Did anyone catch the battle with John Besh. I don't recall if it was against Batali or Flay, but the secret ingredient was Andouille sausage....a nice ingredient for a Cajun chef. Well, John Besh won, and I will tell you, he deserves a win on Iron Chef because his two restaurants in New Orleans are simply fantastic. Besh Steakhouse is in the rebuilt, and over the top, Harrah's Casino next to the Hilton Riverwalk on Canal Street. His other place, Retaurant August is more elegant and subdued, and is located on Tchoupitoulas. I've eaten at both, and they are both amazing, with a personal edge going to August for being more suited toward my dining style preferences. Check out his menu at www.restaurantaugust.com. The crabmeat and truffle gnocchi is to die for, as is the pork-belly and crawfish agnolotti, white asparagus & crabmeat soup, the garlic-ricotta and artichoke tortelli. I've also really enjoyed the braised grouper cheeks, and I LOVED the rabbit, veal, lobster, and sweetbread lasagna, which isn't really a lasagna, but is just out-of-this-world scrumptious. The food is very rich, more so than most of the other restaurants I've been to lately. I highly recommend making a visit to one of his restaurants if you come to New Orleans. In fact, I'd love to get a group together and have an offline at August.

As far as Iron Chef goes, I watch both the Japanese version, as well as the American show. I do prefer the Japanese show, as the floor reporter is much more intelligent and articulate than Kevin whatshisname. I do like Alton Brown though. The judges on the Japanese show seem more focused on the flavors, doing a professional job as a judge, and highlighting the pertinent points regarding the food, and they don't seem to care so much about flaunting their supposedly superior food knowledge, make lame jokes ( although I do love Mo Rocca ), and make themselves look important. Do you recal the episode where that snotty woman with the premanent sneer who's thong was obviously cinched up a little too tight kept saying "Well, I've been to Thailand, and I wanted it to taste like it does in Thailand, and, you know, since I've been to Thailand, I know what its supposed to taste like, and this isn't exactly like it is IN THAILAND......" Give me a break.

Also, I don't know if anyone has mentioned it on this board, but when Bobby Flay stood up on the cutting board after the battle, that was staged. When the show was being planned, the Japanese TV producers told the American liasons that Americans were thought to be outlandish, conceited, and over the top. They told Bobby Flay to act wild and stand up on the counter at some point during the show so that they could reinforce the audiences perception of Americans, especially American chefs. He actually argued the point, but ended up caving in and doing it. Supposedly, Morimoto was very angry at Flay for his antics until he found out at a later date that they had asked him to act like that. Since then, they have apparently come to like each other. My girlfriend thinks Flay is arrogant anyway. I personally just think he is a damn good chef who wants his workers to do a good job, quickly, and exactly as he has taught them to do. He may be demanding and curt, but thats how he keeps quality up. Oh, and I also can't stand Cat Cora. I don't think she is even remotely close to being on the same level as Batali, Morimoto, or Flay.....or most of the competitors, for that matter, and I think its pathetic that they put her on there just to be politically correct.

My favorite Japanese Iron Chef has to be Masahiko Kobe ( Iron Chef Italian ). He is so funny and is a great Chef. Since you don't see him so much, I also really like Chen Kenichi, as well. He's got a great sense of humor, is so very humble, and is also an excellent chef. I don't think I've seen Chen or Kobe make one dish that I would not try.........unlike several of the others.......Michiba, Morimoto, Sakai.

Sorry for the long post, but I love this show.

Jester

Tomorrow night is David Bull of Austin's Driskill Hotel vs. Bobby Flay. Below is a link to an article about the battle. I found it interesting that they give them three ingredients a few months before so they can practice before the "secret ingredient" unveiling on the show.

The Boar War

I went to a cooking demonstration a few weeks ago starring Morimoto. During the 'Q&A', he was asked if the "secret ingredient" is really a secret until the last minute. He smiled and said "No can say. Next question!" and eveyone laughed. He then offered: "In Japanese show, 5 minutes before taping. In U.S., get 3 or 4 to choose from. No can say how soon before show we know." But obviously, given some of the equipment and "pantry items" some chefs bring, they know before they board the plane.

After watching last night's episode I think someone needs to dial back Alton Brown's cocaine. Case in point - in last night's episode he raised up his t-shirt to crazily reveal a tatoo of a bee and then used a marker to diagram on it. Mr. Winetex and I looked at each other and said, "too much coke...".

Otherwise Battle Honey was a bit of a snooze.

lol.

Anyway, I think the episode order the the States is different than up here. Last night it was battle fennel.

Anybody catch "Battle Beets" with Morimoto and Homaro Cantu. A real "Techno-chef" battle with edible paper, Class 4 lasers, agar, foams, liquid nirtogen, balloons, among other equipment. Alton Brown was hard-pressed to keep up with the ingredients and techniques. Not sure if the winner should have gotten congratulations from the Chairman, or the panel of Nobel Science Prize judges. Maybe the best episode ever.

It replays at 11:00 eastern tonight.

The problem was that the food just didn't look all that appetizing. Interesting, yes.

Since I'm not actually going to eat any of these creations, as they aren't items plucked from the restaurant's menu, I don't really care about the taste. (I'm sure that every single ice cream made from fish puree ever to come from Kitchen Stadium is putrid!) What facinates me about the show is technique, and this show had that in spades. FWIW, the judges gave both guys very high scores for taste. The final score was 52-51, which are very high scores overall.

I was amazed by the weird stuff the challenger was doing and all of his toys. Impressive.

Congrats to Chef Symon making it to the covet ultimate treasure of The Iron Chef. It was close between him & Besh. The last 2-3 episodes were very interesting. He must be in heaven now!

Is it any surprise that a buddy of one of the judges won the competition?

Besh should have won.

My guess is that from a food perspective, either Symon or Besh would make a fine Iron Chef. It seemed to be a choice of what kind of personality they wanted to add to the show. My prediction had been Besh all along (shows what I know), but perhaps they are looking to appeal to a broader market. Personally, I think they should have declared it a tie and added both.

Bob, I agree, they both should have been added. My wife and I had both picked Besh from the start but he really didn't seem to produce as well for the final challenge.

Also, is Mario off the show now? Interesting that he was not one of the Iron Chef judges on the final "Next." It would be too bad if he is gone. He and Morimoto were my favorites.

Mario is off the FN altogether.  They decided to pull his old shows off of the re-reun cycle. (He hadn't taped a studio show in over 3 years). He got mad and said if they weren't going to show his old programs, then he wasn't going to do any more Iron Chefs. They called his bluff. I believe he is scheduled to surface soon on PBS.

As for The Next Iron Chef, (and I concede that John Besh was far more well-known to me before this all began), but I simply can't imagine a challenger choosing to go up against Symon. Not because they fear him, but because there is no glory in winning. However, I can see someone challenging Besh. He has a restaurant and competition track record. I would imagine that the egos of the challengers would dictate that they go up against Flay or Morimoto, and occasionally Besh. (Can't say I've ever understood how Cat Cora got up on that stage.)

I think I posted this before, but I've been told by a Chef, who the food network is courting, that you have to sign a contract that says you acknowledge that the Iron Chef wins (something like) 75% of the time.  The Chef that told me that said that of course he would pick Morimoto since it is no shame to be beaten by him.

JimmyV, thanks for the Mario update. Definitely a loss for the show and FN.

Also, I agree - where's the glory in challenging Symon (or Cora)? And how bad would it be for a chef to lose to him? Another reason I would have liked Besh on the show is that he seemed to carry himself with the "swagger" you would expect from an Iron Chef. IMO, Symon has never conveyed that same quality.

Bob, very interesting - does that imply that the judging results are rigged or determined ahead of time?

Not that in the end it would really matter to me, I've been addicted to both versions of the show for years and will keep watching until it's cancelled!

(the Shatner version never counted)

I wonder about that every time I see the judges pounding the challenger for "not tasting the secret ingredient" and then complimenting the Iron Chef for using the same ingredient as a cooking method, or something like that.

I wonder if this show is governed by the same Federal legislation that governs other game shows.  Laws were passed as a result of a scandal in the 1950s, whci became the subject of the movie "Quiz Show".  Apparently they are outside the scope.