History Main / LethalChef

** Astrid in the ChristmasEpisode ''Gift of the Night Fury''. Her idea of Yak Nog will ''probably'' not last as a [[YouMeanXmas Snoggletog]] tradition.

* In ''Animation/HappyHeroes'', Sweet S. is shown on multiple occasions to be absolutely terrible at cooking, to the point where it's been said that her cooking is essentially a biological weapon. The other heroes and Doctor H. do everything in their power to keep themselves from having to eat dinner whenever Sweet S. prepares it.

Compare the CordonBleughChef, who can cook just fine, but often gets too creative, the OneNoteCook, who can ace one dish, but otherwise falls into this trope, and the EvilChef, who makes meals like this on purpose just to see you suffer. See also LethallyStupid when the character is so dumb that it would be dangerous to let him cook. Contrast the SupremeChef, who is the exact opposite of this trope, the AngryChef, who has nothing but contempt for his customers and peers (and will probably reserve his nastiest profanities for chefs like this), and the ChefOfIron, who can be either bad or good, but is lethal ''outside of'' their cooking. Not to be confused with actual homicide by cooking, which is CookedToDeath.

As you may have guessed, this is usually a comedy trope. In eastern media, most examples are female (emphasizing that they fail at [[FeminineWomenCanCook an aspect of traditional femininity]], or femininity in general, or that they're something of an ActionGirl), but there are a ton of male examples in western media, probably tying in to the assumption that MenCantKeepHouse and DadsCantCook.

* In ''LetsPlay/TwitchPlaysPokemonEmerald'', the Mob tried their hand at making Pokeblocks. The result were level 10-11 Pokeblocks with 19-23 feel. Higher numbers are worse, and it used to be thought that you couldn't make anything higher than a level ''9'' Pokeblock. To quote Twitch Plays Pokemon's own EpicFail page: "So what we have is a previously incomprehensibly bad tasting Pokeblock that goes down worse than sandpaper embedded with razors." Then, in [[LetsPlay/TwitchPlaysPokemonPlatinum the Platinum run]], they tried to make Poffins, which it turned out they couldn't do. ''Literally'' - they were unable to stir the mixture due to the input format and ended up burning their creations horribly.

There are a number of common variants. Sometimes someone is forced to stomach the lethal chef's food to avoid hurting their feelings. Sometimes they refuse to admit that they can't cook, despite mountains of evidence. And sometimes, if you're particularly lucky, their food merely ''looks'' bad, and tastes perfectly fine.

* During the [=InVasion=] angle, Debra started baking cookies that were, judging by the reactions of people that tasted them, inedible to the point of being practically poisonous. The problem was that she was married to Wrestling/SteveAustin. As he was the star wrestler of the Alliance it was imperative that Austin be kept happy, and since one of his dozens of {{Berserk Button}}s was being disrespectful to his wife, people had to pretend to like Debra's cookies. The gag where someone pretends to eat and then throws it away as soon as nobody's looking was used regularly.

Compare the CordonBleughChef, who can cook just fine, but often gets too creative, the OneNoteCook, who can ace one dish, but otherwise falls into this trope, and the EvilChef, who makes meals like this on purpose just to see you suffer. See also LethallyStupid when the character is so dumb that it would be dangerous to let him cook. Contrast the SupremeChef, who is the exact opposite of this trope, the AngryChef, who has nothing but contempt for his customers and peers (and will probably reserve his nastiest profanities for chefs like this), and the ChefOfIron, who can be either bad or good, but is lethal ''outside of'' their cooking.

Sometimes their food merely tastes bad. However, it has also been known to cause nausea, vomiting, or hospitalization. If you're [[EpicFail particularly unlucky]], it can cause, [[ScrewballSerum well, just about anything]]. If [[RussianReversal dinner eats you]], you're probably in a lethal chef's kitchen.

%% Image and caption selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1303238896005465200
%% Please do not change or remove either without starting a new thread.
%% When changing a quote, please place the previous quote in the quote page.

%% Commented-out examples are Zero Context Examples. Please do not re-add them without adding context.

** In episode 426, Jonie is shown to be a terrible cook, with the food she makes for the other goats causing even Paddi, ''who is ObsessedWithFood and a BigEater'', to stumble on the floor.

* The Swedish Chef of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' is generally a unique example of this (i.e. his cuisine is lethal to him), but he occasionally plays it straight — in one instance, he went into cordon bleugh territory and made an onion cake; in another, he provided a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wtG5NI2HLc quite literal example]].

* In ''Radio/TheNavyLark'' Able Seaman "Fatso" Johnson's pies prove to be rather convincing as limpet mines, and less edible.

* In ''Radio/CabinPressure'', Arthur consistently fails to cook edible food. At one point, he spectacularly fails at reheating frozen food. Unfortunately for everyone, he's usually the cook.
-->'''Douglas:''' Arthur, you're aware the point of giving us separate meals is so that we can't both get food poisoning? There's really not much point if you're just going to poison us in two different ways.
* Radio/RidersRadioTheater: Sidemeat's biscuits are the hardest substance known to man.

* The entire plot of ''Theatre/{{Nunsense}}'' is set into motion in the aftermath of Sister Julia, Child of God, having killed all but five of the Little Sisters of Hoboken with a tainted batch of vichyssoise soup.
* In ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', Thenardier uses horse kidneys and cat's livers to make the food he serves.

* ''Wiki/{{Killerbunnies}}'': Gunhilde, otherwise known as "Greasestain" is one of these and, apparently, she isn't safe eating her own cooking, seeing as she uses "unconventional" ingredients and the fact she's suffering from some of the side-effects (she's balding as per her profile pic). Somehow, [[FridgeHorror she got a job as a lunch lady.]]

* ''Literature/{{Plonqmas}}'': Many of the stories in this series involve Plonq attempting to prepare an IndestructibleEdible for his holiday meal, which are normally [[IndestructibleEdible variants on "Christmas Dinner-in-a-Bag"]].

* Swedish [=YouTube=] channel Webvideo/MonteFjanton has the series ''Basses Rätt i Skafferiet'', where Basse cooks disgusting food and makes his friends eat it.

* An ancient Chinese story tells of a comatose general being saved from hunger by two beggars. The dish in itself was terrible (consisting of trampled spinach, rotten beancurd and non-potable water), but he didn't notice because he was semi-conscious, instead thinking it delicious. When he became emperor, he ordered said beggars to present said meal to his ministers. Afraid to lose face, they all gulped it down. The Emperor, realizing how horrible the dish was, still drank it all. The two beggars ended up rich.

* In ''Pinball/AmericasMostHaunted,'' Julienne Sikes, former cook of the Old Prison, is implied to be one by the epitath on her tombstone.

* In ''Radio/TheMenFromTheMinistry'' Mr. Lamb's landlady Mrs. Bradby makes consistenly terrible food. At one point Lamb describes having shepherds pie and rhubarb custard... on the same plate.

* This is the story behind the old Halfling Hot Pot Catapult in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}''. [[{{Hobbits}} Halflings]] are normally {{Supreme Chef}}s, but once upon a time a team of Halfling cooks attached to an Empire army got caught up in an ambush by goblins. The plucky little cooks defended themselves with meat cleavers, but some goblin blood got in the stew, thoroughly ruining it. The head chef then snapped, dumped all the peppers and spices he had into the pot, looped ropes around the bubbling cauldron, had his team haul back on it, then fired the thing like a slingshot into the middle of the goblin horde. The resulting mixture not only scalded greenskins to death, it was strong enough to melt trolls! This ended up saving the day, and in subsequent campaigns many halfling cooks have contributed during battles with their own attempts at weaponized stew, though even the original chef never could quite remember what he put into that first batch.

* "Cement pizza? Newbies, please!" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVnXxCa3F-M This well known O Fortuna Misheard Lyrics video]] fits, if accidentally (it has even a deadly cake at the end).

* LethalChef/WebOriginal

* {{LethalChef/Film}}

-->'''Douglas''': Arthur, you’re aware the point of giving us separate meals is so that we can't both get food poisoning? There’s really not much point if you’re just going to poison us in two different ways.

-->-- '''Invidia''', ''[[Literature/CodexAlera First Lord's Fury]]'', on the Vord Queen's cooking

!!Sub-pages and examples:

[[folder:Asian Animation]]

--->Our old mess sergeant's taste buds had been shot off in the war\\

It makes a fellow proud to be a soldier.

--->So though for breakfast she makes coffee that tastes like shampoo,\\

And I love her.

[[folder:Pinball]]
* In ''Pinball/AmericasMostHaunted,'' Julienne Sikes, former cook of the Old Prison, is implied to be one by the epitath on her tombstone.

[[folder:Religion]]
* From ''Literature/TheBible'': Somebody in [[Literature/BooksOfKings 2nd Kings 4:38-41]] finds a strange batch of gourds that he nearly poisons others with by making them into a stew. Fortunately, Elisha the prophet with the help of God makes the stew harmless to eat.
[[/folder]]

* LethalChef/{{Webcomics}}

* LethalChef/WebComics

Some people cannot cook. They burn breakfast so bad that you lose your lunch preemptively. When they cook dinner, you can only think of [[IncrediblyLamePun dessert-ing]]. EvenTheRatsWontTouchIt. Sometimes, if you're lucky, they can cook something that can be charitably described as "food."

Sometimes their food merely tastes bad. However, it has also been known to cause nausea, vomiting, or hospitalization. If you're particularly unlucky, it can cause, [[ScrewballSerum well, just about anything.]] If [[RussianReversal dinner eats you]], you're probably in a lethal chef's kitchen.

There are a number of common variants. Sometimes someone is forced to stomach the lethal chef's food to avoid hurting their feelings. Sometimes they refuse to admit that they can't cook, despite mountains of evidence. And sometimes, if you're particularly lucky, their food merely looks bad, and tastes perfectly fine.

Compare the CordonBleughChef, who can cook just fine, but often gets too creative, the OneNoteCook, who can ace one dish, but otherwise falls into this trope, and the EvilChef, who makes meals like this on purpose just to see you suffer. See also LethallyStupid when the character is so dumb that it would be dangerous to let him cook. Contrast the SupremeChef, who is the exact opposite of this trope, the AngryChef, who has nothing but contempt for his customers and peers (and will probably reserve his nastiest profanities for chefs like this), and the ChefOfIron, who can be either bad or good but is lethal ''outside of'' their cooking.

Sometimes their food merely tastes bad. However, it has also been known to cause nausea, vomiting or hospitalization. If you're particularly unlucky, it can cause, [[ScrewballSerum well, just about anything.]] If [[RussianReversal dinner eats you]], you're probably in a lethal chef's kitchen.

Compare the CordonBleughChef who can cook just fine, but often gets too creative, the OneNoteCook who can ace one dish, but otherwise falls into this trope, and the EvilChef who makes meals like this on purpose just to see you suffer. See also LethallyStupid when the character is so dumb it would be dangerous to let him cook. Contrast the SupremeChef, who is the exact opposite of this trope, the AngryChef who has nothing but contempt for his customers and peers(and will probably reserves his nastiest profanities for chefs like this), and the ChefOfIron, who can be either bad or good but is lethal outside of their cooking.

%%* The Alka Seltzer commercial a mans wife enjoys cooking more than his stomach can handle!

* The Swedish Chef of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' is generally a unique example of this (i.e. his cuisine is lethal to him), but he occasionally plays it straight- in one instance he went into cordon bleugh territory and made an onion cake; in another, he provided a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wtG5NI2HLc quite literal example]].
* Ma Gorg in ''Series/FraggleRock'', it seems. In one episode, she makes Junior a peach-and-garlic pie (which is [[BizarreTasteInFood just the way he likes it]], apparently) but when he tries to eat it, it's like rubber, ''literally''. Fortunately, the pie isn't wasted; later, when the Fraggles have to sneak into the Gorg's house, they're able to do so by using it like a trampoline

Compare the CordonBleughChef who can cook just fine, but often gets too creative, the OneNoteCook who can ace one dish, but otherwise falls into this trope, and the EvilChef who just likes to see you suffer. See also LethallyStupid when the character is so dumb it would be dangerous to let him cook. Contrast the SupremeChef, who is the exact opposite of this trope, the AngryChef who has nothing but contempt for his customers and peers, and the ChefOfIron, who can be either bad or good but is lethal outside of their cooking.

* "[[EveryoneHatesFruitcake Miss Fogarty's Christmas cake.]]" from the song of the same name, was apparently bad enough to hospitalize a number of fully grown men with everything from stomach ailments to a full-blown dissociative fugue.

* The Irish Rovers: "Could kill a man twice after eating a slice of Miss Fogarty's Christmas cake."