# Who thinks "iron chef" Bobby Flay blows high calorie chunks? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 31, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217 "2008-05-31T00:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/41 "2008-05-31T20:00:07Z")
[QUOTE=Crackhead06] It’s so comical. [/QUOTE] Something is comical, alright. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/42 "2008-05-31T22:20:25Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] I have never had a Paula Dean recipe come out poorly. Her recipes rock. [/QUOTE] Her recipes are fine. _She_, OTOH, is the most annoying person I have ever heard. The accent, the vocal rhythm, everything about her repels me. > [@](#): > > Flay on the other hand. He had a show where a bunch of friends came over and he made some type of spare rib concoction using peanut butter. This is your own fault. I don’t care who came up with the recipe. You should know better than to put peanut butter and ribs together. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/43 "2008-05-31T22:29:30Z")
Hate im. Won’t watch TV anywhere where I might happen upon him. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/44 "2008-05-31T22:44:47Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] This is your own fault. I don’t care who came up with the recipe. You should know better than to put peanut butter and ribs together. [/QUOTE] You’d figure that peanut butter, of all things, would stick to your ribs. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/45 "2008-05-31T22:47:41Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] This is your own fault. I don’t care who came up with the recipe. You should know better than to put peanut butter and ribs together. [/QUOTE] ::: sigh::: What’s a guy to do when the spouseal unit says, gee that sound interesting, and look at how all of his guests are praising it. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/46 "2008-05-31T22:58:00Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] You should know better than to put peanut butter and ribs together. [/QUOTE] I too have always heard that peanut butter sticks to your ribs. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/47 "2008-05-31T23:38:04Z")
Straight Lines 'R Us: Serving The Dope the best in Set-ups Since 2003. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/48 "2008-06-01T00:01:37Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] They cooked langoustine, which is a small species of lobster common in the northern Adriatic and the North Sea, sometimes called Norway Lobster. [/quote] They’re also quite commonly known as “Dublin Bay prawns,” which the name our brethren on the British Isles would be most familiar with. It’s the stuff Long John Silver sold as “lobster” in their “lobster bites,” which made some people scream “false advertising,” although the FDA naming rules said it was okay to advertise langoustines as lobsters. They are from the same family, but, when I think of lobster, I don’t think of langoustines. (By the way, I love Dublin Bay prawns, and I like Long John Silvers, but their lobster bites were godawful garbage.) > [@](#): > > Flay rules! He and Rachel are what make the Food Network worth watching. Paula Deen _really_ blows high calorie chunks. Wow. We agree on many food-related things, but we’re diametrically opposed on this one (well, except for Paula Dean…I’m not much a fan of hers, either, although Flay and RayRay are atop my Food Network hitlist.) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/49 "2008-06-01T00:08:51Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] Wow. We agree on many food-related things, but we’re diametrically opposed on this one (well, except for Paula Dean…I’m not much a fan of hers, either, although Flay and RayRay are atop my Food Network hitlist.) [/QUOTE] It’s the little differences that make life interesting. I just like Bobby’s approach. Sure he has an attitude, what chef doesn’t? He’s still on of my faves. Although my wife refers to Alton Brown as “your boyfriend.” Something about my religiously taping every episode of **Good Eats** and **Feasting On Asphalt**. :rolleyes: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/50 "2008-06-01T00:10:28Z")
sorry,I think “semi homemade” w/Sandra whatever is more pittable. and Rachel Ray ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/51 "2008-06-01T02:10:05Z")
This article is several years old, but not much has changed… [The Staggering Dicketry of Bobby Flay](http://www.flakmag.com/tv/flay.html) ---
**Author:** ![Crackhead06](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/77aa72/32.png) [@Crackhead06](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crackhead06)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/52 "2008-06-01T23:21:54Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] You do understand that all the drama in ICJapan was fake? [/QUOTE] Don’t believe it. Bobby Flay’s donr other mean and arrogent things in his life. I don’tsee how he’d _not_ do that. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/53 "2008-06-02T01:13:28Z")
[QUOTE=Drain Bead] This article is several years old, but not much has changed… [The Staggering Dicketry of Bobby Flay](http://www.flakmag.com/tv/flay.html) [/QUOTE] Most of the criticism in that article is about him acting like a human instead of a human shaped lump of sugar like Rachel Ray. > [@](#): > > Flay doesn’t fawn. On “FoodNation,” when he visits someone’s home or restaurant and tastes their carefully prepared, region-specific offerings, he doesn’t roll his eyes in quasi-orgasmic pleasure ala Rachael Ray. He tastes one dish and quickly moves on to the next. If he really likes something, he may nod in subtle appreciation or even say, with low-grade enthusiasm, “that’s good,” and tersely explain why (“Adding butter rounds out the flavor”), but he does not gush, he does not flirt and he never kisses ass. He asks the questions he is supposed to ask, but interrupts and talks over people as they try to answer. He is the king of the unenthusiastic “OK.” > [@](#): > > Don’t believe it. So you believe the drama in Iron Chef Japan is real? Have you ever watched the show? Here’s a hint: Chairman Kaga is a famous actor from Japanese musical theater, he is not a billionaire who brought together chefs of all styles to battle for him. ---
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/54 "2008-06-02T05:58:40Z")
I don’t know. From watching the show, I’d say that **Mario Batali** is perceived as the real heavyweight. Er… I mean by skill, not by actual weight! I used to watch the show with my folks, and whenever the challenger chose Batali I’d say, “This guy/gal must think they’re really good! Batali’s gonna make mincemeat out of them!” Flay is like the big, loud sports star who’s always in the news while Batali just silently steamrolls everything in his path and earns gobs of respect. You might feel a little belittled to be beaten by Flay, but if you got beat by Batali I think you’d be pleased as peaches. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/55 "2008-06-02T07:59:19Z")
_shrug_ I actually like Flay as well: > [@](#): > > 1. He can never cook anything that is not full of fat, cream, fat, butter, and did I say fat? Then the judges compare him to someone else’s undrenched cuisine. This is like comparing a delicious fresh fruit to a mousse-smothered chocolate chip cheesecake–with bacon. Well…have you ever seen Mexican or South Western food prepared? My grandmother used to use lard for everything…I think she even cooked PB&J sandwiches in the stuff. Some people like fat. Personally I’d rather eat what Flay is usually making on his grilling show than most of the other stuff on Food Network…and I probably wouldn’t eat ANY of the shit prepared (even by Flay) on Iron Chef in any case. Too weird and froo-froo for me. BTW, I’d rather have the ‘mousse-smothered chocolate chip cheesecake----with bacon’ than your fresh fruit. Different strokes and all. > [@](#): > > 1. Flay thinks he’s so good looking. NOT!!! Well, two things…first off, what do you base this on? Your perception? I’ve never seen him SAY that he thinks he’s good looking. Have you? Secondly he IS good looking. However, looks are very subjective so YMMV. > [@](#): > > 1. Judges disgustingly suck up to Flay, especially some female judges. _shrug_…they apparently actually LIKE what he makes. He’s pretty predictable, but he doesn’t use fat any more than anyone else on that show. And usually at least one of his dishes on Iron Chef actually looks semi-eatable, at least to me. He usually doesn’t use such wonderful ingredients as squid ink or the like which is a plus in my book… > [@](#): > > 1. Flay is rude. Remember the battle with Morimoto when he threw the cutting board at the end of the cooking period and yelled, “U.S.A.!!! U.S.A!!! U.S.A!!!” and offended the japanese chefs? Oh, for crying out loud. Do you actually think the whole Iron Chef is anything but pure camp, especially the Japanese version?? Even if there really was an insult (which was pretty much just an artificial construct so they could do the rematch), it happened a long ass time ago. > [@](#): > > 1. The food channel treats Flay like he is the chef equivilent of of Mr. Universe, Pablo Picasso, and Albert Einstein combined! The more you watch iron chef (and just the food channel in general), the more the TV haunts you with Flay food on a grill and tries to hypnotize you into actually loving this Flay junk. Can I watch a single iron chef episode without seeing 10 Flay commercials? _shrug_ He’s popular…why shouldn’t the Food Network capitalize on that? Why shouldn’t Flay? Mileage may vary after all…and some people LIKE grilled food, some folks LIKE fat. I have to admit that on his grilling show, while still a bit froo-froo for my tastes, he actually makes food I COULD eat. Usually anyway. And unlike some of the other folks on Food Network (and pretty much everyone on Iron Chef, especially the Japanese version). > [@](#): > > 1. Flay now has his own line of appliances. What’s next? Flay branded tomatoes? A Flay line of motorcycles? Steak sauce flayardee? Do you have a problem with all the rest of the Food Network folks having their own lines of products to? Again _shrug_…he’s popular to some folks. Why shouldn’t he and Food Network capitalize on that fact? > [@](#): > > 1. Why is the world suddenly in love with kitchen machismo? (see my next post on Gordon Ramsay). No idea about this one. > [@](#): > > 1. Flay’s throwdown show is a fix. Flay shows up with an army of sous chefs and enough equipment to fill kitchen stadium and challenges people who are unprepared. As others have said, he generally loses. I think it’s kind of a fun show to watch as he is attempting to beat some of the best real life cooking folks at their own game. He obviously is trying his best to, which makes if fun…and honestly I’ve seen him kind of bummed out when he WINS. I remember when he won the Mac and Cheese throw down in particular…the camera was on him when they gave the judges scores and you could see the dismay and disbelief on his face. Why does that matter? Chefs are like IT people IMHO…arrogant as hell. ALL of them are like that…yet he does a show where he routinely gets his ass kicked and when he loses he generally takes it very well. Same as when he wins…he generally doesn’t gloat or fling it in their faces (the converse isn’t always true btw as some folks that beat him gloat their asses off or talk trash before, during and after the competition). > [@](#): > > 1. Flay keeps cooking the same dish over and over again. Put the secret ingredient in a food mill, turn it into a meatball (mixed with pork and duckfat), and serve it with a heavy sauce with cream, bacon, 10 different chilli powders, honey, cheese and BBQ sauce. Well, I’ve actually noticed he has expanded his fare since he has become an Iron Chef and all. I think he’s gotten a bit more sophisticated with his menu and what he uses lately. That said, I LIKE heavy cream sauces, bacon, chili powders, honey, cheese (LOTS of cheese) and BBQ sauce. I don’t like things with squid ink and other bizarre ingredient’s, nor most of the crap on Iron Chef (especially the Japanese version as I said). Don’t get me wrong, I love watching the show…but I wouldn’t feed most of that tripe to my dog. Different strokes and all that. > [@](#): > > 1. Why does Flay act like Mr. Southwest. The guy sounds like he’s from New Jersey. Southwest Airline maybe? I think he does a decent job of making South West food. You don’t have to be from France to be a French chef after all. It’s all in what you specialize in. Bobby obviously specializes on South West fare as that is probably what he likes to eat. Lately, as I said earlier, he seems to have expanded in some other directions, especially adding some generic ‘Asian’ dishes and spices to his menu. I’m also a big fan of Good Eats btw, and I love Alton Brown. But there really is no comparison as they have totally different styles. Alton is another chef that I generally think to myself ‘hey, I could actually eat what he’s making…wow!’. I’ve noticed that Alton ALSO cooks in fat and has been known to cook in cream and use cheese and bacon as well… -XT ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/56 "2008-06-02T13:41:01Z")
I kind of loved to hate Bobby Flay and his smug face, until last night when he said on The Next Food Network Star that he gets nervous before every show. That made me feel a lot better about him as he goes through that and didn’t mind saying so. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/57 "2008-06-02T14:47:21Z")
[QUOTE=wring] sorry,I think “semi homemade” w/Sandra whatever is more pittable. [/QUOTE] Sandra Lee and thank you. I have no idea why we are wasting so much time debating Bobby Flay when the real Food Network Abomination is still out there. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/58 "2008-06-02T15:04:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Sandra Lee and thank you. I have no idea why we are wasting so much time debating Bobby Flay when the real Food Network Abomination is still out there. This is true. Flay isn’t even in the top five Food Network crimes against humanity. The only ones who come close to the Sandra Lee horrorshow are Paula Deen’s idiot sons. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/59 "2008-06-02T15:21:06Z")
I either heard or read somewhere that the whole point of the Throwdown show was to highlight good regional chefs, who would otherwise not be known to most people. For what is worth, I worked in Atlantis in the Bahamas for one month, and ate dinner at the Mesa Grill there every day, so I would gladly accept Bobby Flay as Food Dictator of the Universe, as long as I could eat whatever he is cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217/60 "2008-06-02T15:35:17Z")
[QUOTE=DoctorJ] This is true. Flay isn’t even in the top five Food Network crimes against humanity. The only ones who come close to the Sandra Lee horrorshow are Paula Deen’s idiot sons. [/QUOTE] Would someone else in the world please remember, along with me, that Paula Deen lied on Oprah, wayback before Food Network gave her a show? That what she said about her life on Oprah is 180 degrees from what she said in her Chefography? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-thinks-iron-chef-bobby-flay-blows-high-calorie-chunks/451217.md?page=4)