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Early word on The Next Iron Chef Season 2
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
Early word on The Next Iron Chef Season 2
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| Courtesy of Food Network |
Meal Ticket landed a screener copy of the first episode of season two of Food Network's The Next Iron Chef, which debuts Oct. 4 (a month from today) and features none other than Philly's Jose Garces vying for a spot in Kitchen Stadium alongside Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto, Mario Batali, Cat Cora and NIC Season 1 winner Michael Symon.
While we love to yuk it up about Top Chef around these parts, it's important to point out that this particular show is SERIOUS BUSINESS.� Yes, Top Chef Masters was too, but since everyone was competing for charity, there was some sense of camaraderie, as we noted � but judging by the take-no-prisoners approach of many of the NIC competitors (full rundown here) in Episode 1, there will be very little back-patting among this crew. (Look how mean they all look!) This probably has something to do with the extreme histrionics practiced by the mysterious Iron Chef Chairman, aka the guy from Double Dragon who is not Scott Wolf.
A few quickie details on upcoming episodes and our dude's official chef shot after the jump.
Each of NIC's eight episodes features a challenge themed around some sort of buzz word. There are two of these for Episode 1: "Memory" and "Fearlessness." The chefs are first asked to cook a dish "that has played a significant role in their lives"; then, they're tasked with cooking another dish using "exotic ingredients" (unlaid eggs are involved ... shudder). Of course, we would never spoil the ending of the show for you outright, but even if we wanted to, we couldn't � the screener cut off right before they announced who got eliminated. Well-played, Food Network.
We're not gonna ruin the rest of the episodes for you, with the exception of one � Episode 4, which airs on Oct. 24. Peep the description:
Host Alton Brown asks the remaining seven chefs endure a tough test of Adaptability. The chefs have 90 minutes to prepare a savory and sweet duo of Mexican-inspired dishes and a creative beverage that successfully utilizes a secret ingredient flown in from Mexico on American Airlines. At the iconic Grand Central Market, the chefs shop for additional indigenous ingredients to effectively capture the heart and soul of Mexican cooking. They are judged on how well they adapt the secret ingredient to their culinary creations.
Holy crap, that's the food competition show equivalent of a hanging curve straight to Garces. Hope he hits it out. Oh yeah, here's chef looking all SERIOUS BUSINESS:
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| Courtesy of Food Network |
[...] this page was mentioned by Drew Lazor (@drewlazor), SoPhilly Fashionista (@phashionista), avenueofthearts (@avenueofthearts) and others. [...]
[...] the jump, chef Jose Garces touches base with Meal Ticket to talk about his upcoming appearance on The Next Iron Chef (debuting Oct. 4 on Food Network), food TV, his new restaurant project and more. Garces can’t say too much about the show just [...]
Just wanted to submit some feedback on the Oct. 4 episode of NIC. The ingredient selection for the "fearlessness" segment of this show is reminiscent of Andrew Zimmern gross-out and gag style of programming. It was, at best, repulsive and disgusting. I believe Food Network owes its' audience an apology for the offensive style of programming. And Chef Greenspan, who was eliminated, they should invite him back and give him a fair chance to show his talents with more mainstream food. Cancel the shows that have already been filmed - start over - give everyone a fair chance. Food Network blew this one - A BIG LEAGUE SCREW UP. Someone should be fired for this offensive GARBAGE!!!!
Seriously, dude? You're offended by ingredients that aren't considered mainstream in the United States? I'm more offended by your jingoistic, racist crap. You are aware that the United States does not define fine cuisine for the entire world, right?
There was absolutely nothing racist about my comment. And the main market for Food Network programming is North America, particularly the US. So programming should appeal to the target audience. We'll just let the intelligence level of your comment and the name you signed your comment with speak for itself. Idiots should stay off public Internet forums.
Mike - Right on! My sentiments exactly. I found this show to be repulsive. They've crossed the line on this one. Let's hope they come to their senses in future programming.
This episode of Next Iron Chef was a little on the tasteless side. I found the ingredients hard to stomach and watch. I'll continue watching Food Network, but I certainly didn't enjoy watching this particular show.
Unborn eggs with fallopian tubes attached! Bugs! Duck tongue! Did you see those ingredients? Who came up with this S--T? Gag and puke!!!!!!!Food Network didn't consider their audience when they planned this.
Whether you liked the ingredients or not, the faces on the chefs and judges said it all. Did you see Chef Frietag when she lifted the cover on her eel? Did you watch the expressions on the judges faces when they were served up these culinary creations? I wouldn't have wanted to eat any of these. And it was obvious, neither did the judges. I wonder if the people that planned this show would have eaten those things.
Boring, boring boring! The chefs are boring. The judges are boring (Jeffrey being the exception). This season looks like a disaster waiting to happen.....
OH give me a break. Eel, as Alton said, was a cake-walk ingredient compared to the other choices put out there. Eel is hardly gross out food at all. Her cry when the lid was lifted was pathetic, she has played the "arrogant critic" on Chopped for far worse ingredient choices than simple eel. Personally I fail to see how she even qualified for the show. Working at a 2 star restaurant does not an iron chef make.
lol. unlaid eggs are a traditional component of italian cuisine, eel is a standard of almost all cuisine, etc. basically, your complaint is that you don't like these foods because they're strange to you but any potential iron chef should have been able to incorporate these ingredients (and easily). grasshopper was used at xochitl within the year, for example. cmon. also, they film those "reaction" shots multiple times to get whatever reaction they want out of the chefs. duck tongue? again, been served in philly restaurants recently and tongue is quite the common ingredient. your complaints are disappointingly cowardly in regards to your taste buds and the way you put it sounded extremely xenophobic. "mainstream" depends entirely on your context and i'd have been bored sick if the secret ingredient had been something like "beef!" "chicken!", etc.
Seriously guys, why complain so much about. The idea of Iron Chef is that they can adapt to their surroundings and make something amazing out of ANYTHING. Chef Greenspan made a pork dish with grasshoppers on top and the judges say that the pork was horrible. It wasn't even the secret ingredient and he screwed it up, so that is why he was eliminated. I admit, I thought it was gross and not very tasteful, but I wouldn't go as far as to say that it was a major screw up or that the show should be refilmed.
My wife is in culinary arts and I enjoy watching food network with her. We watched this one and while some of the ingredients had that 'WTF' moment, I wasn't disgusted. I wouldn't eat it, but that didn't stop me from watching how they were going to prepare it. It may have felt unfair, but it's not like everyone else had worked with those ingredients before either. It's not a crappy show, someone was going to get eliminated, no matter what. Your rants about it being disgusting and pulled from the air are very shortsided. Don't like it? Don't watch it.
Mike - So eating unlaid chicken
I grew up in India and unlaid eggs are not as uncommon as it is in the states. I've had them many times. If cooked correctly it can be a delicious dish.
So eating unlaid chicken�s eggs is gross but eating a whole chicken is proper? Face it, that pretty chicken leg on your plate has come from something that lives. If you can eat the chicken why waste the unlaid eggs? In some cultures, certain types of food became delicacies out of necessity. Did you know that cockroaches are considered to be a delicacy in Thailand because famines forced people to be ingenuous in order to survive? Experimentation is the fun part of cooking. Some of the chefs on NIC did really well considering their backgrounds. Chef Jehangir Mehta is a pastry chef yet he successfully convinced three hardened food connoisseurs that he can make duck tongue. That�s what I like about NIC. I doubt I�d watch a show where a bored looking chef slowly stirs common ingredients, in a proper way into ordinary bowls before baking them to perfection in front of a placid host and dull audience. I�m sure you wouldn�t either
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