Iron Chef America : Exposed
Even with all the pom and circumstance of the opening of the show, I think the match ups are pre determined (I don't think the challenger is actually selection the competition on the spot).
Also, I think before the battle the challenger and the iron chef are given 3-4 possible secret ingredients which they would prepare for all of them. When the "secret" ingredient is revealed, they have some idea of a menu.
Also I think they only have to have one of each menu item plated before the buzzer rings.
What are other thoughts, behind the scenes ideas? rants, raves etc?
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13 Comments:
If you google "iron Chef America" there is this one article that I read all about this New York food critic/editor that was in he audience and wrote a review about it. It was interesting and there was all kinds things that he brought up all this s@#t about the filming.of the show.
pjracz10 at 9:00AM on 01/05/09
Yawn. Old news.
simon at 9:35AM on 01/05/09
I say with all seriousness: who cares? It's not the Olympics or even a college sports event. It's a staged culinary competition for television. There's no great mystery about any of the things you've noted. You can read about all of it in many places.
ccbweb at 10:37AM on 01/05/09
It's entertainment. Doesn't bother me that things are staged and/or edited for dramatic effect.
Logically, I can't imagine that it would make any sense to have all the chefs there every time. I mean, these people have other things to do. There's no sense in them showing up for nothing.
I'm a little curious whether the challengers are the ones who chose which Iron Chef they will compete against. But I don't really care, it's just a curiosity. I wouldn't be surprised if the Iron Chefs suggested competitors for themselves.
The cooking that goes on is real, and the dishes are created by the chefs and their staff, and that's all that I really care about. I mean, it's not like the producers hand them recipes.
I don't care if they're brainstorming about it three days ahead of time, and I don't care that they only plate one of each dish and the others are done later. Having them plate four dishes instead of one wouldn't make the competition any more interesting, it would just make the countertops a lot more crowded.
The resident chefs have the advantage, because they know the kitchens. They don't need to think about where to find things or how hot the wok burner is, as much as someone who has gotten a tour of the kitchen but hasn't cooked there a hundred times. They also know what sorts of things tend to score higher with the judges. Often, a challenger will forget to make the secret ingredient the "star" of the dish, while the Iron Chef will turn out plates with the secret ingredient used three different ways in the same dish. So it's not always that the Iron Chef is the better chef, but he has the home field advantage.
Overall, it's good entertainment for me, and sometimes I see ideas that I'll use later at home.
dbcurrie at 1:25PM on 01/05/09
Alton's on it. What else matters?
carolrsfMISSESTEXAS at 1:42PM on 01/05/09
@carolrsf, etc AMEN!! Alton's on it, it IS fun to watch (face it) and there is always that kitschy judging! I loved the recent one with Jamie Oliver!
hobcat57 at 3:26PM on 01/05/09
yeah but they seriously need to jetison Jeffery Steingarten. That guy is irritating squared! how does a fat guy hate everything he eats? seems like someone hates themselves.........
concreteoatmeal at 3:33AM on 01/06/09
I love it when Steingarten is on mainly because he's such an ass. He's certainly not a boring judge.
inuyaki at 5:53PM on 01/06/09
I watched it the other day with an ex-jock, a radio jerk, and a female restauranteur as judges, and my wife's question was, "Where's Steingarten?"
Give me Jeffrey, Ted, Cady and keep your pneumocephalic rap stars, ex jocks, and some of the nose in the sky cheffier-than-thou types.
As Steingarten said back in August when this same ruckus was beat to death, WHO THE F*CK CARES - IT'S THE COOKING! I grew to admire him much more when I saw those comments.
Nursie at 2:17AM on 01/07/09
The show has been modified from its original form in Japan which was more of a circus...perhaps for the better, but it remains, as stated above, primarily a form of entertainment.
By the way, when Jamie Oliver was on the program his wacky sous chef had a hard time opening those giant ostrich eggs...my point is: how many 'mis en place' stations that you know of just happen to have ostrich eggs on hand???
gutreactions at 9:47AM on 01/07/09
I gotta say...Lou Diamond Phillips was a really entertaining and surprisingly insightful judge.
inuyaki at 6:12PM on 01/07/09
The chefs get to request certain ingredients in addition to the regular items always available in the KS pantry. So perhaps Jamie Oliver asked for ostrich eggs. Why, I dunno. The thought of a giant egg ishes me out quite a bit.
RegrettableFoodie at 4:49PM on 01/10/09
Westchester Magazine (NY) did a story about a local chef who was a challenger on Iron Chef (story appeared over a year ago, can't remember who the chef was) but they revealed that the challenger gets upwards of six months to prepare menus based on 3 possible secret ingredients, so they get to prep the recipes, practice, and stock up on all the odd mise en place they'd need. Not as spontaneous as they make it look.
And not for nothing, does everyone have to challenge Flay? Doesn't anyone ever want to take on Morimoto?
spiceweasel at 3:20PM on 01/13/09