How does iron chef actually work

Flay almost always requests the same pantry every single time, as does Garces; Morimoto likes to order different things and mix it up. Iron Chef provides a pantry full of everything you've ordered—not just what you've ordered for a particular menu—so you can't guess what the ingredient is in advance by looking through your pantry.

Something viewers probably don't realize: they cook once for the cameras , get a breather, and then have to cook again for what's served to the judges. They flip a coin to see who goes first. Flay: "You get ready, first person. Present the first of your five dishes to the judges—you have 45 minutes total. Then the second person goes. The judging goes on for two hours. Flay: "It's the month I don't look forward to, I have to admit.

I like the competition—I was an athlete as a kid, so this is my last form of athleticism. To compete on a national stage is a thrill and an honor. They all still get very nervous before tapings—even Flay and Morimoto, both of whom have been doing Iron Chef for years. Morimoto admits that his hands actually shake up until he picks up a knife. Morimoto, talking about how everyone's a critic, on Twitter, Facebook and blogs: "Now it's very difficult, we're on the same stage.

Whatever you say, I have to hear. I can't read. You just can't do it. You can't read the comments on everything that you do. Severson asks if it's easier to hire qualified people now that culinary schools are in vogue. Flay says, "I think it's harder, because people who graduate from culinary school only want to do one thing: get a TV show.

Wondering about how a certain reality show pulled something off? Have a question about a certain contestant? Andy Dehnart, msnbc. A: The chefs aren't completely surprised by the secret ingredient because they have been given a few possible options beforehand. And on the day of the challenge, they can probably figure out which ingredient it is based upon which shopping list has been purchased for them.

The matchups are also planned in advance, with challengers choosing their opponents weeks earlier. All of that makes it possible for producers to order the right ingredients that the chefs will use to prepare their dishes with the secret ingredient, but it also makes the show somewhat less challenging than it comes off on TV.

As to the secret ingredient, he says producers gave him "three possibilities: swordfish, pork or cowboy steak. So I come up with three separate ingredient lists — only one of which they'll actually purchase for the battle.

But as is clear from watching the show, cooking that much that fast offers plenty of pressure and drama. Q: Regarding "The Amazing Race," I've wondered how the teams already have the tourist visas in their passports for some of those countries that require them ahead of time without already knowing where they are going.

If the production team gets the visas ahead of the start of the race, then couldn't the contestants just look in their passports and see what stamps are in there and then know where they are going on the race? Then from where they are at in the world, they can kind of guess where they are going next and do some advance research at their hotel before they even open the departure clues, yes? Tucker, Los Angeles.

A: Not exactly. Visas are obtained prior to the start of the race, but the producers get visas for many countries beyond just those nations that the teams will actually visit. What follows is a duel -- a race to make five dishes in just one hour.

The twist, and there is always a twist, is the secret ingredient, revealed at the start of each battle. Sometimes it's a hearty protein, like fish or Kobe beef, and other times it's a vegetable, or even a root such as ginger. Regardless, the chefs must incorporate the theme ingredient into each dish, even the dessert -- which explains the corn and sea urchin custard and trout ice cream served during past challenges.

This degree of culinary competition is not an American invention. The original Kitchen Stadium was in Japan. You know, it had such strange pomp and circumstance. And the food was just sometimes plain revolting. I think the first I ever saw an original 'Iron Chef' episode was on a Japanese station in San Francisco, and I remember they had live eels.

And they skinned the eels. This one guy nailed its head to a cutting board and skinned it while it was alive. It takes an army of people and supplies to get it all just right. One hundred and twenty-seven crew members and 10 cameras dodge about in the stadium. There are thousands of feet of cable and moving lights.

Then there are the deluxe kitchens and the overstuffed pantries stocked with pounds of food for each episode, everything from the basics to the bizarre. And just to make it all a little more fun, pounds of dry ice is pumped through the studio all day long. The fog makes for dramatic moments but also hides some of the secrets. At the beginning of the show, the chefs you see standing under the spotlights aren't actually all iron chefs.

Two of them are stand-ins because the real contender is chosen ahead of time. And what about the "chairman," who introduces the secret ingredient? According to legend, he's the nephew of the original chairman from the Japanese series and he insists that everyone call him "the chairman" -- all the time. But it turns out that he will answer to another name: Mark Dacascos.

He's actually an actor and martial arts master. Cat Cora is the only female iron chef on "Iron Chef America.