Iron Chef America | |
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Also known as | 'Iron Chef America: The Series' |
Genre | |
Presented by | |
Starring |
|
Composer(s) | Craig Marks |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 11 |
No. of episodes | 205 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Stu Schreiberg |
Producer(s) | John Bravakis Steve Kroopnick |
Location(s) | Los Angeles, California New York City |
Editor(s) | Morgen Kassel |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 46 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | Food Network |
Original release | March 6, 2005 | – present
Chronology | |
Related shows |
Iron Chef Iron Chef UK Iron Chef USA The Next Iron Chef Iron Chef Gauntlet |
External links | |
Website |
Iron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the original Japanese program, the program is a culinary game show. In each episode, a new challenger chef competes against one of the resident "Iron Chefs" in a one-hour cooking competition based on a secret ingredient or ingredients, and sometimes theme.
The show is presented as a successor to the original Iron Chef, as opposed to being a remake. The Chairman is portrayed by actor and martial artist Mark Dacascos, who is introduced as the nephew of the original Japanese chairman Takeshi Kaga. The commentary is provided solely by Alton Brown, & Kevin Brauch is the floor reporter. The music is written by composer Craig Marks, who released the soundtrack titled "Iron Chef America & The Next Iron Chef" by the end of 2010. In addition, regular ICA judge and Chopped host Ted Allen provided additional floor commentary for two special battles: Battle First Thanksgiving (Symon/Flay v. Cora/Morimoto) and Battle White House Produce (Batali/Lagasse v. Flay/Comerford).
Per the introduction fiction from the Battle of the Masters miniseries (and ignoring story elements from the 2002 Iron Chef Japan Cup Special), Chairman Kaga (the character) has ordered his nephew to continue the tradition of Kitchen Stadium, initially in Los Angeles, where the Battle of the Masters took place, before establishing a permanent Kitchen Stadium in New York's Chelsea Market. For the Battle of the Masters, the elder Chairman dispatched two Iron Chefs: Hiroyuki Sakai and Masaharu Morimoto. In Season 11, the show's fiction expanded to include international Iron Chefs, spread by the Chairman "like Johnny Appleseed". In the first episode of that season Iron Chef UK chef Judy Joo competed on the US show against Iron Chef Guarnaschelli as an Iron Chef.