January 26, 2006

Behind the curtain at 'Iron Chef' taping: 'It's a sham'

Adam Roberts, a New York food blogger who writes at Amateur Gourmet, got himself invited to a taping of the Iron Chef America show and is now flirting with violating the non-disclosure agreement. The penalty for revealing the secret ingredient: $1 million.

But he does fritter out a few details. To see a taping of Iron Chef, you must be invited. You will wear solid, dark colors. You must turn off your cell phone. You will be given free cookies from Amy's Bread. And sadly, you will pull back the curtain and discover TV magic:

Alton aside, the experience of watching Iron Chef live is a bit like the experience of a child who believes with all his heart in tooth fairies catching his mother put money under the pillow. The whole thing's a sham!

No, it really is. I'm sorry. When we sat down, both chefs had pots already boiling: sure it's probably chicken stock or other kitchen essentials, but there was something very predetermined about what was going on. When they revealed the secret ingredient--ooh! ahh!--the chefs looked like they were being read the serial number from the side of a library book. There wasn't a nerve in the air. And every action we observed felt the opposite of spontaneous. These people KNOW or at least have a very good idea of what the secret ingredient is going to be.

January 26, 2006 01:26 PM in Foodology

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