Iron Chef America's "secret" ingredients

by Nicole Weston, Posted Feb 23rd 2006 @ 9:00AM

MSNBC has officially uncovered the secrets that make Iron Chef America work - and unlike the Amateur Gourmet, they don't seem to have been required to sign a nondisclosure agreement. The "secret" ingredient is chosen from a list of five possible ingredients that are given to the chefs prior to the filming of the show. While they don't generally know the actual one that will be used, the time they are given to plan certainly does not make it a surprise. To get the effect of a surprise, some scenes - including the reveal of the ingredient - are subject to multiple takes. The actually cooking time is still strictly held to 60 minutes, even though some ingredients may be simmering or nearly ready to use when the clock starts.

The judging is probably the most mysterious aspect of the show. It is shown in only a 10 minute segment of the program, but the judges are actually given 90 minutes - 45 minutes per chef - to have the dishes presented to them. The dishes are judged on originality, taste and presentation and with 10 to 12 dishes for each judge to sample, 90 minutes goes by quickly. The chefs are given time beyond the 60 minutes to plate all of their dishes, as only one of each is required to be plated by the time the buzzer sounds.

Does Iron Chef lose any of its appeal from these revelations? Not for me. I always suspected that the "secret" ingredients were less than closely guarded. The show is still a great way to watch real chefs doing what they do best, not to mention that the brilliant commentary of Alton Brown keeps the show both entertaining and educational.

It's sort of like finding out the Tooth Fairy isn't real: it always seemed slightly unlikely, but you're not going to turn down the $5 you found under your pillow in the morning. I'm not changing the channel yet.

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Filed Under: Television/Film, Did you know?
Tags: 60 minutes, alton brown, america, bobby flay, chefs, competition, cooking, cuisine, culinary, did you know, food network, food tv, iron chef, iron chef america, IronChef, reality show, secret, secret ingredients, secrets of iron chef, television, time limit

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-23-2006 @10:01AM Dmnkly said... I believe the "one of a list of possible ingredients" is the same system that was used for the original Japanese show.
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2-23-2006 @12:47PM Jacob Pulliam said... That is correct, see here --> http://www.geocities.com/oceanaria9/faq.html

(at least if that faq is to be believed)
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2-23-2006 @2:41PM Allison said... The original Japanese show initially had the theme ingredient be a complete surprise, then they added hints, then later they switched to the 1 in 5 scheme. I read somewhere else that the American show starts with 5, which they negotiate (with the chefs) down to just 2! The Japanese show was far more likely to have ingredients that were tricky for a chef to use (foie gras for Iron Chef Chinese for example).

Though I do enjoy this American version (some earlier attempts were ghastly), it's still nowhere near as good as the Japanese original. The chefs are overall not as good (including the Iron Chefs), the creativity is often questionable (5 versions of Thanksgiving supper is not a creative use of turkey!), and Alton and Kevin are no match for Fukui, Hattori, and Ota.

I once had the epiphany that it was the culture of the countries that really affected the feel of the show. The Americans are more obsessed with celebrity and the Japanese are more obsessed with food. The latter makes for better food tv shows.
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2-23-2006 @5:54PM lauren said... thank you - you answered a lot of questions i was pondering.
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2-24-2006 @5:16AM Jason Corbett said... I had read about the Japanese version doing the 1 in 5 deal, and while the ICA people tried to build up a mystique to the secret ingredient process, I never really expected it to be any different.

While Iron Chef America is by no means horrible (it's a far cry from Iron Chef USA), it has taken me a while to fully warm up to this version. A lot of the charm of the original Iron Chef was the camp and pageantry, which I'e always known only the Japanese could pull off. I don't expect that. But I would've liked them to emulate other parts of the original more.

I love Alton Brown, and think he's probably the best host on Food Network, and one of my favorite all-time TV chefs (if not favorite). But I think he's kind of boring on Iron Chef America. It's just him and Kevin Schmuck, and Alton's doing most of the heavy lifting, and he's just not as lively as he is on Good Eats. In the Japanese version, they had a bunch of people talking throughout, a dedicated host, a food expert, and the celebrity guests. Popping over to the judge's table for a minute doesn't really cut it for me. The American version lacks that conversational dynamic. It would be a lot more interesting if they started including more people. (and replaced Kevin)

The original tweaked the format after a couple of seasons (including another judge and adding them to the commentary), so I hold out hope for ICA working out the bugs in the same manner.
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