Famous Death Row Last Meals
Food Fights: The Biggest Culinary Scandals Of 2011
There comes a point in the course of every reality TV show when someone ruins all the fun and exposes the show as fake. Sadly, that time has come for my beloved Iron Chef America. Despite the fact such a discoveries are inevitable, I'm always still so shocked! (Well, maybe not about MTV's The Hills, but in most other cases...)Iron Chef America's exposure comes via the Village Voice, which published an article by someone who watched a taping of the show, and says that it is "more bogus than I ever imagined." The article lists a bunch of falsehoods about the show, but the most disappointing was that the chefs apparently know the secret ingredients before they begin!
If you feel re-living the day you found out Santa Claus doesn't exist, check out the full article here.
Jennifer Aniston's Effortlessly Sexy Style
Whitney Houston Dead: Singer Dies at 48, Body Found in Beverly Hilton Hotel
Sheryl Crow Loves To Flaunt Toned Physique
Whitney Houston, Bobbi Kristina: Late Singer's Daughter Hospitalized
Whitney Houston Autopsy: Cause of Death Determined?
QUIZ: How Much Do You Know About Marriage In The U.S.?
Whitney Houston Dead: Stars React to Legend's Sudden Death
Grammy Red Carpet 2012 (PHOTOS)
PHOTOS: Remembering Whitney Houston's Glittering Style
Tips for flying cheaper in 2012
Grammy 2012 Winners' List: Adele Sweeps Music's Biggest Night
LINSANITY CONTINUES
There's only one thing to do when the Nürburgring is covered in snow...
Katy Perry Grammy Performance 2012: Diva Tricks Fans With Faux Technical Meltdown
Grammy Awards 2012: The Best & Worst Of The Red Carpet!
Tax Reform in This Election Year: It's Not Likely
Comforter Soaked In Blood Found In Josh Powell's Storage Unit
TV's Best Music Moments
The Happiest People In The World...
Mitt Romney Wins Maine Caucus
PHOTOS: Two Outfits, One Day!
WATCH: Chainsaw-Wielding Thug Attacks Pub Crawlers
Chloë Moretz Is All Grown Up
Simon Cowell: Whitney Would've Been The Ultimate 'X Factor' Mentor
New Rankings Finds D.C. Is A Great Place For Single Men
'There's No Way She's Dead'
SLIDESHOW: Scientists On God
PHOTOS: J.Lo Strips Down
12 Grammys Stars Who Gave Good Style
Former Wall Street Journal Columnist, Best-Selling Author Dies
WATCH: Adorable Animals Riding Other Animals
15 Obnoxious Notes From Roommates
2-22-2008 @5:59PM DanGarion said... I think this had already been mentioned before (regarding the chefs already knowing what the secret item was going to be).
Reply
2-22-2008 @6:18PM Alex said... Late last year I appeared on a British food show where various audience members had brought along their own dishes. All illusion of 'reality' was smattered when I was asked by one of the crew "Did you bring that or were you just given it as you walked through the door?".
Aaaah, now I know how they usually work ... ;)
Reply
2-22-2008 @6:22PM SpenceMasta said... its not hard to conclude they knew about the secret ingredient since they always seem to have accommodative plating decorations and tools and dont even discuss what has to be cooked
Reply
2-22-2008 @6:43PM Laura said... Before there ever was an Iron Chef America, I read a brief article about the original Japanese Iron Chef (in, say, 2000). It clearly stated that there was a list of four ingredients given to the contestants as possible ingredients for the show. So it's not really something new.
And as a former professional cook (fine dining), I have to say that preparing 4-5 nice-looking, well-balanced dishes, even with two sous-chefs, in an hour, when you have no idea what the main ingredient will be ahead of time, is pretty difficult. At least one or two of those dishes will be so-so, if not outright failures.
The problem is that the show misleads its audience. On the other hand, TV is all about illusion; why should this show be any different? Reality, my eye.
Reply
2-22-2008 @6:46PM Mathi Bear said... Somehow after reading that 'exposing article' I don't think of Iron Chef any differently. The food network stated that there was a list. What the list looks like is anyone's guess, but most likely it's a short list of similar possibilities. Something like "Salmon, Grouper, Cod, Tuna: good luck guys".
The OMG surprise that the judging takes 2 hours? No surprise at all, filming something like that always takes a lot longer than it seems on TV, there needs to be a lot of editing to keep it interesting for the modern viewer.
Surprise that "oompa loompas" help with the final serving? None. The chefs make one dish for the cameras, the ones for the judges naturally get to be prepared and served later.
I really don't see the big deal...it's a TV program, if they didn't use cutting and editing and fog and drama it wouldn't be nearly as fun.
Reply
2-22-2008 @6:56PM Mark S said... What kind of hack wrote this slop! "Gosh, everything on a TV show isn't on the up and up? I'm crushed!"
Most of the points in his "expose" were included in an "Food Network: Unwrapped" episode about IC, by the way. Perhaps he just watched that and made the whole story up?
Reply
2-22-2008 @7:50PM buzz bishop said... From what I recall on a show about the original Iron Chef, is they are given a short list of 3 possible ingredients.
Not a big scandal.. come on. ALLLLLEEZZ CUISINE!
Reply
2-22-2008 @9:16PM Amanda said... Yeah, I'm not surprised either. I've always been a fan of Iron Chef and always thought it was a ruse. I mean, who really believed Kaga was a rich millionaire and had a cooking contest in his basement? It's kind of like the WWF of cooking :)
The only real surprise to me is that a reputable food critic was surprised it was a farce.
Reply
2-23-2008 @12:44PM Porcalina said... OMG! You mean everything on TV isn't 100% as it seems?!?!?!?! Please, what a stupid article.
I always assumed they knew the ingredient from the start anyway. There's no way they can plan out all those dishes on the spot without knowing what they were getting into. And being horrified that all the chefs weren't there for the selection? C'mon like they're all going to get together early in the morning to stand on a podium and possibly just step right down and go home?
Ridiculous.
Reply
5-14-2011 @11:12PM Wendy said... If the chef's didn't know the mystery ingredient ahead of time the hour would be spent picking out recipes, sharing the information with the sous chef's and gathering ingredients instead of cooking.
Reply