"Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters" (2004) TV mini-series 2004-????

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Seasons:

1 | unknown

Release Date:

23 April 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Documentary

Plot:

Mark Dacascos, acting as the nephew of Takeshi Kaga, the Chairman of the Gourmet Academy in the Japanese "Iron Chef", establishes a Gourmet Academy in America.

Plot Keywords:

Kitchen | TV Mini-Series | Based On Japanese TV Series | Food | Competition

Cast

Ted Allen

...

Judge (Fruits de Mer Battle) (unknown episodes)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Company:

Food Network

Trivia:

Chairman Mark Dacascos bites an apple at the beginning of each episode to pay homage to the original Iron Chef, where Chairman Kaga bites a pepper.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Chowder: Chowder's Catering Company/The Catch Phrase (#2.6)" (2008)

Almost as good as the original

I am a huge fan of the original Iron Chef. When "Iron Chef USA" came out back in 2001, I was extremely disappointed and sad. It was a mockery of the original show. William Shatner wearing crazy outfits and trying to act like Chairman Kaga, it was embarrassing. The commentators had no idea what they were talking about and had no knowledge of food.

But with Iron Chef America, they have got it right.

This is about the battles, not about trying to be funny and make fun of the original Iron Chef.

The first battle in this 4 part Battle of the Masters, was Iron Chef American: Bobby Flay vs. Iron Chef French: Hiroyuki Sakai

The second battle was Iron Chef: Mario Batali vs. Iron Chef Japanese: Masaharu Morimoto.

The 3rd battle was Wolfgang Puck vs Masaharu Morimoto.

The 4th battle was a tag team battle with Morimoto and Flay vs Sakai and Batali.

My favorite battles were Flay vs Sakai and the team battle.

Alton Brown (from "Good Eats") does the commentary. He really knows his food and makes a great commentator. I just wish there were more commentators.. I liked the original Iron Chef because they were all talking and having fun and arguing over who guessed the dish correctly. It's a little boring with just Alton. It would also be nice if they had an audience to cheer the chefs on.

I hope others like this American version of Iron Chef so that Food Network will continue to make more.