'Next Iron Chef' recap: 'You were simply outcooked'

 
When I first wrote about the competitors for this season of "The Next Iron Chef" I expressed shock that celebuchef Ming Tsai would put it all on the line in a bid to join the culinary elite in Kitchen Stadium. And several of you took me to task, saying I was being duped. You said the show was a sham, the outcome inevitable: Food Network would anoint Tsai as the next Iron Chef, and the show would just be a, well, just a show. There was no way, you said, that Ming the Merciless would lose.

What do you say now?

I certainly would have wagered that Tsai would be among the final two standing. But it's a good thing I'm not a betting woman. 'Cause Tsai was eliminated this week along with chef Celina Tio. That leaves a Marco-versus-Marc finale, with chefs Marco Canora and Marc Forgione battling it out.

Could anyone have predicted this pairing heading into the season?

But week after week, both chefs accepted the judges' notes on their already formidable cooking skills and scrambled to improve. They both seemed to have a knack for that artful balance that any Iron Chef must achieve: They transform ingredients in new and exciting ways, while still elevating the "secret" ingredient to hero status -- and never allowing their creativity to overshadow it.

This week's challenge was all about seduction. First up, the final four cheftestants had to come up with a signature cocktail and a little bite to go with. Canora won, in part, by spanking the mint. This being Vegas, the final four "gambled" on their key ingredients for the next round. Forgione, that lucky guy, got lobster. Hard to beat that in the seduction department. Canora had wagyu beef (which he was able to swipe from Tsai, due to his earlier win) while Tio had Hawaiian moi fish, and Tsai was left with Mangalitsa pork. "I think I actually hit the jackpot," Tsai said of the switcheroo. That may be so, but Tsai served up a lardo pork dish that ended up being too fatty and off-putting for at least two of the judges.

"Chef Tsai," host Alton Brown said, "You were simply outcooked -- and not by much. But by enough, and I'm sorry, but you won't be the next Iron Chef." OUCH!

Were you surprised by Tsai's elimination? And who do you think will win? Canora or Forgione?

And memo to chef Tio: It was a pleasure watching your personality blossom. Soulless, you are not.

--Rene Lynch
twitter.com/renelynch

Photo: Food Network

Comments

[kari moore]

What truly amazes me is that the US look at Iron Chef as a cooking show.

In Japan....where I am from...Iron Chef was a GAME SHOW.Like The Price is Right.

My family used to watch it for a chance to laugh......

[jccl]

i've eaten at many of the contestant' restaurants and i agree that chef tsai is a very talented chef, as are the other contestants on this show. unfortunately for tsai, an iron chef has to be more than just a good chef. chef tsai lacks charisma and his plating just falls flat, in fact, it is rather 1980's-esque. while his food might be great, his competitors are the whole package.

[juls]

Another rigged "competition". Irregardless how all the other chefs cook, they already had in mind who they wanted to join into their frat boy club. How could one get through week after week of competition with-i-am-Italian-but-can't make pasta- i-am-chef-but-can-operate-pressure-cooker- i-am chef-but-never-get-seasoning right. Well, having a famous daddy and dough sure help FN gross over mistakes.

[Greg]

This show is decent entertainment but a lousy way to pick an IC. Symon sucks. Garces blows even more. John Besh beat Symon on the first edition of this entertainment. Symon thinks he is the best gift to cooking (see his Cooking Channel show). He blew chunks on Dinner: Impossible and (while hard to believe) even worse on Food Feuds. Pay him his $$ left on the contract and tell him don't let the door hit you on the way out. This show has run its course. End it now. Put us out of OUR misery!

[Guest]

When I first saw this with Ming in there, I was somewhat stunned. Here is a man who has been a celebrity chef much, much longer than the food network was in existence...heck for that matter longer than the Japan iron chef, or heck even cable was in existence. Yes Ming Tsai has been a well known, well respected celebrity chef EVEN BEFORE CABLE. They should have just hired him on the spot and be done with it, the show would have gained more ratings.

This is an absolute outrage to put a man with that much accomplishment and then for them to even have the audacity to say that you are not good enough for us. What bunch of elitist scumbags. I watched food network simply because it had a great format and it was different, new. Now, the more I watched it, the more I see that it is just a bunch of cliquish, immature snubs who think their sh*t don't stink. Who the hell knows how good this people can cook,...they seemed more concerned with self promotion and stroking their egos. The network and their people are just mean, phony, elitist, arrogant, gluttonous scums who would rather look down their noses at anyone who does not bow down to their self proclaimed "sophisticated palette."