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rysara said:
I think Batali is the only one with a perfect record... correct me if I'm wrong, I don't keep up with the show at all. Morimoto rarely gets picked and I think it's funny.
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I've seen both of them lose, but I think it's funny that Batali doesn't get a lot of points for presentation, but taste is always top-notch. And MM always stupifies judges with presentation. Also, they tend to pick chefs that relate to their specialty. They aren't going to have an Italian chef from the west coast battle Bobby Flay in battle basil.

I've always wanted to see Bobby Flay in Battle: Ancho Chile.

WHY AREN'T THESE EPISODES ONLINE?! You guys bring up a sore spot for me.
 
Here is the iron chef record as of time of writing.

Win/Loss/Draw/Total Battles

Mario Batali 19 5 0 24 79.2%
Cat Cora 18 14 1 33 57.5%
Bobby Flay 30 15 2 47 66.0%
Marc Forgione 1 1 0 2 50.0%
Jose Garces 6 2 0 8 75.0%
Morimoto 19 11 1 31 62.9%
Michael Symon 19 4 1 24 81.3%
 
I don't think Batali is in the ICA lineup anymore; they no longer show him in the the intro segment of the newest episodes. I'm surprised Morimoto's winning percentage is so low, as it always seems like he blows away the competition.

I do find it curious the Japanese lady is always a judge when Morimoto is on the show... I also think the Iron Chef who will compete on a given show is predetermined; I would bet they bring them in to bang out a couple/ few shows on consequtive days. They are all busy people; no way they would show up for each show and wait to see if they are picked.
 
WildBoar said:
I don't think Batali is in the ICA lineup anymore; they no longer show him in the the intro segment of the newest episodes. I'm surprised Morimoto's winning percentage is so low, as it always seems like he blows away the competition.

I do find it curious the Japanese lady is always a judge when Morimoto is on the show... I also think the Iron Chef who will compete on a given show is predetermined; I would bet they bring them in to bang out a couple/ few shows on consequtive days. They are all busy people; no way they would show up for each show and wait to see if they are picked.
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I think you're right about Batali not being on the show anymore and i think the challengers can only pick from a list of who's available on the day of taping.Plus the secret ingredient is not so secret.
 
If you want a tell-all of the IC show, you can read this village voice article.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-02-19/restaurants/iron-chef-boyardee/

Some of the highlights:

* They use body doubles for the chefs that are not competing.
* The competing duo is known before hand as is the secret ingredient (more or less).
* They tape multiple shows on one day. (That is why that Japanese lady David mentions often has the same suit on.)
* The 'mad rush' dishes that aren't that rushed actually are not the ones tasted. They prepare the dishes again later on for judging.

That's TV I guess.

And here is an article from the challenger's point of view.

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070528/CUSTOM04/70523008

k.
 
Cool reads. Those articles are pretty much exactly how I thought the show worked. I figured they either knew a list of possible ingredients ahead of time or that they were told what "class" the ingredient was, so they could at least partially prepare. I also figure they probably have water, stock, etc. at a simmer and all the ovens on and ready to go as well. Don't know what the guy from VV was so upset about, it's obvious if you watch the show just a couple of times that things aren't exactly like they seem, and that doesn't bother me. Heck, some of the time what they plate in the show and what actually get's presented to the judges don't even look the same.

There have been a couple of times when the chefs (challengers or IC) have decided to go off the cuff and make up something as they go (usually a desert or cocktail in response to the judges or Alton saying something). Very often that doesn't work at all... well the cocktails usually don't hurt them, but every once in a while a spontaneous decision to use the ice cream machine will.
 
Well, when the secret ingredient is bacon and they go grab some Wagyu beef and rare soft cheeses, and seafood fresh from south africa...it would be criminal to actually have all that food hanging around just in case one of the chefs needs it!
 
So do you think they are given a hint of the secret ingredient and then they submit a listing of items they would like to be available, a sorta grocery list i suppose. At least thats what I always thought, wish they would do a blind reveal episode to really see how creative the chefs can be. Gets me thinking how much time the Top Chef contestants really get to prepare for the quick fires, gotta love post production editing.
 
it works like this. the challenger gets 3 possibilities of what the secret ingredient could be. they submit their recipes and menu items which are disclosed to the IC. this makes it easy to have the ingredients that are needed on hand. it also puts the battle in the hands of the IC to lose seeing as how they know what they are up against.
 
Yep, Morimoto talks about that in a Google Talks session. He said he often will do 3 episodes a season, which are all filmed in the same month. He is given a list of 3 possible ingredients for each battle, and has to prepare 5 dishes for each possible ingredient. So he has to create FORTY FIVE brilliant, television-worthy, Moritmoto-reputation-level dishes that can be made in under 1 hour, in a few weeks. Sounds exhausting.

The only thing I don't like about that show is that there is no slow cooking. Some things just take longer than one hour!
 
Has me kind of wondering how they went about it for the original Iron Chef? I think I remember seeing a book out about it some time ago but I can't help but think that they didn't do anything as much as this show does. I even remember seeing they setting up the dinning area while they were a little half way done, and they had to make ALL of the dishes. So I'm thinking that they really did eat right after they finished. Maybe someone else can chime in and give a little more light on the subject. But that is why the original will always be the best.
 
There is an idea for another show-Iron Chef Slowfood! 24 hours to transform the secret ingredient!
 
What does everyone think of the show "Chopped"? Seems like a true "black box" test.Some of the ingredients are pretty wacky though.
 
Just don't ask the guy from VV! Whata grump!
 
I love the show chopped for several reasons. The first reason is that from what I can tell they are 100% legit when it comes to surprising the competitors with the ingredients. Second, unlike Top Chef (another favorite of mine) they don't look at the last meal prepared as the end all be all, they look at the complete meal to make their final decision. I feel this second reason is why Top Chef is not my absolute favorite show currently as some of the past winners clearly had a very weak body of work. Third, my wife has a crush on Scott Conant so that is another reason why we watch :) .
 
Chopped is a fun show to watch cause I'm always thinking, mmm what would I do? I still haven't seen "Chopped All stars".It hasn't aired in Canada yet.
 
Chopped is a great format, but the judges are usually 2/3 moronic opinion-givers, and Ted Allen is MEAN.

The format is really great, it's what I actually do every day, my wife just can't get in on it.
 
A 24 hour Iron Chef would probably be all about dishes like this:
20110131-modernist-cuisine-burger-thumb-500x630-137237.jpg
 
Citizen Snips said:
i would say they probably (with the exception of MM) dont know much about knives.
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I ran into Morimoto at Korin twice, and I get the impression that he's very passionate about his knives and stones. He certainly has a lot invested in them.
 
Holla guys!

Cant find records of the Ironchef America on youtube and google gives errorish links.

maybe someone had this records in another place?
(or maybe HDD =))
actually interested in records with Morimoto.

thank you!
 
I was lucky enough to have Morimoto and his sous chef do a private demo for about 10 of us where I work. He broke down a 80 lb tuna and then did several quick sushi dishes / maki rolls. His sous chef was using some "well used" knives that he had brought with him. Morimoto himself was using an 8" ZKramer as a deba to break down some 4 lb whole fish. I took him to lunch the next day along with his sous chef but he was slightly aloof when I would ask him questions. Basically all I got out of him was that he preferred aogami to shirogami. I do have a good relationship with Inotada Productions in Osaka where Morimoto took Anthony Bourdain on his show and I have gotten several knives that I really like.
 
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