Iron Chef America

Last night I blew off what I should have been doing and watched Iron Chef America: The Series, the new show on the food channel. For years the Japanese show, Iron Chef, has been a hit in America. It’s been so popular, I’ve been amazed that the food channel hasn’t tried this sooner. Well, now that they have, I must tell one and all—It’s amazing!

The show has many improvements catering to the American audience. First, the Iron Chefs (there are three) each have great personalities and a competitive spirit. All are big American chefs, so that might come with the territory, but all also have experience on television. They know how to cater to the crowd.

Secondly, the announcers interact with the chefs in a more fluid manner (and vice versa). Commentary is provided real time (during taping) so that the iron chef or challenger can comment, joke, etc. Last episode, the commentator mispronounced the names of some chilies and challenger chef Blayless quickly corrected him.

caveat--the original iron chef did some interaction, but it was never as fluid. Part of that undoubtably has to stem from my first point.

Thirdly, at the beginning of the show, they give the viewer a graphic showing the chefs head to head. It comprises their specialties, win-loss record, etc. Perfect for our superbly competitive culture. Plus, since there are three iron chefs (southwest, Chinese, and comfort foods), it’s nice to see the specialties. French vs. Chinese cuisine is always interesting.

Finally, and probably most important to me (because this always bugged me about the Japanese version), they finally give a scorecard to the judges. This allows me to see how each chef was rated. I though chef Bayless should have won, but seeing the scorecards, I realized he lost 50-49 because Iron Chef Flay received an extra point for plating.

So, here’s my shameless plug: Watch Iron Chef America: The Series every Sunday night at 9:00pm MST rebroadcast Wednesday nights at 9.