I watched the first of the new series of American Iron Chef's last night (with running commentary by none other than Alton Brown). The theme ingredient was tatanka, er, I mean, buffalo.
Early in the program I hear Bobby Flay ask "where's that filet?" and the sous chef replies "My Hand, chef!" (mean, I'm on it, I've got it, I'll be ready) This is a bit of kitchen slang you don't hear that often, so it said to me that those helping Flay are the real deal.
As much as I enjoy the original Iron Chef, the American one does seem to match a bit better with my own cooking. I think the portions are ridiculous, and often they are serving 3 out of the 5 dishes as entrees -- the Japanese chefs seem to think more in terms of a menu and flow of dishes. But for the American show the camera spends a bit more time on the assistants prepping, and in this way shows that cooking is more about planning, thinking, and care than running around like a maniac (the aforementioned Flay seems especially prone to this).
I think Bayless should have won this one, but then again I almost always root against the Iron Chef. Bayless is more genuine Mexican, and I have a real respect for the research that he does. It is clear that he has a real love of the region, people, and cusine of that country.
Posted by dowdy at January 17, 2005 08:24 AM