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same_skyI'm a bit of a foodie. I'm not hardcore with it, but I do, for instance, watch FoodTV more than any other channel. I really enjoy new recipes, and I've taken my cooking skills much farther in the three years I've been married than I ever dreamed I would even want to. It's a hobby, and not something I would want to pursue professionally, but I really do enjoy it. I also have a serious fixation with Alton Brown (originator of my sodium chloride containment unit) and his show, Good Eats--I've even been known to say something like "But then, I'm not a nutritional anthropologist" loudly in public just in hopes that one might appear from behind a bush. I do try to refrain from writing about food, though, because.. well.. does anyone really care what I had for dinner tonight?
FoodTV is currently airing Iron Chef America. If you haven't seen the original (Japanese) Iron Chef, you really should try to locate it and watch it sometime. It's utterly fascinating. Basically, you have two chefs and a panel of judges, along with one crazy millionaire sponsoring the whole thing. The two chefs compete, using an ingredient they have no knowledge of before the competition, by preparing about five dishes on the fly. They're judged on taste, presentation and originality. The thing that makes it fascinating is how completely.. not joking at all they are about the whole thing, and the utterly bizarre things they do with these ingredients. (They sometimes attempt dessert, for example, with.. say, seafood. Nuff said.) The problem with watching it all the time (which we don't) is that they're so.. foreign. I don't mean this as an insult in any way, but it's fully possible to watch fifteen episodes straight without seeing a single thing that I would even dream of eating. They use ingredients that I've never heard of, and then there are ingredients that I would have to sell my left arm to be able to afford the tiniest smidgeon of. I was watching Bobby Flay's second battle with Morimoto a week or two ago and laughed out loud at one of the judges, who complained about how Flay had used the lobster in a way that Japanese people would never do (deep-fried in corn meal, I believe) because of the expense. Meanwhile, in the same show, the Iron Chef was taking a ball of lobster goo and coating it with truffles. I rest my case.
I've really been looking forward, then, to Iron Chef America. The same terrific concept but with celebrity chefs I know, and best of all, commentated by Alton Brown. Is it surprising at all that the general reaction to it on the FoodTV message boards is overwhelmingly negative? ;)
I can see their points, partially. There have been two episodes shown so far.. Sakai versus Bobby Flay, and Morimoto versus Mario Batali. The Americans won in both episodes, and this has been enraging to all the Flay-haters out there. I don't disagree that he should have won, necessarily, BUT I do think it very very odd that he won higher marks than Sakai for presentation. That was stupid. Sakai could put vomit on a plate and make it look appetizing. (I really need to stop thinking about that last sentence and move on.. I've now spent three minutes imagining the garnish of puke. Eww.) And furthermore, if you look over and see three ordinary Americans on the judging panel, Mr. Sakai, you do NOT MAKE TROUT ICE CREAM. None of them liked it. None of them had a prayer of liking it. Honestly, I think he deserved his loss for misjudging his audience so completely.. but I still don't agree with the way the judges got there. Oh, and Sakai has fought over 20 battles with fish and had never lost one before--why is no one complaining that Bobby Flay was at a distinct disadvantage because of the ingredient?
But.. non-Japanese challengers on the original show also didn't have that home field advantage that the Americans have now. The Iron Chefs won 65-85% of their battles--that's why they were the iron chefs. The opening line of the original show states that the victor in the match will win "the people's ovation and fame forever". You pick the guys you expect to win the most as your iron chefs, and then hope that the challengers aren't as good. So is it all that surprising that the Americans are winning with American judges? And does that mean that they're fixed? I don't think so. On the other hand, I don't want to see them all win just because they're American. Personally, if I was judging, I would probably vote the same way, based on what I was presented with. I completely don't see Wolfgang Puck losing tomorrow either, frankly, and I definitely thought Mario Batali deserved his win because he got something like five points more on taste, but slightly lower on one of the others. (I was surprised that he won, though, and very pleased to see him whip out his digital camera and start shooting it at everyone as soon as the timer went off in that excited way famous people usually don't behave.)
I don't really have a point, I guess.. I just am continually surprised at how fierce people are over this issue. As for me, I've really enjoyed both episodes I've watched, and more than that, I think the Making of Iron Chef America prelude is the best thing I've seen on the food channel ever. I do hope it continues.. it's been fun to watch.
FoodTV is currently airing Iron Chef America. If you haven't seen the original (Japanese) Iron Chef, you really should try to locate it and watch it sometime. It's utterly fascinating. Basically, you have two chefs and a panel of judges, along with one crazy millionaire sponsoring the whole thing. The two chefs compete, using an ingredient they have no knowledge of before the competition, by preparing about five dishes on the fly. They're judged on taste, presentation and originality. The thing that makes it fascinating is how completely.. not joking at all they are about the whole thing, and the utterly bizarre things they do with these ingredients. (They sometimes attempt dessert, for example, with.. say, seafood. Nuff said.) The problem with watching it all the time (which we don't) is that they're so.. foreign. I don't mean this as an insult in any way, but it's fully possible to watch fifteen episodes straight without seeing a single thing that I would even dream of eating. They use ingredients that I've never heard of, and then there are ingredients that I would have to sell my left arm to be able to afford the tiniest smidgeon of. I was watching Bobby Flay's second battle with Morimoto a week or two ago and laughed out loud at one of the judges, who complained about how Flay had used the lobster in a way that Japanese people would never do (deep-fried in corn meal, I believe) because of the expense. Meanwhile, in the same show, the Iron Chef was taking a ball of lobster goo and coating it with truffles. I rest my case.
I've really been looking forward, then, to Iron Chef America. The same terrific concept but with celebrity chefs I know, and best of all, commentated by Alton Brown. Is it surprising at all that the general reaction to it on the FoodTV message boards is overwhelmingly negative? ;)
I can see their points, partially. There have been two episodes shown so far.. Sakai versus Bobby Flay, and Morimoto versus Mario Batali. The Americans won in both episodes, and this has been enraging to all the Flay-haters out there. I don't disagree that he should have won, necessarily, BUT I do think it very very odd that he won higher marks than Sakai for presentation. That was stupid. Sakai could put vomit on a plate and make it look appetizing. (I really need to stop thinking about that last sentence and move on.. I've now spent three minutes imagining the garnish of puke. Eww.) And furthermore, if you look over and see three ordinary Americans on the judging panel, Mr. Sakai, you do NOT MAKE TROUT ICE CREAM. None of them liked it. None of them had a prayer of liking it. Honestly, I think he deserved his loss for misjudging his audience so completely.. but I still don't agree with the way the judges got there. Oh, and Sakai has fought over 20 battles with fish and had never lost one before--why is no one complaining that Bobby Flay was at a distinct disadvantage because of the ingredient?
But.. non-Japanese challengers on the original show also didn't have that home field advantage that the Americans have now. The Iron Chefs won 65-85% of their battles--that's why they were the iron chefs. The opening line of the original show states that the victor in the match will win "the people's ovation and fame forever". You pick the guys you expect to win the most as your iron chefs, and then hope that the challengers aren't as good. So is it all that surprising that the Americans are winning with American judges? And does that mean that they're fixed? I don't think so. On the other hand, I don't want to see them all win just because they're American. Personally, if I was judging, I would probably vote the same way, based on what I was presented with. I completely don't see Wolfgang Puck losing tomorrow either, frankly, and I definitely thought Mario Batali deserved his win because he got something like five points more on taste, but slightly lower on one of the others. (I was surprised that he won, though, and very pleased to see him whip out his digital camera and start shooting it at everyone as soon as the timer went off in that excited way famous people usually don't behave.)
I don't really have a point, I guess.. I just am continually surprised at how fierce people are over this issue. As for me, I've really enjoyed both episodes I've watched, and more than that, I think the Making of Iron Chef America prelude is the best thing I've seen on the food channel ever. I do hope it continues.. it's been fun to watch.
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no subject
Date: 2004-04-25 10:13 am (UTC)The thing I've always thought was bad about Iron Chef is the judging. If you are going to judge food fairly you shouldn't know who made what. Of course this isn't practical since the judges have to be there to comment during the food preparation. It's also hard for us home viewers to know how fair the judges are being because we don't get to taste the food.
One other thing that bugged me about the original Iron Chef was the way they treated a female chef when they happened to have one on. They kept saying they wouldn't discriminate against her because she was female, but they kept bringing her gender up all through the episode. So it was clear that her gender was an issue, or else they wouldn't have kept mentioning it. It bugged me and it didn't surprise me when she lost.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-25 09:22 pm (UTC)I agree about the judging being weird, but I also think that it would be hard to have them not there when they all have such signature styles. It makes for interesting dynamics when the judges tell what they think, though. :) It's one of the things that makes it such a strange show, actually--completely subjective judging.
And also in agreement on the females who've been on the show. They also make sure their female judges are the most horrible bimbos on earth, which drives me crazy. They ask the dumbest questions imaginable most of the time.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-25 03:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-25 09:15 pm (UTC)I kind of doubt they'll air ICA there, but you can always download it and watch it.. you have broadband, right? :) It requires a bit torrent client, but you can download the show if you're honestly interested here.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-26 12:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-26 01:54 pm (UTC)Re: clients. Actually--no, I doubt it is. I think it's the one I'm using, but I have to confess that I barely have used it at all.. just to download Good Eats episodes from that site. (Something else you should watch.. although I'm not entirely sure you're dorky enough to appreciate it.) I keep thinking I should look for more things I would like, but I haven't done so yet. M is using one recommended by the friend that was here that seems better--it puts them all in the system tray instead of the taskbar. I've so far been too lazy to try it out or search for a better one, though. BitTornado. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-26 07:24 pm (UTC)Moving on to nicer things, I've downloaded the other one, oops. I'll try BitTornado too - in my opinion, one can never download too many programs that never get used from the internet ;) Thanks!