"next iron chef" news and stories

The Next Iron Chefcontestants baited their lines in the latest episode, and found that going to the source can either leave you pretty much empty-handed (Marco Canora, whose fishing skills leave a bit to be desired), or with a line full of shark (chef Mary Dumont comes face to face with her own personal "Jaws"). Head over to Eater to read the recap of the Next Iron Chef highs and lows.

Sure, you may be a hotshot chef, but how's your liver and onions? Will it take you to the big leagues? Diner-food redux was the theme of last night's episode of Next Iron Chef. The editors at Eater give you the play-by-play, from a pot-pie redo to a deconstructed meatloaf.

As one of the premiere faces of the Food Network, Alton Brown's enthusiasm for all things food reaches beyond the definition of "foodie." As the host of Good Eats and author of several cookbooks, Brown has spent years uncovering the science behind cooking, which in turn made him a natural choice to be the "play by play" announcer on Iron Chef America.

Brown returns this Sunday (Oct. 3) as the host of third season of The Next Iron Chef, where he'll guide us through the 10 contestants who battle it out in an effort to join the likes of Bobby Flay, Cat Cora and Mario Batali as a coveted Iron Chef.

Slashfood spoke with Brown about the concept of The Next Iron Chef, how the "secret ingredients" are chosen and how the Tea Party movement might inspire food culture down the road.

The excitement around Kitchen Stadium is heating up, as Food Network has released details about season three of The Next Iron Chef. Secret-ingredient overlord Alton Brown will host the competition, and he'll have his hands full with 10 Iron Chef hopefuls, including the likes of Blue Ginger's Ming Tsai, Hearth's Marco Canora, and Marc Forgione, a mohawk-sporting chef who goes by the nickname "Forge."

Donatella Arpaia is set to return as judge, where she'll be joined by Iron Chef Michael Symon and food writer Simon Majumdar. This season starts out in Los Angeles; chefs will then make their way to Las Vegas and finally New York, where the last battle will take place in the famed Kitchen Stadium. The winner will start immediately as an Iron Chef-- their first battle on Iron Chef America takes place on November 28, just one week after The Next Iron Chef's finale.

As in the past, many of the challenges are designed to test how "worthy" these Iron Chefs are. This season, contestants will have to cook on a desert island and catch the secret ingredient in the wild; design recipes out of condiments such as ketchup, ranch dressing and mayonnaise; create an Iron Chef worthy meal out of corned-beef hash; and create a snack out of pickles.

Last night, the gloves came off in the battle for "Iron Chef" supremacy -- or rather, Jeffrey Steingarten's glasses came off. On the surface, this short, quick season has been building to a mano-a-mano showdown, between polarizing pastry master Jehangir Mehta and whomever rose to challenge him, in this case, ultra nice-guy Jose Garces.

But while they toiled over hot flames, under boiling klieg lights and in the haze of the prerequisite "Iron Chef" fog machine, we were watching the season's real battle come to a head: That's right, the one between behind the judges table, between haughty diva Donatella Arpaia and the toad-like food critic Steingarten.

If you've paid attention over the past few weeks, you've noticed the increasingly bitchy cat fights, the dismissive hand waves, and the incessant eye-rolling -- from both sides. But last night it reached a fever pitch.

If you thought these two could make it through a tuxedo-and-evening-dress finale without going for each other's jugulars, you were wrong. They couldn't even get through the initial round of the critique. It all started with Arpaia taking umbrage at Steingarten's comment that Mehta's buffalo steak in chocolate-wine sauce was too sweet, which in turn prompted a tongue-lashing: "Don't you criticize me!" Steingarten snapped.