cultural artifacts with an incredibly complicated relationship to time.” They started with a cookbook he inherited from his mother, a 1947 edition of American Woman’s Cookbook, and a recipe for panada, a European bread soup.
Just as much thought goes into choosing guests to appear on the show. Druecke looks for people who have a particular talent to share. Those who have knocked at the front door to join Leplae in the kitchen include Flora Coker, a founding member of Theater X. He credits her with subtly keeping things moving along while the film rolls.
Others that have stopped by the kitchen include Milwaukee painter Ariana Vaeth; food author Christina Ward, whose cookbook, American Advertising Cookbooks-How Corporations Taught Us To Love, Spam, Bananas and Jell-O, was featured in an episode; beloved Riverwest letter carrier Mailman Mike; food scholar Scott Barton; Milwaukee poet Margaret Noodin, who read poetry during an episode; musician Casey Seymour of Ravi/Lola; and many others. Even Druecke’s cat, Penita, makes an occasional appearance. (Her reverie is depicted in various subtitled languages as she watches the happenings in the kitchen.)
Leplae particularly enjoys getting to know all the fun and interesting people that have come on the show, and the friendly atmosphere puts people at ease. “Nothing is overly planned; things just flow naturally. It’s always amazing the funny and interesting things that people say during the course of an episode,” Leplae observes.
Druecke, Leplae and Anderson do much of the planning, but Druecke credits many others with helping to produce each episode, including Milwaukee filmmaker Laj P. Waghray. “There’s a steady stream of people who have consulted on the project,” Druecke concludes. “Really, there are too many people to thank for putting together just one episode of ‘Milwaukee Kitchen.’”
To check out episodes of Milwaukee Kitchen, visit pauldruecke.com, under the “Current Projects” tab.
