'Iron Chef America' - Eating Clouds on Ladies' Night

by Michael Thomas Hastings, Posted Mar 22nd 2010 @ 11:00AM

Photo: Getty Images

If there's one thing we can count on in an Iron Chef challenge, it's the secret ingredient. The opposition might be woefully mismatched, the sous-chefs can be fumbling their utensils all over the place, and Alton Brown could be peddling staler puns than your late grandpa -- but still, we get to watch talented pros tackle proteins we'd never try at home (offal, mackerel) or let loose their most complex, impressive techniques on your everyday household avocado or cherry.

But despite the promise of this week's installment being "ladies' night" -- ultra-imposing defending champ Cat Cora versus New York's chef laureate of Mexican cuisine, Julieta Ballesteros -- and despite the usual fanfare from Brown and the chairman (beamed in via satellite), we have to say we were a little let down by the surprise guest.

Ricotta? Really? The Body Snatcher of cheeses -- creamy white stuff that's usually so bland it takes on the personality of any other ingredient it touches? We suppose it could've been worse -- they've been tacky and chosen eggs or milk or something, you know, "womanly" -- but it wasn't a great start to the face-off.

But oh, did we have a lot to learn about ricotta. From goat to smoked cow's milk, from whipped curds to hard bricks, Iron Chef had every last variety of the stuff. And while we couldn't be there to sample their salty, savory or sweet qualities, this time the judges weren't shy in describing every last bite -- that is, except for when the food was so good, they were speechless.

Honestly, right off the bat this pairing seemed like a mismatch. Ballesteros and company whipped up impressively rustic south-of-the-border fare -- wrapping a tamale here, loading fistfuls of cilantro into the blender there. But over on the defending champ's side, some serious chemistry was going down.

Cora -- whose already sharp features harden to an almost metallic sheen when she's in battle, making her look more than a little like the evil lady robot in the third Terminator movie -- presided over her team like the head of Nasa ground control. With pressure like this, you can't help but crack. Just ask her celeb sous-chef Richard Blais, he of Top Chef Season 4: Amidst measuring out sodium alginate for little ricotta globules and applying liquid nitrogen to Mexican chocolate, he could be forgiven for not putting the lid on a blender before hitting "puree," right?

In the face of all this technology, Ballesteros' Mexican fare with a French flair couldn't hold a candle. While her dishes -- butternut squash soup with ricotta croutons, halibut on a tamale with pesto, and a delectable-looking tres leches dessert -- were hearty and plated with delicacy, Cora's seemed light years ahead. Starting off with a mozzarella-encased ricotta truffle (with real truffles inside), on through to her ricotta sponge cake, studded with mint and the aforementioned chocolate chunks, the judges were in awe. Choruses of "I've never had anything like this!" and "It's like blowing my mind!" and "It's like eating a cloud!" could be heard, that is, in-between their extended periods of munching.

Cora's high-tech culinary explosions were the clear winner; even still, we'd love to see Ballesteros' work in another context. Why she couldn't have battled Bobby Flay is beyond us -- they both seem to traffic in the same sort of spicy, earthy flavors. Whatever the reason, here's hoping she gets a broader audience for her recipes.

Filed Under: Television/Film
Tags: alton brown, cat cora, featured, food network, iron chef america, IronChefAmerica, Julieta Ballesteros, richard blais

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-22-2010 @1:04PM AxelFury said... I did a double take when I saw Richard Blais, wondering if it was really him, until they introduced all the sous chefs.
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3-23-2010 @2:04PM Terry Retter said... Agree with your assessment of this battle. The secret ingredient was a challenge that was not in the wheelhouse of the challenger. But Cat Cora has demonstrated many times that she has uncanny skill and imagination. How she brings that to bear in 60 minute challenge does amaze.

While we do not get the opportunity to sample the concoctions that are whipped up, there is always something to learn from these challenges. New combinations of ingredients, different ways to prepare items. and plating ideas (always a challenge for the chefwannabee) can be picked up from these master chefs.

Now if we only had access to the array of cooking utensils and the vast pantry, we could become much more imaginative ourselves.

Terry Retter
Http://YourSmartKitchen.com

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