I just watched Iron Chef America for the first time in months. I used to watch it frequently, but alas duty (life) calls. In any event, I was watching the opening where they go through all the pomp and circumstance introducing the challenger chef and the secret ingredient. As the ingredient was introduced and the chefs dashed off, I once again wondered about something that I have many times in the past.

If the ingredient is so "secret", how is it that both chefs and their assistants hit the kitchen like their hair is on fire with nary a word about what it is they are going to cook? Everything just starts happening like, well, like they've done it before.

Just a thought...
1 Comments:
Blogger Trevor said...
I was digging through your site looking for a review of those cheap flexible cutting mats you use (doesn't look like you've reviewed those yet...hint hint) when I came across this post. I have wondered the same thing, and guess what Wikipedia says:


Just as with the original Iron Chef, the "secret" ingredient is not truly secret. Both the competitor and the Iron Chef are given a list of three to five ingredients before the battle, of which one will be the secret ingredient.

Unlike Iron Chef, where chefs had roughly 5 minutes to discuss their strategy before the battle begins, the revelation of the theme ingredient occurs 45 minutes before the start of the battle. However, this segment is not shown on television, and it is a common assumption that the battle starts immediately after the secret ingredient is revealed. This practice was described on an episode of Unwrapped.

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