Merry Christmas, everybody.
Time to open some special Iron Chef gifts that Kaga Claus left under the tree last night. We have four new subtitled battles for your viewing pleasure today. (Of course, huge special thanks go out to our generous benefactor for providing these episodes for the Iron Chef fans around the world to enjoy.)
- European Rabbit (503) – Sakai vs. Rory Kennedy – The challenger is the head chef of a London restaurant that was established in 1798. He is a master of Gibier (wild game) cuisine. Only four months after this episode originally aired in Japan, Chef Kennedy died after a fall in his restaurant.
- European Pigeon (504) – Sakai vs. Rory Kennedy – It is only the second overtime battle in the history of Kitchen Stadium. The chefs used most of the supplies and ingredients in the first battle, so they must be creative during this 30-minute overtime cook-off.
- Rice (506) – Chen vs. Kou – The challenger is Premier Chef in China. He is an expert in Fujian Cuisine. This is a battle between two outstanding Chinese chefs. To quote our generous benefactor: “This is a fantastic battle, the pick of the rice battles, and a wonderful example of what happens when haute cuisine meets modern alchemy.“
- Truffle (507) – Sakai vs. Shimada – Club Mistral is back with yet another challenger for Sakai. Shimada trained in France for 5 years before returning to Japan. He hopes to show that the new generation of French chefs in Japan is ready to take over. Can Sakai fight back the challenge?
The following episodes are available in the file database: 503, 504, 506, 507
There will be the usual two versions of each file: Divx and the higher quality VOB files. As of right now (12/25/10), only the Divx versions are available for 504, 506, 507. As soon as the VOBs are uploaded, I will update this post. The VOBs for all episodes in this post are now available for download.
I plan to have a few more battles up for New Year’s Eve, including a couple of familiar faces among the challengers. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your families. I’m off to spend some time with mine.
Keith
tuthead
25 December, 2010
‘T was the night before Christmas and in old K.S.
All the Iron Chefs were stirring, it’s what they do best.
The ovens were lit and the theme was prepared.
In hopes that the Chairman soon would be there.
A handsome man enters. The women go ga-ga.
I knew in a moment that it must be Kaga.
His jacket, eye catching. His style, quite unique.
His friends, we’ll see later to offer critique.
The stars of the show from their podium came.
The announcer Fukui called each one by name.
On, Kobe, the youngest. On, Morimoto!
Now, Sakai! Now, Chen. Stand in front of your photo.
With skills of great masters the chefs start at their task.
If there’s something we want to know, Ohta will ask.
Sakai with his circle molds. Chen with his wok.
Kobe makes pasta. Morimoto will shock.
The Chairman just smiles as he exits the scene.
Happy Christmas to all and Allez Cuisine.
(Apologies to Clement C. Moore for butchering his Christmas classic.)
It is Christmas in Kitchen Stadium, and we have several Christmas themed battles for this week.
- Chicken Battle (110) – Ishinabe vs. Borie – This is the only Ishinabe battle that ever aired on Food Network. It was the very first Iron Chef Christmas battle from back in season 1.
- Strawberry Battle (249) – Sakai vs. Waki – Dr. Hattori calls this challenger a genius.
- Oyster Battle (348) – Sakai vs. Groult – The challenger was the second MOF winner to do battle in Kitchen Stadium. The first was Jacques Borie from the Chicken Battle above.
- Turkey Battle (647) – Morimoto vs. Ogue – The challenger trained under a famous 3-star French chef. (We also have the original Japanese version of this episode. Be sure to check out the Christmas-style music during the recap of dishes and announcement of judges.)
- Chestnut Battle (541OA) – Kobe vs. Seki – While not officially a Christmas battle, I can’t help but think of The Christmas Song when I saw the theme listed. Did they roast these chestnuts on a open fire? Watch and find out in this ICC Exclusive from 1997.
I am finishing some episode conversions and uploads tonight. We get some new subtitled episodes from the greatly-under-represented-in-our-database year 1997. Check back tomorrow after you’ve finished opening presents for all the goodies.
tuthead
24 December, 2010
Hey kids,
I hope you’ve been good this year because Kaga Claus is on his way with a bag full of new subtitled episodes for you to enjoy this Christmas. Check back under the Kitchen Stadium Christmas tree later this week for your special gifts.
tuthead
18 December, 2010