I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up
with recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're
cooking without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you
have to watch every second of, or you miss something.

"Cheryl" > wrote in message
...
>I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
>doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
>tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up with
>recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're cooking
>without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you have to watch
>every second of, or you miss something.

I think they do, but... I suppose they could tell them of the ingredient
ahead of time.

In article >,
Cheryl > wrote:

> I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
> doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
> tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up
> with recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're
> cooking without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you
> have to watch every second of, or you miss something.

This question comes up here every year or so. I can't remember all the
details, but no, they work out all the recipes in advance, and give a
list of required ingredients, within a given budget. They don't know
what the "secret ingredient" is, but if I remember, it will be one of
two things, so they have to prepare two sets of recipes and two shopping
lists. There is a period between the unveiling of the secret ingredient
and the start of cooking, but it isn't recorded. The recipes are
prepared twice for each taping. The first is timed, and they only
produce one serving of each course. Then the whole thing is repeated,
without timing, to produce the actual food to be judged. If you watch
the show carefully, you can see that sometimes they are working on one
serving, and other times on several servings. These shots are
intermixed.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

On Jan 1, 11:50*pm, Cheryl > wrote:
> I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
> doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. *Resting
> tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. *Do the chefs come up
> with recipes on the fly? *They just seem to jump into what they're
> cooking without any thought. *To me, its one of those shows that you
> have to watch every second of, or you miss something.

I've always thought they made up recipes on the spur. I guess I've
always thought they did not know the ingredient of the show ahead of
time also. But I DO wonder how the "kitchens" they use are stocked
with what they need - they don't seem to have problems needing
anything.

Anyone else know any "behind the scenes" scoops?

Kris

?
"Kris" > wrote in
>
> I've always thought they made up recipes on the spur. I guess I've
> always thought they did not know the ingredient of the show ahead of
> time also. But I DO wonder how the "kitchens" they use are stocked
> with what they need - they don't seem to have problems needing
> anything.
>
> Anyone else know any "behind the scenes" scoops?
>
> Kris

They have a behinds the scenes at Food Network show where they tell you how
it is done. The chef's are asked about certain ingredients,. They are
also asked vague questions like, "if you had to cook seafood, what would you
want in the pantry?" That assures that a favored ingredient is in stock
should the secret ingredient happen to be a fish.

They also shoot multiple reveals of the ingredient. That gives the chef's
some time to mentally prepare once the clock starts to tick. The one hour
to complete is valid, but that is for one serving. Once the hour starts, it
is just go full speed and no time outs or breaks are given. They get
additional time to do the plating. I think that is another 30 minutes or so.
They can plate, but no additional cooking is allowed.

The chefs also have some idea of what they want to prepare. If it is a
meat, I'll make 1, 3 and 5, but if it is poultry, I'll make 3 with a
different sauce, skip 5 and do 6. In an interview, Mario Batali says he has
a good idea of what he wants to make but has to adjust one the ingredient is
revealed. The souse chefs are assigned tasks ahead of time too. They
shoot two shows a day in 8 or 10 hours. That includes setup and cleaning
between shows.

On Sat, 1 Jan 2011 21:12:34 -0800, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:

>
>"Cheryl" > wrote in message
...
>>I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
>>doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
>>tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up with
>>recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're cooking
>>without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you have to watch
>>every second of, or you miss something.
>
>I think they do, but... I suppose they could tell them of the ingredient
>ahead of time.

Sheesh... it's NOT live TV... it's taped, it's well reheared and
heavily edited... most of the dishes on foodtv shows are pre-prepared
by others behind the scenes by folks who actually know how to cook.

I think the cooks are notified fifteen minutes ahead of time as to
what the featured ingredient will be.

On Sat, 01 Jan 2011 23:50:25 -0500, Cheryl >
wrote:

> I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
> doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
> tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up
> with recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're
> cooking without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you
> have to watch every second of, or you miss something.

I think Iron Chef is one of the most boring shows on FN. They don't
put the recipes (or a facsimile) up on the website, so I will never
make those dishes - it's a complete waste of time for me.

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 09:34:10 -0800, sf > wrote:

>On Sat, 01 Jan 2011 23:50:25 -0500, Cheryl >
>wrote:
>
>> I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
>> doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
>> tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up
>> with recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're
>> cooking without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you
>> have to watch every second of, or you miss something.
>
>I think Iron Chef is one of the most boring shows on FN. They don't
>put the recipes (or a facsimile) up on the website, so I will never
>make those dishes - it's a complete waste of time for me.

Iron Chef is the Gong Show of foodtv.
And anyway it's totally fixed/rigged.
Doesn't matter who wins/loses, it's
all about exposure.

> Iron Chef is the Gong Show of foodtv. *
> And anyway it's totally fixed/rigged.
> Doesn't matter who wins/loses, it's
> all about exposure.

And the Japanese version I always felt was awfully cheesy, from the
announcers who sound like they're calling a baseball game to the
Chairman Kaga character, who acts and dresses like some sort of uber-
villain from a martial arts movie, the kind of guy Bruce Lee would
fight and defeat at the very end of the movie after he took out all
the henchmen.

I watch cooking shows to learn new recipes or techniques. Much like
the cake competition shows on the Food Network, I get neither from
watching Iron Chef. I doubt too many people see a chef make baked
squid with a papaya and pomegranate sauce and topped with capers and
shaved truffles on Iron Chef and want to duplicate it at home. I've
never seen anything made on that show that really looked appealing,
like something I would actually want to eat.

Michael wrote about Iron Chef:

> I watch cooking shows to learn new recipes or techniques. Much like the
> cake competition shows on the Food Network, I get neither from watching
> Iron Chef. I doubt too many people see a chef make baked squid with a
> papaya and pomegranate sauce and topped with capers and shaved truffles on
> Iron Chef and want to duplicate it at home. I've never seen anything made
> on that show that really looked appealing, like something I would actually
> want to eat.

You might like doing what I do: When the "secret" ingredient is revealed,
pause the program and figure out what *you* would make if you had to make a
dinner centered around that ingredient. Then watch what the competitors do,
and see if anything there unlocks an ingredient's potential in a way you
hadn't considered.

Bob

On 1/2/2011 4:52 PM, Michael O'Connor wrote:
>
>> Iron Chef is the Gong Show of foodtv.
>> And anyway it's totally fixed/rigged.
>> Doesn't matter who wins/loses, it's
>> all about exposure.
>
> And the Japanese version I always felt was awfully cheesy, from the
> announcers who sound like they're calling a baseball game to the
> Chairman Kaga character, who acts and dresses like some sort of uber-
> villain from a martial arts movie, the kind of guy Bruce Lee would
> fight and defeat at the very end of the movie after he took out all
> the henchmen.
>
> I watch cooking shows to learn new recipes or techniques. Much like
> the cake competition shows on the Food Network, I get neither from
> watching Iron Chef. I doubt too many people see a chef make baked
> squid with a papaya and pomegranate sauce and topped with capers and
> shaved truffles on Iron Chef and want to duplicate it at home. I've
> never seen anything made on that show that really looked appealing,
> like something I would actually want to eat.

Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled with
chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.

--
Currently Reading: Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold

On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:47:15 -0500, ravenlynne
> wrote:

> Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled with
> chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
> think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.

Was panettone the secret ingredient?

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On 1/2/2011 6:25 PM, sf wrote:
> On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:47:15 -0500, ravenlynne
> > wrote:
>
>> Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled with
>> chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
>> think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.
>
> Was panettone the secret ingredient?
>


No, I can't remember the ingredient....maybe the berries? I was sitting
with scott watching and I said "I could do that...that's simple" and
went and did it after a trip to the store the next day. It was great.
--
Currently Reading: Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold

On 1/2/2011 6:25 PM, sf wrote:
> On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:47:15 -0500, ravenlynne
> > wrote:
>
>> Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled with
>> chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
>> think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.
>
> Was panettone the secret ingredient?
>

I'm remembering now..it was the one where the iron chefs were teamed up
with tv chefs...he was with Rachel ray...they were vs
Flay/laurentis...He called it zuppa inglese.

--
Currently Reading: Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold

On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 18:33:45 -0500, ravenlynne
> wrote:

> On 1/2/2011 6:25 PM, sf wrote:
> > On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:47:15 -0500, ravenlynne
> > > wrote:
> >
> >> Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled with
> >> chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
> >> think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.
> >
> > Was panettone the secret ingredient?
> >
>
> I'm remembering now..it was the one where the iron chefs were teamed up
> with tv chefs...he was with Rachel ray...they were vs
> Flay/laurentis...He called it zuppa inglese.

Ever since someone mentioned it here, I've been thinking about making
bread pudding using panettone.

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On 1/1/2011 6:50 PM, Cheryl wrote:
> I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
> doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. Resting
> tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. Do the chefs come up
> with recipes on the fly? They just seem to jump into what they're
> cooking without any thought. To me, its one of those shows that you have
> to watch every second of, or you miss something.
>

The original Iron Chef was pretty much in keeping with Japanese TV game
shows - outrageous and silly with fantasy elements. The dubbed version
shown in the US kept the silliness of the original and introduced us to
the idea of cooking as a battle and showed us things we've never seen
before. Iron Chef American may have run it's course because we've seen
it all these days but the fact remains that Iron Chef pretty much
changed the face of cooking programming in this country.

What you should also know is that travelogue shows that visit food
regions and eateries and chefs have been a staple for Japanese TV for as
long as I remember.

On 1/2/2011 1:21 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

> They have a behinds the scenes at Food Network show where they tell you
> how it is done. The chef's are asked about certain ingredients,. They
> are also asked vague questions like, "if you had to cook seafood, what
> would you want in the pantry?" That assures that a favored ingredient
> is in stock should the secret ingredient happen to be a fish.
>
> They also shoot multiple reveals of the ingredient. That gives the
> chef's some time to mentally prepare once the clock starts to tick. The
> one hour to complete is valid, but that is for one serving. Once the
> hour starts, it is just go full speed and no time outs or breaks are
> given. They get additional time to do the plating. I think that is
> another 30 minutes or so. They can plate, but no additional cooking is
> allowed.
>
> The chefs also have some idea of what they want to prepare. If it is a
> meat, I'll make 1, 3 and 5, but if it is poultry, I'll make 3 with a
> different sauce, skip 5 and do 6. In an interview, Mario Batali says he
> has a good idea of what he wants to make but has to adjust one the
> ingredient is revealed. The souse chefs are assigned tasks ahead of
> time too. They shoot two shows a day in 8 or 10 hours. That includes
> setup and cleaning between shows.

This answers my questions! Thanks Ed!

On 1/2/2011 6:33 PM, ravenlynne wrote:

> On 1/2/2011 6:25 PM, sf wrote:
>> On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:47:15 -0500, ravenlynne
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled with
>>> chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
>>> think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.
>>
>> Was panettone the secret ingredient?
>>
>
> I'm remembering now..it was the one where the iron chefs were teamed up
> with tv chefs...he was with Rachel ray...they were vs
> Flay/laurentis...He called it zuppa inglese.
>

That's one of the few I've seen. I can't remember the dishes they
cooked. Glad you had good results recreating one of them. Since, as sf
pointed out, no recipes given, so it could be just a useless show for some.

On 1/2/2011 7:21 PM, Cheryl wrote:
> On 1/2/2011 6:33 PM, ravenlynne wrote:
>
>> On 1/2/2011 6:25 PM, sf wrote:
>>> On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:47:15 -0500, ravenlynne
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Mario batali made a trifle once with pannetone (sp?) bread drizzled
>>>> with
>>>> chambord, berries, and custard cream that I duplicated pretty well I
>>>> think once. It has become one of Mr. Raven's favorite desserts.
>>>
>>> Was panettone the secret ingredient?
>>>
>>
>> I'm remembering now..it was the one where the iron chefs were teamed up
>> with tv chefs...he was with Rachel ray...they were vs
>> Flay/laurentis...He called it zuppa inglese.
>>
>
> That's one of the few I've seen. I can't remember the dishes they
> cooked. Glad you had good results recreating one of them. Since, as sf
> pointed out, no recipes given, so it could be just a useless show for some.

I couldn't duplicate (and wouldn't) some of the stuff they do...but some
of it is easy.

--
Currently Reading: Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold

On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 19:21:30 -0500, Cheryl >
wrote:

> That's one of the few I've seen. I can't remember the dishes they
> cooked. Glad you had good results recreating one of them. Since, as sf
> pointed out, no recipes given, so it could be just a useless show for some.

I think I've seen that show and wished I had some recipes. A lot of
the dishes appealed to me.

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On 1/2/2011 7:37 PM, sf wrote:
> On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 19:21:30 -0500, >
> wrote:
>
>> That's one of the few I've seen. I can't remember the dishes they
>> cooked. Glad you had good results recreating one of them. Since, as sf
>> pointed out, no recipes given, so it could be just a useless show for some.
>
> I think I've seen that show and wished I had some recipes. A lot of
> the dishes appealed to me.
>

I liked tonight's show. The best part of it for me was the way they
joked around during a show with a time crunch (or not). It certainly
was different with the ice sculptures. I really like Anne Burrell.

On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 21:19:34 -0500, Cheryl >
wrote:

> I liked tonight's show. The best part of it for me was the way they
> joked around during a show with a time crunch (or not). It certainly
> was different with the ice sculptures. I really like Anne Burrell.

I did enjoy the one with sous chefs Giadia and Rachael, but the
regular Iron Chef's are a big yawn for me. I like Anne Burrell too,
so I would have enjoyed tonight's competition... who was the other
sous?

As I said before, Iron Chef America would be a lot more interesting to
me if I had recipes to look at. As it is, I'm watching "The Other" at
the moment.

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On 1/2/2011 9:28 PM, sf wrote:
> On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 21:19:34 -0500, >
> wrote:
>
>> I liked tonight's show. The best part of it for me was the way they
>> joked around during a show with a time crunch (or not). It certainly
>> was different with the ice sculptures. I really like Anne Burrell.
>
> I did enjoy the one with sous chefs Giadia and Rachael, but the
> regular Iron Chef's are a big yawn for me. I like Anne Burrell too,
> so I would have enjoyed tonight's competition... who was the other
> sous?

I don't think Anne was considered a sous chef in this, same as her
competitor. He was Robert Ervine, the same guy who is working with her
on this season's Worst chef in America. Anne had IC bald guy, can't
remember his name. Robert had IC Cat Cora.

>
> As I said before, Iron Chef America would be a lot more interesting to
> me if I had recipes to look at. As it is, I'm watching "The Other" at
> the moment.
>

That explains a lot - thanks for passing it on.

On Jan 1, 11:42*pm, Kris > wrote:
> On Jan 1, 11:50*pm, Cheryl > wrote:
>
> > I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
> > doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. *Resting
> > tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. *Do the chefs come up
> > with recipes on the fly? *They just seem to jump into what they're
> > cooking without any thought. *To me, its one of those shows that you
> > have to watch every second of, or you miss something.
>
> I've always thought they made up recipes on the spur. I guess I've
> always thought they did not know the ingredient of the show ahead of
> time also. But I DO wonder how the "kitchens" they use are stocked
> with what they need - they don't seem to have problems needing
> anything.
>
> Anyone else know any "behind the scenes" scoops?
>
> Kris

There's a good behind the scenes description here somewhere - as I
recall, the chefs are given 3 possible main ingredients, from which
they can develop 3 different sets of 5 dishes, plus they can request
certain ingredients (like rabbit, etc.) to be available. There is a
special FTV program on what goes on behind the scenes; I've never seen
it. Apparently, the chefs make one set of their five dishes - and
then recreate those items in multiples for the judges.

N.

> revealed. *The souse chefs are assigned tasks ahead of time too. * They
> shoot two shows a day in 8 or 10 hours. *That includes setup and cleaning
> between shows.

.....they really might be "souse" chefs, but are more likely "sous"
chefs. LOL.

N.

On Jan 2, 9:41*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
> On Sat, 1 Jan 2011 21:12:34 -0800, "Julie Bove"
>
> > wrote:
>
> >"Cheryl" > wrote in message
> ...
> >>I don't watch FN often enough but I've been watching today as I've been
> >>doing a lot of de-clutter and house cleaning, so it's been on. *Resting
> >>tonight (my aching back) and watching Iron Chef. *Do the chefs come up with
> >>recipes on the fly? *They just seem to jump into what they're cooking
> >>without any thought. *To me, its one of those shows that you have to watch
> >>every second of, or you miss something.
>
> >I think they do, but... *I suppose they could tell them of the ingredient
> >ahead of time.
>
> Sheesh... it's NOT live TV... it's taped, it's well reheared and
> heavily edited... most of the dishes on foodtv shows are pre-prepared
> by others behind the scenes by folks who actually know how to cook.

Heavily edited, probably, but those chefs and helpers you see are
actually the ones preparing the foods on ICA. As to the other FTV
shows, you may be right, but so what.

N.

On Jan 2, 9:06*pm, Cheryl > wrote:
> On 1/2/2011 9:28 PM, sf wrote:
>
> > On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 21:19:34 -0500, >
> > wrote:
>
> >> I liked tonight's show. *The best part of it for me was the way they
> >> joked around during a show with a time crunch (or not). *It certainly
> >> was different with the ice sculptures. *I really like Anne Burrell.
>
> > I did enjoy the one with sous chefs Giadia and Rachael, but the
> > regular Iron Chef's are a big yawn for me. *I like Anne Burrell too,
> > so I would have enjoyed tonight's competition... who was the other
> > sous?
>
> I don't think Anne was considered a sous chef in this, same as her
> competitor. *He was Robert Ervine, the same guy who is working with her
> on this season's Worst chef in America. *Anne had IC bald guy, can't
> remember his name. *Robert had IC Cat Cora.
>

Anne Burrell has performed the sous chef role before in ICA battles.
Just FYI.

Bald guy? Michael Symon?

N.

On 1/3/2011 4:20 PM, Nancy2 wrote:
> Anne Burrell has performed the sous chef role before in ICA battles.
> Just FYI.
>

Yes. I saw her on the white house one last night as sous chef. As you
can tell, I haven't watched this much, but I do find it fascinating, no
matter how edited.

> Bald guy? Michael Symon?

Sounds right.

Nancy2 wrote:
>
> Anne Burrell has performed the sous chef role before in ICA battles.

She got her start as sous chef for Mario Battali several seasons ago.
Then she started getting her own shows. I recorded this episode on my
Tivo but haven't watched it yet.

On Mon, 3 Jan 2011 13:13:43 -0800 (PST), Nancy2 wrote:

>> revealed. *The souse chefs are assigned tasks ahead of time too. * They
>> shoot two shows a day in 8 or 10 hours. *That includes setup and cleaning
>> between shows.
>
> ....they really might be "souse" chefs, but are more likely "sous"
> chefs. LOL.
>
> N.

it's the coked-up chefs you gotta look out for.

your pal,
blake

Hard to dedicate to the show, but it's more entertaining than much on TV. Fun to watch Morimoto get original, although the show can't hold a candle to "Chopped" IMO. IC has the greats and "Chopped" the up-and-comers. I think they're really under the gun on "Chopped", as well. IC they have to finish like one complete version of each dish. It's a'ight.