This week in Iron Chef history, April 19 – April 25:
- 215 (4/22/1994) – Lamb – Sakai vs. Mario Nakagawa
- 316 (4/21/1995) – Clam – Sakai vs. Kunio Santo
- 417 (4/19/1996) – Egg – Nakamura vs. Toyoaki Suganuma
- 515OA – (4/25/1997) – Tomato – Chen vs. Chihiro Otsuki
- 613 (4/28/1998) – Pen Shell – Chen vs. Takashi Shimamura
- 715 (4/23/1999) – Cod Roe – Morimoto vs. Yusuke Yamashita
Some interesting episodes this week. First, Sakai takes on a former apprentice of his. Nakamura takes on a chef who trained in France. Our ICC episode this week features Chen against another female challenger. Finally, Morimoto takes on a challenger who is an expert at using Sake. (Be sure to watch the OT battle next week.)
This week’s TWICH will be up tonight. (And I promise to get back on a regular Tuesday schedule of posting TWICH in the week in which it belongs.)
The Chairman took over last week with his BKS posting, so we missed TWICH. Since I didn’t want to forget any battles, we make it up now with Last Week in Iron Chef History.
This week in Iron Chef history, April 12 – April 18.
- 214 (4/15/1994) – Bamboo Shoot – Chen vs. Munetaka Takahashi
- 315 (4/14/1995) – Flounder (Karei) – Ishinabe vs. Tomoyuki Sawaguchi (Did not air on Food Network, but see below.)
- 416 (4/12/1996) – France Special – Lobster – Sakai vs. Pierre Gagniere
- 514OA (4/18/1997) – Bamboo Shoot – Sakai vs. Shinzo Okunuma
- 612 (4/17/1998) – Spanish Mackerel – Chen vs. Mitsuro Harada
- 714 (4/16/1999) – Tomato – Kobe vs. Franco Canzoniere
Last week’s episodes included: Chen in one of the oldest FN episodes, Part 2 of the France Special, one of our ICC episodes, and a memorable Italian battle with Kobe vs. Canzoniere.
The Flounder battle (315) never aired on Food Network. I do have some very short, very low quality video from that battle. The videos were on the Iron Chef Kitchen Stadium Tour disc for the Sega Saturn. The two videos are in a .zip file and are in .CPK format. I was able to play the videos using the VLC Media Player.
This week in Iron Chef history, April 5 – April 11:
- 213 (4/8/1994) – Rice – Michiba vs. Koichiro Goto
- 314 (4/7/1995) – Tofu – Chen vs. Cho Chiyo
- 415 (4/5/1996) – France Battle – Salmon – Nakamura vs. Bernard Leprince
- 513OA (4/11/1997) – Hanami Festival – Nakamura vs. Yo Kokan
- 611 (4/10/1998) – Guinea Fowl – Sakai vs. Tomoji Ichikawa
- 611OA – Original Japanese version of Guinea Fowl battle
- 713 (4/9/1999) – Udon – Sakai vs. Toji Komori
- RAW (4/7/2002) – Morimoto RAW
- 314 iPod, 611 iPod, 713 iPod
What a busy week of Iron Chef action. Chen faces a woman whose restaurant was nearly destroyed by an earthquake. We get the first of the French Battles. The Hanami Festival featured an outdoor tasting panel and it is the earliest of our ICC episodes from 1997. Sakai gets to use Wedgwood china worth $250K. And on Morimoto RAW, we see the creation of a restaurant.
See you next week.
This week in Iron Chef history, March 29 – April 4:
- 313 (3/31/1995) – Pork – Chen vs. Liang Weiji (The second half of the elusive Hong Kong Special)
- 414 (3/29/1996) – Spinach – Chen vs. Katsuaki Mori
- 610 (4/4/1998) – Rice – Morimoto vs. Masayoshi Kimura
- 712 (4/2/1999) – Chinese Cabbage – Chen vs. Cui Yufen
- April 2nd is the birthday of Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai. Food Network Sakai Special, Pony Canyon Sakai Special (in Japanese)
- 610 iPod version
Highlights of this week’s battles include Chen vs. the Cavalier of Cheese, Morimoto vs. the Conjurer of Oils, and Chen vs. the certified Chinese Culinary Craftsman.
This week in Iron Chef history, March 22 – March 28:
- 212 (3/27/1994) – Cheese – Michiba vs. Hideaki Odakura
- 313 (3/25/1995) – Spiny Lobster – Michiba vs. Shu Chu
(First week of the Hong Kong Special)
- 413 (3/22/1996) – Bell Pepper – Nakamura vs. Lin Kumbi
- 512 (3/28/1997) – Honey – Sakai vs. Hiroyuki Kitami
- 711 (3/26/1999) – Angler – Morimoto vs. Seiya Masahara
- 413 (iPod), 711 (iPod)
The Cheese battle was one of those highlighted in the Legend of Michiba special. The challenger from the Bell Pepper battle once fought Michiba to a tie then lost in the first Kitchen Stadium overtime battle. He wants a shot at the new Iron Chef Japanese. The Angler battle saw the appearance of the fourth Otah Faction challenger. Unfortunately, we are also reminded by this list of one of the Iron Chef specials that has eluded us, the Hong Kong Special from 1995.
See you next week.
This week in Iron Chef history, March 15 – March 21:
- 211 (3/20/1994) – Scallop – Chen vs. Kyoko Kagata
- 312 (3/17/1995) – Cod – Sakai vs. Isao Yuasa
- 412 (3/15/1996) – Scallop – Sakai vs. Senji Osada
- 511 (3/21/1997) – Wakame Seaweed – Nakamura vs. Takashi Mera
- 710 (3/19/1999) – Oxtail – Sakai vs. Koji Hosogai
- 710OA (Original Japanese version), 710 (MP4 for iPod viewing)
Among the battles that took place this week in Iron Chef history: In the cod battle, Sakai takes on the chef that cooks for the Japanese royal family when they visit western Japan. You may also remember him because of his use of litmus paper. Sakai’s scallop battle is against a chef who is an expert in vacuum cooking. Finally, the challenger in the Oxtail battle was chosen by frequent judge Tenmei Kanoh. (And unlike last week, there are virtually no differences between the FN dub and the OA version.)
See you next week.