Iron Chef America - Your Thoughts (About Details)

[wintersummer]

I like to watch Iron Chef America but am puzzled by some things. Yes, I know it's just TV and that we have to suspend reality, but every time I watch it, I wonder about a few things. I'd like to know what you think. Here are my questions:

Is it really a "secret" ingredient? When they show the secret ingredient, there are (on occasion) looks of surprise on the chef's faces, like they were really surprised. If the ingredient is "secret", why is it that they have the very specific and often fairly obscure ingredients (and sometimes equipment) to use to pair with the secret ingredient?

More on "secret" ingredient: Where in the preparation time do they find all the plating dishes that they will use? There's always a plate that meets the specific requirements of the food they've prepared (for instance, one with three compartments). They get points for plating and the type of plate is important. But, it seems like plates/dishes that they used to present their food have already been selected....like they knew the dish in advance.

In the minutes left before time is up, there's always a frenzy of activity to get the dish plated and garnished. But, they only plate one plate of each recipe. When the judges are judging food, eat has a plate, plus the chairman has a plate. When do the other 3 dishes get plated?

Some food items are finished early in competition. I've even seen them fry food items early in the 60 minutes. Are the judges eating cold food by the time it is presented to them? Doesn't the contestant that presents their food 2nd have a temperature disadvantage?

There was a show called something like "secrets of the iron chef competition" on food tv about 4 months ago. It didn't answer one of my questions! Can you?

[mrswaz]

I do know that the Iron Chefs and challengers bring their own serving dishes with them.

I would think that they would have a general idea as to what type of dishes they'd like to prepare, and then they have to hope that the secret ingredient would be adaptable. I recall hearing Mario rattle of a list once at the beginning of a battle- a basic list like "ravioli, ceviche, tempura, and braised." So if they are already planning on doing something like a ravioli. it would be easy to adapt to the secret ingredient.

I remember reading a behind the scenes of Iron Chef where they took us shopping, and each chef- both Iron and Challenger, provide a rather extensive list of the ingredients they want available to them, plus there is the standard Iron Chef pantry ingredients. I remember them saying that Morimoto's were always the most expensive because he always called for the obscure Asian ingredients and the freshest seafood.

[SueK]

Here is an interesting article regarding the competition from this past week. It goes into detail about how they do know what the choices might be for the secret ingredient, etc. I saw this link on eGullet:

http://www.austin360.com/food_drink/content/food_drink/stories/2006/10/4ironchef.html

[zwieback]

Here are a couple of interesting links regarding Iron Chef America:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Chef_America

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8717337/

[wintersummer]

Sue - Well, I can now rest over the whole issue of "secret" ingredient. The article helps me understand the show much better and answers most of my questions. It always seemed like there was advance preparation involved because of the complexity of the dishes. Thanks so much for the link.

[pjnorlander]

goes into detail about how they do know what the choices might be for the secret ingredient, etc.http://www.austin360.com/food_drink/content/food_drink/stories/2006/10/4ironchef.html

Oh my gosh - I KNEW it! I'm so relieved to have my suspicions confirmed. Whew! It's such a good show, I'm also going to keep watching! Thanks for the great link!

[cocoa'smom]

Oh my gosh - I KNEW it! I'm so relieved to have my suspicions confirmed. Whew! It's such a good show, I'm also going to keep watching! Thanks for the great link!

This episode was on last night and I fell asleep right before they announced the winner. Can someone tell me who won? I thought it should be David Bull.

Oops - I posted the wrong quote - meant to post this quote from SueK:

"Here is an interesting article regarding the competition from this past week. It goes into detail about how they do know what the choices might be for the secret ingredient, etc. I saw this link on eGullet:

http://www.austin360.com/food_drink.../4ironchef.html

[SueK]

This episode was on last night and I fell asleep right before they announced the winner. Can someone tell me who won? I thought it should be David Bull.

Oops - I posted the wrong quote - meant to post this quote from SueK:

"Here is an interesting article regarding the competition from this past week. It goes into detail about how they do know what the choices might be for the secret ingredient, etc. I saw this link on eGullet:

http://www.austin360.com/food_drink.../4ironchef.html
David Bull lost.

[krhm]

Thanks for posting the links...that answers a lot of my questions too!

[schuh]

wintersummer, I had some of the same questions as you.
SueK, thanks for posting that link. That article was very interesting.

The only question remaining, as far as I can tell, is the one about plating. Do they plate one dish or five?

[SheRa]

my friend works at a restaurant whose chef is going to be on Iron Chef America in soon, and he told me that they tell them the secret ingredient 2 weeks ahead of time. LAME!!

[krhm]

wintersummer, I had some of the same questions as you.
SueK, thanks for posting that link. That article was very interesting.

The only question remaining, as far as I can tell, is the one about plating. Do they plate one dish or five?

This is just a guess, but I wonder if the rule is that they must plate one of each dish during the 60 minutes? Then they have time to do the others, but the exact same way?

I always wonder about the food getting cold!