Iron Chef America

Iron Chef America is an American cooking show based on FujiTV's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carries a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef.

History

Iron Chef America first aired as a special titled Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters. Unlike Iron Chef USA, Iron Chef America quickly earned legitimacy with the appearance of Iron Chefs Hiroyuki Sakai and Masaharu Morimoto (with Chen Kenichi also originally slated to appear, but did not appear due to a scheduling conflict), as well as the appointment of Bobby Flay as one of the American Iron Chefs. The inclusion of Flay was a controversial one in the fact that Flay was hated by many Iron Chef fans - one which dated back to 2000, when Flay was a challenger. Ironically, the idea behind reviving Iron Chef was largely credited to Flay.

Related Topics:
Iron Chef USA - Hiroyuki Sakai - Masaharu Morimoto - Chen Kenichi - Bobby Flay - 2000

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Flay had previously appeared on an Iron Chef special in 2000, where he was the challenger against Morimoto in a rock crab battle which took place in New York City. Flay was best remembered for standing on top of his cutting board at the end of the battle, which had caused quite a controversy among fans of Iron Chef, with Morimoto once stating that Flay "was not a chef at all". The battle also saw Morimoto's dishes tasted first, contrary to Iron Chef traditions, due to the spicy nature of Flay's dishes. Morimoto won the battle, but Flay demanded a rematch, partly due to the unsafe makeshift kitchen set up in New York. The following year, Flay demanded (and won) the rematch, partly due to his spicy dishes (which were tasted first) that had effectively blocked out the taste of Morimoto's dishes. There, Flay also attempted to rectify his apparent faux pas in the earlier battle by tossing his cutting board aside before standing on the kitchen counter.

Related Topics:
2000 - Rock crab - New York City - Faux pas

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The first battle of Battle of the Masters involved Sakai and Flay, with the theme of trout. There, Sakai had made two dishes of note: one was gift-wrapped to commemorate the opening of Kitchen Stadium America, while the other was trout ice cream, a dish that would be repeatedly recalled and referred to later on when anyone used the ice cream maker (especially when seafood of any kind was being poured in). In the end, the King of Iron Chefs lost by a single point. Other battles in Battle of the Masters was Morimoto taking on Batali, Morimoto (allegedly taking place of Chen) taking on Puck, and a tag team battle where Morimoto and Flay teamed up against Sakai and Batali. The battle between Sakai and Flay, in a sense, effectively contained all three incarnations of Iron Chef, with judge Kerry Simon having been a challenger on Iron Chef USA.

Related Topics:
Trout - Ice cream - Kerry Simon - Iron Chef USA

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Battle of the Masters was largely successful, although the wins by the American Iron Chefs (and Flay and Morimoto in the tag team battle) had fans questioning whether the matches were fixed (except for the 21st Century Battle, Sakai had not lost in a battle where fish was a theme ingredient, nor had he lost in a tag battle). Nevertheless, the specials were successful enough that a regular series was commissioned.

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The regular series is taped in New York, while Battle of the Masters took place in Los Angeles. Because of other interests, Puck declined to appear in the regular series, and Morimoto soon took his place. Not surprisingly, a few of the initial challengers were themselves Food Network personalities, such as Ming Tsai (East Meets West) and Rob Feenie (New Classics with Chef Rob Feenie). The first season also introduced Cat Cora as an Iron Chef, becoming the first female chef to hold the rank.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles - Food Network - Ming Tsai - East Meets West - Rob Feenie - New Classics with Chef Rob Feenie - Cat Cora

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The second season of "Iron Chef America" began airing in July of 2005. This season will see Kerry Simon becoming the first chef to challenge on two different versions of Iron Chef (losing to Todd English on Iron Chef USA and defeating Cora on Iron Chef America, Simon also appeared as a judge in Battle of the Masters), as well as the first time an Iron Chef from Iron Chef USA challenges another Iron Chef, with English losing to Batali.

Related Topics:
2005 - Kerry Simon - Todd English

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The second Iron Chef America season so far has seen its first and (so far) only tie on the American show: on July 31, 2005, with both challenger and Iron Chef receiving 45 points. In this case, unlike Iron Chef, no overtime is played, although a rematch was suggested by the hosts.

Related Topics:
July 31 - 2005

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