I started watching the show a few months ago and now I’m hooked. In fact, I read that there was a mystery battle between one of the Iron Chefs and a Food Network chef in New York City.
I wanted this thread to include theories on the contestants, ingredients, etc. featured in that battle.
Here’s my idea–
Emeril v. Morimoto
Garlic Battle
Outcome: Emeril “bams” Morimoto to a victory.
I only watched this show once, after eating too many marijuana brownies. I’d like to see it again, with a clear head.
The translations gave the entire show a campy entertainment feel to it. Do you watch it because you are seriously into cuisine, or because it is just a tad off-kilter?
My SO and I are addicted to Iron Chef. We didn’t hear about the stateside taping until after the fact, but we want to find out if they are going to tape in the US again so we can go. The web site isn’t very helpful, though.
I speculate that the battle was between Morimoto (he’d probably be in NY anyway because of his restaurant), and the guy (whose name I can’t remember) who is on East Meets West.
Those who do not learn from history are condemned to fail the class. --A WallyM7 creation
FUQUI-SAN!!!
I am addicted to this show. The drama, the honor; after all, who ever wins will live on in the peoples’ memory forever!
The dubbing only adds to it. I have found that I often forget that it is dubbed. I have no doubt that the people are just as breathless and excited in the native Japanese.
My favorite exchange of dialog is:
“FUQUI-SAN!”
“GO OHTA!”
“THE IRON CHEF HAS STOLEN ALL OF THE FEMALE ASPARAGUS!”
Oh, the drama of it all!
SPOILER BELOW(I know for sure who is battling)
BTW, the American chef that is featured on the USA show is none other than Bobby Flay. He is so freaking obnoxious I hope Iron Chef Japanese turns his blow torch on him. As Bobby Flay is known for his grilling, I bet it is some kind of meat.
Dizzy
Animals are crapping in our houses! What, did we lose a war?
I’ve seen this show a couple of times and it’s pretty entertaining. The recipes seem so damn exotic (bean curd and mango soup? Sardine sorbet?) that I’m sure it’s more popular for its goofy appeal than for the seriousness of the food.
I mean, the judges and the wizard/mc guy all take the whole thing so seriously. And then the commentators - (“Kaizan - I think he forgot to add the artichokes!” GAAASP! Ooh!). And then there are the ludicrously dubbed translations. - (“This tastes like chocolate pudding!” tee-hee-hee-hee")
Truly, the sardine sorbet had to be the most revolting thing I’ve seen since the Bass O’Matic skit that Dan Akroyd did way back in the early days of SNL.
Can you imagine the creamy fishiness? gag
I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and gosh darnit, people like me.
—Stuart Smalley
Oh, I love Iron chef! It’s even better with the campy dubbing and weird ingredients. I once had a party where all we did was watch that. Afterwards, we did a little f our own Iron Chef cooking. A must-do for anyone and everyone who watches it religiously. By the way, I hate Bobby Flay too. The eels that they cook on IC could probably take him out…
Another Iron Chef fan here. I stumbled across it by accident and was so stunned into immobility I was hooked before I could change the channel.
For the uninitiated, the best way to describe it is Godzilla Meets Vincent Price. (BTW, Vinnie wrote an excellent cookbook.) The torches, the over-the-top dubbing and the gorgeously awful dubbing: pure bliss.
Battle Eel was a winner, especially the eel liver soaked in bourbon and dipped in chocolate.
I think my favorite was some kind of spring fish. It showcased a traditional fish head soup, eyes staring glassily from the broth. When the entrails were being chopped up–for ice cream, probably–the startlet cooed, “ooooh, that looks so GOOD!”
That’s when I fell sideways laughing. Seems westerners have a totally different appetite regarding fish guts. Makes me wonder how weird we look to them.
And what’s with the HOST?! Sheesh, his wardrobe makes Liberace’s look wimpy. The best is the black velvet jacket with sequins and mirror pieces, but the faux cowhide shirt (with fringe) comes a close second.
And, yeah, Bobby Flay is an ass. I’d like to see Mario Battalia go up against that poor Italian Iron Chef; you know, the one whose pneumatic ascent into Kitchen Stadium is shunted off to the side, near the freight elevator. Or Ming Tsai against either Chen or Sakai; he’s Chinese trained in classic French cooking.
Sorry. Rambled there. It’s just great to know other IC addicts exist.
(BTW, check out the IC web page. Spoilers for battle outcomes, chef stats, and a great Iron Chef Drinking Game.)
Veb
Sorry…
Ohh Ohh! sorry, just remembered. The name of the place is “Kitchen Stadium!” How cool is that! It’s like pro wrestling!
I would dearly love to find out how popular this is in Japan. If it is taken seiously over there, I give up on the whole “brotherhood of humankind” thing 
Two of my favorite moments come to mind: Beef cubes coated with chocolate powder, and one show where the older lady said, “This tastes terrible!” Until that point, I really wondered how bad something had to be to make them just come out and say it. That might have been the salmon sorbet, come to think of it.
Yes!! More people that like the Iron Chefness. My wife and I are becoming hooked, in much the same way “Painting with Bob Ross” or the “World’s Strongest Man” competitions hold our attention.
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Relive the mundane highs, the flaming lows, and the pointless posts in between. Announcing the debut of the best of Mullinator.
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If “Battle Eel” doesn’t win an Emmy for best dramatic special there is no justice in the world. Spellbinding.
Our cable company only recently added The Food Network and I haven’t seen Iron Chef yet. I keep meaning to watch it but it’s on at such an inconvenient time. I’ll have to fire up the old VCR.
I love the Two Fat Ladies though.
“My mind reels with sarcastic replies!” - Snoopy
If memory serves me right…
Did anyone else notice that Sunday’s had the MC dubbed in rather than subtitled?
Was this just a really old, or a newer episode? Speaking of, any idea when we might be seeing the older shows with the blue IC, and the other Japanese IC?
I love how right after the ingredient is announced, the title appears in the bottom corner, a la “Peach Battle”!
Oh and the no set theme ones suck. Girl’s Festival indeed!
Yeah! I watch Iron Chef too, even though I don’t have cable. I usually go over to a friend’s room that does have a cable hook up. We’ve taped a few episodes, for pure camp value. It doesn’t matter to us what is cooking or who wins, but the sheer WIERDNESS of it all! I mean, chocolate covered FISH LIVERS? Wild. Plus it helps make the dorm food round here seem more edible afterwards.
All the episodes we’ve seen have had the Liberace-like dude subbed in, rather than dubbed. I think the website I checked out awhile back claimed he didn’t want to be dubbed. Don’t really recall why…
Windows: Just another pane in the glass
Answer a couple of questions here…
The guy who is runs Iron Chef is Chairman Kaga (Mr. Ruffles’n’sparkle). He is actually an actor who has played Jesus in the first Japanese production of Jesus Christ Superstar (now you can really giggle when you see him!). In another words, Kaga is not a real person, as he is played by an actor. Everyone else on the show is real, however. He is not dubbed because the person at the Food Network which brought the show over thought he is much better subbed. (And having seen last Sunday’s show where he was dubbed, I hafta agree.)
The dubbing is actually done by the Japanese production company, as is the English translations. Which I am sure accounts for most of the campiness.
The Japanese like the show, and do see a little of the sillyness of it. But it is taken more seriously there. Chefs who beat the Iron Chef will have a surge of popularty at their resturants. The Japenese love food, battles, and are not quite as cynical as Westerners, so the show is not seen as quite campy their.
Most of the information I have about Iron Chef is from the web site (ironchef.com), which is not official, but very informative, and an article from a couple of weeks back in Entertainment Weekly. Everyone me and my husband work with knows we love the show, so they bring us tidbits of info whenever they find it. The show is starting to really take off.
But I still have a question:
Doesn’t that Lower House member have a goverment to run, or something?
(excuse poor spelling, please. It is early, and I am late for work…)
Dizzy
Animals are crapping in our houses! What, did we lose a war?
ARGH!!
The spelling and gramer of my last post is sight to behold!! (their for there?!?! argh!!)
sorry…
Dizzy
Animals are crapping in our houses! What, did we lose a war?
I haven’t looked yet but www.foodtv.com is the official site for the Food Network. You may find some info on the Iron Chef there. My daughter and I are hooked on the food channel. We like the Iron Chef, Emeril, Malto Mario and Two Fat Ladies. We aren’t crazy about Ready Set Cook or East Meets West.
And if that isn’t bad enough now I’m hooked on HGTV.
Needs2know…how to make a roux and tile my tub surround at the same time!
I don’t remember exactly where I heard this, but I’m pretty sure the dubbing is pretty much exactly what was said in the original and is translated very literally. It doesn’t make the insane giggling of the BDJ (Bimbo Du Jour, a term commonly used on alt.tv.iron-chef) any less weird, though.
Oh, and I checked the episode guide on http://www.ironchef.com, and apparently the 3 next to the last episodes consist of the Iron Chefs battling each other in a tournament format. Personally, I can’t wait to see that.
Mr. Armageddon
“Just when you thought you had all the answers, I went and changed the questions!”–Roddy Piper
Let’s hear it for Kaga! That show is the best. I’ve been watching it whenever I can since I first discovered it a few months ago. I can’t wait to see the Live Octopus battle. It looks to be intense. Apparently the challenger complains about how the suckers stick to everything and is just generally grossed out about the whole thing.
Damn, I love cable.
“It says, I choo-choo-choose you. And it’s got a picture of a train.”
– Ralph Wiggum