Gothamist Interviews Food Critic and 'Iron Chef' Detractor Robert Sietsema
Gothamist interviews Village Voice restaurant critic Robert Sietsema just ahead of his Choice Eats food festival tonight:
You recently wrote a cover story for the Voice about how bogus Iron Chef is. What are some of the responses you’ve gotten to that article? I was delighted by the responses, especially the thoughtful flames—but some flamers went off their nut, either because they really love the Iron Chef, or because they have a vested (and often undisguised) interest in the show or the network. The funniest responses came from crybaby Iron Chef judges.... I approached the taping as an interested occasional watcher of the show, and I really assumed it was some sort of contest, no matter how manipulated. The argument that everyone knows TV is fake doesn’t hold water. What would you say if you learned every NBA game was fixed, and that the players had carefully rehearsed the sequence of plays—including ball turnovers—according to a script?
Related: Iron Cheffing (and Judging) Are Legit (If Imperfect)
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5 Comments:
It's kind of weird to turn lack of research into a virtue.
zamboni at 10:35AM on 03/11/08
I believe I may be one of the crybaby judges my friend Robert refers to. I think I'll leave the whole discussion right there, but I do feel compelled to point out that Mr. Sietsema's analogy to fixed NBA games does not hold water. The word fixed denotes a predetermined outcome. Iron Chef is not fixed in any way, shape, or form. 'Nuff said.
Ed Levine at 10:38AM on 03/11/08
I was not so shocked to learn that the contestants know ahead of time which three ingredients to expect in order for them to plan a menu. The biggest disappointment in his revelations was that the judges don't eat the food we see prepared during the "competition". To me that invalidates the whole thing. When rushing to complete the dishes, errors in cooking temperature, seasoning etc. are not taken into account. The way the show is packaged and presented to the viewer, you are led to believe that the food prepared is the food tasted. That is dishonest and to me ruins the whole premise.
I have planned an Iron Chef battle with a friend of mine this summer, and the conditions under which we plan to wage war will be much more difficult as the food we cook will be the food eaten by our "judges". The time constraints will be real. Now, whenever I watch the show, I'm just like, whatever, the food could taste like sh!t and it wont matter. The sous chefs will make it over again for the judges, perfectly.
Ed, no matter how you sugar-coat it, it's LAME.
seyo at 1:09PM on 03/11/08
I think all that an intelligent food person has to think of is Robert Irvine to know and acknowledge that the Food Network Iron Chef America is on par with Celebrity Apprentice and the Bachelor: a nonsensical reality show that is scripted! Food Network has fallen far below the bar that originally began as a network to influence, to teach and to highlight food as PBS does and continues to do.
If I go back in memory to the shows that first aired on The Food Network and the intellect it took to make those shows, it encourages one to reminisce when Dean Fearing had his show, when Mario taught us, when a nation learned what it was to cook with the Two Hot Tamales...now we watch bloggers do live interviews geared to fourteen year olds, the dumming down of America's Food Network reflects the current Food Network
blondee47 at 1:33PM on 03/11/08
Yea, hard to side with you on this one Ed.
Most of us know the NBA analogy is kind of weak, but if you really want to defend it, let's hear about the things Seyo mentioned.
1. Knowing the ingredients.
2. Time restraints
3. Package and presentation. If the FN stands by it, why not let a third party do a behind the scenes? If it is really 60 min, if it is really cooked right there and not re cooked, what is the big deal?
Most people will admit that it is just a TV show, but if you took a poll of ICA viewers, do you actually believe that there are not people who actually believe it takes 60 min? And that the secret is a real secret?
foodinmouth at 2:45PM on 03/11/08