I've said before what a reality television junky I am, remember? Anyway, I've been watching The Next Iron Chef on Food Network for two reasons. One being that I absolutely adore cooking competition shows. I consider myself to be a pretty well acquainted with my kitchen and my culinary skills are quite nice (if I do say so myself). However, I am amazed each and every time I watch Iron Chef...whether it be the old Japanese shows or the newer American version. I'm left feeling awestruck every time. Why? Because I have no idea how anyone could be given some random ingredient, 1 hour and produce several top quality dishes. I'd be still peeling potatoes by the time my competitor was plating their 3rd dish. With that said...the second reason I'm watching the Next Iron Chef is because there is an extremely talented chef by the name of Michael Symon who hails from from Cleveland.
How exciting is that! I'm sorry to admit that I've not eaten at any of his restaurants due to the inability to get a reservation several years ago and I've not ever tried again. And now that he's a budding television star on a national network, I don't even dare try. But it's all pretty cool just that same. The show airs on Sunday nights at 9pm eastern time on the food network. The final battle to decide whose cuisine reigns supreme and will get the coveted title of Iron Chef will take place next week. If you're interested, you can learn more about Micheal Symon here. Allez Cuisine!!!
19 comments:
I haven't watched much of this competition due to the bombing of the Next Food Network Star, although it would be nice to have another Iron Chef to watch(hopefully replacing Mario). Anywho, where does this guy work? Make reservations between the 18th and 25th! For at least two.
Nic~He's got two places downtown. I'll see what I can do! And what do you mean...you don't like the "gormet next door" :)
I've never eaten at Lola or Lolita, either, although I've heard raves. Micheal Symon has really come up quick. And I just love his engaging laugh. When I went to the Food Show a couple years back, I could tell he was there simply by hearing his laughter. I turned around and, sure enough, he was standing about ten feet away. I hope he wins. He's so down-to-earth, but inventive and knowledgeable. And what a nice guy. He plays golf every once in a while at the Elyria Country Club in NE Ohio as the guest of a friend of mine. They had the rehearsal dinner of one of her kids at his restaurant, Lola Bistro. She said the food was tremendous.
That girl is lucky that Jag lied about his past!!!I wonder how many episodes they'll let her do.
Nance~Yes, his laugh is super infectious, love it! I'm going to try and eat there soon...cause if he does win, I'll never be able to afford it!
Nic~I can't say that I've actually watched her. I always change the channel :)
I haven't watched the show recently, but I did see the Japanese version a while back. That's some hardcore cooking!
Anali~The Japanese version is my favorite...it's sooooo funny!!
I chop, you wok, we do it togehter!!!!
I also can't understand how they crank out so many dishes in only an hour. I cook for a large group of people once a week, and it takes hours to get everything done.
I.H.~maybe we can go to Iron Chef training school :)
I.H. I think that it would be nice if we could have 5 people helping us in the kitchen too! I can make a great side dish in one hour!
Nina, reality shows suck! And for the record, this was not a short post, by any stretch of the imagination!
Oh yeah, I soooo wish I was a part of you and Nicole's "I chop you wok..." you guys are so cool.
Tera~No haters allowed.
and just for the record...that is an inside joke from over 10 years ago...funny how we remember the silliest things!!!
I will hate where I please!
And I know! I remember you putting it on one of those surveys from Nic...the question was "Say something that only you and I will understand..." or something like that. I thought it was cool then!
nic - How many assistants do they get? If they get enough assistants, I'm sure it's not that incredibly difficult.
Think about it. The main chef probably has years and years of experience and has made hundreds of dishes. So when the main ingredient is announced, there's probably a good ten or twenty or so dishes they've made that fit pretty well. They only need to spend a few minutes picking a few of them that go together.
Then it's off to the assistant chefs to do most of the grunt work. And if I've gotten used to cooking for people after cooking once a week for just a few weeks and can wing things without having an actual recipe, I'm sure that someone with a few years of experience can do the same but making the dishes taste significantly better.
When I cook once per week, it's always with one other person. And we spend about three hours cooking. That's six man-hours, which is the same as six people cooking for one hour each. Add a decade of experience, and it's bound to be easy.
IH~I think you've just taken the fun out of my thinking the Iron Chefs are like superheroes. Shame on you!
I suppose what you've said does make perfect sense.
Aww, I'm sorry. But regardless, it still looks pretty awesome when they do it!
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