On Iron Chef the judges are shoving down courses and courses and courses of food - two full meals! And invariably there is some skinny little actress on as a celebrity judge who scarfs down all the food just as easily.
What’s the story?
I doubt the skinny little actresses eat all their food. A few bites should be sufficient for the purposes of judging.
That said – I, personally, could eat 20 Iron Chef offerings at one sitting. Those puny gourmet portions wouldn’t stand a chance 
They only take a couple of bites of each dish. You only need a taste or two to give your opinion of the flavors. Even of they do finish a selection, it’s not like we’re talking lumberjack portions here, especially if its the appetizer or the soup course.
I like this show, but some of their main ingredients lately have been stranger than usual.
ETA: I evidently type too slow! 
I recently read a long article about Iron Chef – what was it in, the Village Voice maybe? Anyway, it said that the challenger’s meal is actually served looong after the iron chef’s meal – like 30 to 90 minutes later. In fact, the challenger is given a chance to recook the whole meal, so that it’s served fresh.
I dunno about that, I have a friend who’s maybe 5’5 and MAYBE 110 pounds, probably closer to 100, and that girl can put it away like no one’s business (makes me proud 
) You wouldn’t think small girls eat that much (and I’ll grant most hollywood types probably don’t) but some can just EAT. I mean, I’ve seen this girl eat a 3-course meal plus a dessert than helped me scoff down a pizza like two hours later, so really you just never know.
I do agree that those iron chef portions are pretty small (though small gourmet stuff can sometimes be surprisingly filling!) but most likely they don’t eat the whole meal
How much octopus ink flavored ice cream can you eat.
Or raw fish sperm w/garnish?
In the Iron Chef book (yes, there was an Iron Chef book), Chairman Kaga claimed that he consumed “a total of 2,389,995 calories” during the course of the show. “I myself was forced to take a strict regimen of physical exercises.”
There you go, then.
I know the portions look small, but they’re cooking with some incredibly rich ingredients. I went to a chef’s table tasting dinner once that was about 15 tiny courses – teeny tiny portions. I didn’t eat more than a bite or two of any of them, but by the end (2 hours later) I could. not. eat. one. bite. of the fabulous (3rd) dessert in front of me, and I LOVE dessert. We’re talking a mini cookie and melon-ball sized scoop of icecream. hurk
I barely ate the next day, let alone 90 minutes later.
Me = smallish woman, healthy appetite.
I think that in a previous thread we discussed the ways that Iron Chef America is somewhat deceptive. One way is that the food cooked during the filmed hour isn’t the food served to the judges. At least one, and perhaps both, of the meals cooked by the judges is thrown out. At least one, and perhaps both, of the chefs is then told to remake his food. The remaking of the meals by the two chefs is at different times, so the judges only have to eat one chef’s food at a time. (They also pick the Iron Chef days in advance and the other Iron Chefs aren’t even there for the filming. They are told three possibilities for the secret ingredient days in advance. They don’t start cooking immediately after being told the secret ingredient. They have a while to decide on the menu and pick the rest of the ingredients from the supplies there.)
Exactly. If you look at it logically, it is the only way it could be done. A lot of their dishes would not do well after sitting around for an hour. The judges get the meal freshly cooked the way it should be. I’m not sure how the original worked.
I wrote:
> . . . the meals cooked by the judges is thrown out . . .
I meant:
> . . . the meals cooked by the chefs is thrown out . . .