Thread: Iron Chef question

"Cheryl" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:4d20041f$0$27306$[email protected]..
>I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
>doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
>tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up with
>recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're cooking
>without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you have to watch
>every second of, or you miss something.

I think they do, but... I suppose they could tell them of the ingredient
ahead of time.

In article <4d20041f$0$27306$[email protected]>,
Cheryl <[email protected]> wrote:

> I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
> doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
> tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up
> with recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're
> cooking without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you
> have to watch every second of, or you miss something.

This question comes up here every year or so. I can't remember all the
details, but no, they work out all the recipes in advance, and give a
list of required ingredients, within a given budget. They don't know
what the "secret ingredient" is, but if I remember, it will be one of
two things, so they have to prepare two sets of recipes and two shopping
lists. There is a period between the unveiling of the secret ingredient
and the start of cooking, but it isn't recorded. The recipes are
prepared twice for each taping. The first is timed, and they only
produce one serving of each course. Then the whole thing is repeated,
without timing, to produce the actual food to be judged. If you watch
the show carefully, you can see that sometimes they are working on one
serving, and other times on several servings. These shots are
intermixed.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA
[email protected]

On Jan 1, 11:50*pm, Cheryl <jlhsha...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
> doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. *Resting
> tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. *Do the chefs come up
> with recipes on the fly? *They just seem to jump into what they're
> cooking without any thought. *To me, its one of those shows that you
> have to watch every second of, or you miss something.

I've always thought they made up recipes on the spur. I guess I've
always thought they did not know the ingredient of the show ahead of
time also. But I DO wonder how the "kitchens" they use are stocked
with what they need - they don't seem to have problems needing
anything.

Anyone else know any "behind the scenes" scoops?

Kris

?
"Kris" <[email protected]> wrote in
>
> I've always thought they made up recipes on the spur. I guess I've
> always thought they did not know the ingredient of the show ahead of
> time also. But I DO wonder how the "kitchens" they use are stocked
> with what they need - they don't seem to have problems needing
> anything.
>
> Anyone else know any "behind the scenes" scoops?
>
> Kris

They have a behinds the scenes at Food Network show where they tell you how
it is done. The chef's are asked about certain ingredients,. They are
also asked vague questions like, "if you had to cook seafood, what would you
want in the pantry?" That assures that a favored ingredient is in stock
should the secret ingredient happen to be a fish.

They also shoot multiple reveals of the ingredient. That gives the chef's
some time to mentally prepare once the clock starts to tick. The one hour
to complete is valid, but that is for one serving. Once the hour starts, it
is just go full speed and no time outs or breaks are given. They get
additional time to do the plating. I think that is another 30 minutes or so.
They can plate, but no additional cooking is allowed.

The chefs also have some idea of what they want to prepare. If it is a
meat, I'll make 1, 3 and 5, but if it is poultry, I'll make 3 with a
different sauce, skip 5 and do 6. In an interview, Mario Batali says he has
a good idea of what he wants to make but has to adjust one the ingredient is
revealed. The souse chefs are assigned tasks ahead of time too. They
shoot two shows a day in 8 or 10 hours. That includes setup and cleaning
between shows.

On Sat, 1 Jan 2011 21:12:34 -0800, "Julie Bove"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Cheryl" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:4d20041f$0$27306$[email protected]..
>>I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
>>doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
>>tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up with
>>recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're cooking
>>without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you have to watch
>>every second of, or you miss something.
>
>I think they do, but... I suppose they could tell them of the ingredient
>ahead of time.

Sheesh... it's NOT live TV... it's taped, it's well reheared and
heavily edited... most of the dishes on foodtv shows are pre-prepared
by others behind the scenes by folks who actually know how to cook.

I think the cooks are notified fifteen minutes ahead of time as to
what the featured ingredient will be.

There was a food TV program about Iron Chef where it was exposed that the
show got an added 20 minutes to finish off the show for some reason or
another.

Whether or not the main ingredient is known beforehand remains a mystery.
No doubt a zillion recipes would come to mind. If the Iron Chef 's main
ingredient was carrots, what would be the first recipe that comes to mind?

Andy
2011 BUM!!!

On Sat, 01 Jan 2011 23:50:25 -0500, Cheryl <[email protected]>
wrote:

> I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
> doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
> tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up
> with recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're
> cooking without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you
> have to watch every second of, or you miss something.

I think Iron Chef is one of the most boring shows on FN. They don't
put the recipes (or a facsimile) up on the website, so I will never
make those dishes - it's a complete waste of time for me.

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 09:34:10 -0800, sf <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sat, 01 Jan 2011 23:50:25 -0500, Cheryl <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>> I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
>> doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
>> tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up
>> with recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're
>> cooking without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you
>> have to watch every second of, or you miss something.
>
>I think Iron Chef is one of the most boring shows on FN. They don't
>put the recipes (or a facsimile) up on the website, so I will never
>make those dishes - it's a complete waste of time for me.

Iron Chef is the Gong Show of foodtv.
And anyway it's totally fixed/rigged.
Doesn't matter who wins/loses, it's
all about exposure.

> Iron Chef is the Gong Show of foodtv. *
> And anyway it's totally fixed/rigged.
> Doesn't matter who wins/loses, it's
> all about exposure.

And the Japanese version I always felt was awfully cheesy, from the
announcers who sound like they're calling a baseball game to the
Chairman Kaga character, who acts and dresses like some sort of uber-
villain from a martial arts movie, the kind of guy Bruce Lee would
fight and defeat at the very end of the movie after he took out all
the henchmen.

I watch cooking shows to learn new recipes or techniques. Much like
the cake competition shows on the Food Network, I get neither from
watching Iron Chef. I doubt too many people see a chef make baked
squid with a papaya and pomegranate sauce and topped with capers and
shaved truffles on Iron Chef and want to duplicate it at home. I've
never seen anything made on that show that really looked appealing,
like something I would actually want to eat.

Michael wrote about Iron Chef:

> I watch cooking shows to learn new recipes or techniques. Much like the
> cake competition shows on the Food Network, I get neither from watching
> Iron Chef. I doubt too many people see a chef make baked squid with a
> papaya and pomegranate sauce and topped with capers and shaved truffles on
> Iron Chef and want to duplicate it at home. I've never seen anything made
> on that show that really looked appealing, like something I would actually
> want to eat.

You might like doing what I do: When the "secret" ingredient is revealed,
pause the program and figure out what *you* would make if you had to make a
dinner centered around that ingredient. Then watch what the competitors do,
and see if anything there unlocks an ingredient's potential in a way you
hadn't considered.

Bob

On 1/2/2011 4:52 PM, Michael O'Connor wrote:
>
>> Iron Chef is the Gong Show of foodtv.
>> And anyway it's totally fixed/rigged.
>> Doesn't matter who wins/loses, it's
>> all about exposure.
>
> And the Japanese version I always felt was awfully cheesy, from the
> announcers who sound like they're calling a baseball game to the
> Chairman Kaga character, who acts and dresses like some sort of uber-
> villain from a martial arts movie, the kind of guy Bruce Lee would
> fight and defeat at the very end of the movie after he took out all
> the henchmen.
>
> I watch cooking shows to learn new recipes or techniques. Much like
> the cake competition shows on the Food Network, I get neither from
> watching Iron Chef. I doubt too many people see a chef make baked
> squid with a papaya and pomegranate sauce and topped with capers and
> shaved truffles on Iron Chef and want to duplicate it at home. I've
> never seen anything made on that show that really looked appealing,
> like something I would actually want to eat.

Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled with
chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.

--
Currently Reading: Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold

On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:47:15 -0500, ravenlynne
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled with
> chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
> think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.

Was panettone the secret ingredient?

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On 1/2/2011 6:25 PM, sf wrote:
> On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:47:15 -0500, ravenlynne
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled with
>> chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
>> think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.
>
> Was panettone the secret ingredient?
>


No, I can't remember the ingredient....maybe the berries? I was sitting
with scott watching and I said "I could do that...that's simple" and
went and did it after a trip to the store the next day. It was great.
--
Currently Reading: Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold

On 1/2/2011 6:25 PM, sf wrote:
> On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:47:15 -0500, ravenlynne
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled with
>> chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
>> think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.
>
> Was panettone the secret ingredient?
>

I'm remembering now..it was the one where the iron chefs were teamed up
with tv chefs...he was with Rachel ray...they were vs
Flay/laurentis...He called it zuppa inglese.

--
Currently Reading: Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold

On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 18:33:45 -0500, ravenlynne
<[email protected]> wrote:

> On 1/2/2011 6:25 PM, sf wrote:
> > On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:47:15 -0500, ravenlynne
> > <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >> Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled with
> >> chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
> >> think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.
> >
> > Was panettone the secret ingredient?
> >
>
> I'm remembering now..it was the one where the iron chefs were teamed up
> with tv chefs...he was with Rachel ray...they were vs
> Flay/laurentis...He called it zuppa inglese.

Ever since someone mentioned it here, I've been thinking about making
bread pudding using panettone.

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On 1/1/2011 6:50 PM, Cheryl wrote:
> I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
> doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
> tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up
> with recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're
> cooking without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you have
> to watch every second of, or you miss something.
>

The original Iron Chef was pretty much in keeping with Japanese TV game
shows - outrageous and silly with fantasy elements. The dubbed version
shown in the US kept the silliness of the original and introduced us to
the idea of cooking as a battle and showed us things we've never seen
before. Iron Chef American may have run it's course because we've seen
it all these days but the fact remains that Iron Chef pretty much
changed the face of cooking programming in this country.

What you should also know is that travelogue shows that visit food
regions and eateries and chefs have been a staple for Japanese TV for as
long as I remember.

On 1/2/2011 1:21 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

> They have a behinds the scenes at Food Network show where they tell you
> how it is done. The chef's are asked about certain ingredients,. They
> are also asked vague questions like, "if you had to cook seafood, what
> would you want in the pantry?" That assures that a favored ingredient
> is in stock should the secret ingredient happen to be a fish.
>
> They also shoot multiple reveals of the ingredient. That gives the
> chef's some time to mentally prepare once the clock starts to tick. The
> one hour to complete is valid, but that is for one serving. Once the
> hour starts, it is just go full speed and no time outs or breaks are
> given. They get additional time to do the plating. I think that is
> another 30 minutes or so. They can plate, but no additional cooking is
> allowed.
>
> The chefs also have some idea of what they want to prepare. If it is a
> meat, I'll make 1, 3 and 5, but if it is poultry, I'll make 3 with a
> different sauce, skip 5 and do 6. In an interview, Mario Batali says he
> has a good idea of what he wants to make but has to adjust one the
> ingredient is revealed. The souse chefs are assigned tasks ahead of
> time too. They shoot two shows a day in 8 or 10 hours. That includes
> setup and cleaning between shows.

This answers my questions! Thanks Ed!

On 1/2/2011 6:33 PM, ravenlynne wrote:

> On 1/2/2011 6:25 PM, sf wrote:
>> On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:47:15 -0500, ravenlynne
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled with
>>> chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
>>> think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.
>>
>> Was panettone the secret ingredient?
>>
>
> I'm remembering now..it was the one where the iron chefs were teamed up
> with tv chefs...he was with Rachel ray...they were vs
> Flay/laurentis...He called it zuppa inglese.
>

That's one of the few I've seen. I can't remember the dishes they
cooked. Glad you had good results recreating one of them. Since, as sf
pointed out, no recipes given, so it could be just a useless show for some.