Kitchen Stadium is about to reopen. Iron Chef Showdown with the Iron Chefs, Alton Brown and the Chairman is coming to the Food Network.
Iron Chef is the quintessential food television show. Sunday nights weren’t about dragons and thrones, they were about secret ingredients and five dishes. After a long hiatus, Food Network brought back Iron Chef earlier this year with Iron Chef Gauntlet. Now, the battle is about to begin again with Iron Chef Showdown.
Over the years, food television has grown tremendously. Now, almost every channel has some type of food television program. From competition shows to educational programming, food shows are everywhere.
One of the first popular food television shows was Iron Chef. Adapted from the Japanese version, this food program appealed more to the foodie. One Iron Chef battled a challenger in Kitchen Stadium. Each chef had to create five dishes with a secret ingredient. The secret ingredient was unveiled at the beginning of each episode. In 60 minutes, the two chefs created amazing dishes starring the secret ingredient.
(Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Food Network Magazine)
The show appealed to foodies because of the creativity and skill of the chefs. Composing five dishes in 60 minutes with a secret is a difficult task. Although some people thought the “secret” was for show, I personally asked competing chefs and toured Food Network studio when Iron Chef was in production. The secret ingredient was secret.
Without Iron Chef, many of today’s food television shows wouldn’t exist. Chopped is very similar to Iron Chef, except Chopped has more ingredients. Top Chef has incorporated the single ingredient challenge. The references could continue.
Food Network announced the return of a new Iron Chef show, Iron Chef Showdown. This show will include Iron Chefs, like Bobby Flay, Michael Symon and newest Iron Chef Stephanie Izard. Also, Alton Brown will return with his play by play. Lastly, the Chairman, Mark Dacascos is back. No word on if he bites an apple or some other food at the beginning of each episode.
Don’t get too excited for this new Iron Chef show. While the Food Network blog made the show’s announcement, no air date was included. Reports anticipate the new show coming in fourth quarter 2017.
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Sorry, Iron Chef fans you will have to wait a little longer for the next allez cuisine. Kitchen Stadium remains closed a little longer. But, Iron Chef Showdown is coming. It’s not coming fast enough, though.