Over the years, there were several Valentine’s Day dessert battles held in Kitchen Stadium. Today, we turn your attention to three of them.
- Chocolate and Apple Dessert Battle (305) – Sakai vs. Kondo
- Chocolate and Pear Dessert Battle (407) – Sakai vs. Yanagi
- Banana Dessert Battle (706) – Kobe vs. Tsujiguchi
Enjoy these special episodes of Iron Chef with the one you love.
New Japanese language episodes will be posted no later than Thursday of next week. Look for them.
tuthead
14 February, 2009
I was looking through the list of episodes available to be added to the Iron Chef Collection Video Database for this week when I noticed something rather unusual. Iron Chef Italian Masahiko Kobe only fought 23 battles in Kitchen Stadium. However, he faced challengers with the name Sakai 3 times in a span of 11 battles. (To the best of my knowledge, none of the challengers named Sakai were related to Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai.) This week’s Episodes of the Week theme is “How many Sakais does it take to beat a Kobe?” You’ll have to watch to find out if any of these three challengers has what it takes to defeat an Iron Chef.
(Sorry to disappoint all you Hiroyuki Sakai fans who expected to see Iron Chef French featured this week. I’ll do my best to make sure he is well represented next week.)
You may find the following episodes by searching our video database: 627, 639, 730
New in the database this week: 627, 639, 730
Shigeru Miyamoto never made an appearance on Iron Chef, but his most famous creation would have been right at home as a judge on the episodes featured in this week’s Episodes of the Week. (For those of you who do not know, Shigeru Miyamoto is the designer who created Mario for Nintendo.) This week’s episodes of the week theme is Mushrooms. I don’t remember any of the judges suddenly growing larger or gaining an extra life after eating any of these mushrooms, but I’ll probably watch the episodes again just to make sure. 🙂
- Mushroom (234) – Iron Chef Chen vs. Hideki Osako
- Matsutake Mushroom (239) – Iron Chef Sakai vs. Masamitsu Takahashi
- Matsutake Mushroom (336) – Iron Chef Michiba vs. Minoru Noda – This battle featured one of the few American born challengers to visit Kitchen Stadium.
- Shiitake Mushroom (409) – Iron Chef Chen vs. Takaya Nakazawa
- Mushroom (444) – Iron Chef Chen vs. Daniella Ozik (This episode did not air on Food Network)
- Matsutake Mushroom (537) – Iron Chef Kobe vs. Fujio Imai (This episode did not air on Food Network)
- Maitake Mushroom (642) – Iron Chef Kobe vs. Takatsugu Sasaoka
- Porcini (643) – Iron Chef Morimoto vs. Marco Molinari – This episode is best remembered for the way the challenger makes his pasta.
- Jumbo Mushroom (727) – Iron Chef Kobe vs. Shoji Yamaoka
You can find the following episodes by searching our video database: 234, 239, 336, 409, 642, 643, 727
New in the database this week: 234, 336, 642, 643
You all know the foods we’re talking about. The foods that mysteriously end up wrapped in their napkin. The foods that make kids willingly leave the table to do homework rather than eat. The foods that make them whine as soon as they see them on the plate. The theme for this week’s Episodes of the Week post is “foods that most kids hate.”
- Turnip (303) – Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai vs. Koji Yamada – The challenger was an apprentice of Iron Chef Ishinabe and is a chef at Ishinabe’s restaurant, Queen Alice. (Be sure to watch the BKS video spotlighting Queen Alice Restaurant.)
- Liver (318) – Iron Chef Chen Kenichi vs. Lee Myong Suk – The challenger is an evangelist for Royal Korean Cuisine. Another female opponent for Chen.
- Broccoli (321) – Iron Chef Rokusaburo Michiba vs. Etsuo Jo – The challenger is known as the “God of Sauces”
- Spinach (414) – Iron Chef Chen Kenichi vs. Katsuaki Mori – The challenger has been recognized as a Cavalier of Cheese Tasters.
- Broccoli (609) – Iron Chef Masahiko Kobe vs. Mario Frittoli – The challenger is a student of one of Italy’s pasta masters.
You can find the following episodes by searching our video database: 303, 318, 321, 414, 609
New in the database this week: 303, 318, 609
There were many special episodes of Iron Chef over the years. Despite the fact that the later FN show introduction mentioned and showed clips from some of these specials, most of them never aired on Food Network. (If anyone has any tapes of any of these specials, we will buy them from you. Contact us.)
- Hong Kong Special (313) – This special never aired on Food Network
- 1995 Iron Chef World Cup (339) – One of the challengers from this special, Pierre Gagniare, later did battle in the France Battle Special. We have a very short Beyond Kitchen Stadium video of Kaga’s entrance from this special. This special never aired on Food Network.
- France Special (415,416) – This special featured two battles fought in a castle in France.
- Beijing Special (441) – We have a Beyond Kitchen Stadium video of the opening from this show. This special never aired on Food Network.
- 1996 New Year’s Special (452) – This battle apparently had 100 judges. This special never aired on Food Network.
- 1997 Iron Chef World Cup (538) – The challenger from the final Kitchen Stadium battle, Alain Passard, was a part of this special. This special never aired on Food Network.
- 2000th Dish Special (631) – This battle featured the all-French team vs. all-Chinese team.
- Morimoto Retrospective (709) – Two hour special that showed Michiba and Morimoto touring New York City, then a battle between Nakamura and Morimoto. The only clip from this special I have seen is our BKS clip of Michiba announcing the theme ingredient, tamago (egg). This special never aired on Food Network.
- Indonesia Expedition (720) – This special never aired on Food Network.
- The Millenium Special (801) – This special never aired on FoodNetwork.
- New York Battle (802) – The memorable first battle between Morimoto and Bobby Flay.
- 21st Century Special (901) – Memorable for the shaved headed Kandagawa and the Morimoto/Flay rematch.
- Japan Cup 2002 (1001) – This special featured the shocking news that Chairman Kaga had “died” from eating bad fugu. This special never aired on Food Network. (We have added this episode to the database since this was written. Go check it out now.) (1001a, 1001b)
The following episodes may be found by searching our video database: 415/416, 631, 802a, 802b, 901.
New in the database this week: New York Battle (802a/b), 21st Century Special (901)
We have several related videos in our Beyond Kitchen Stadium collection. Be sure to go check them out as well as the new episodes we have this week.
While Mel Brooks wasn’t exactly talking about Iron Chef when he said that famous line in “History of the World: Part 1,” it is fitting for this week’s Episodes of the Week. As the time to close Kitchen Stadium came near, Chairman Kaga decided he wanted a final tournament to crown the King of the Iron Chefs.
- Semi-Final 1 – Iron Chef Chen vs. Iron Chef Kobe – Tokyo X Pork
- Semi-Final 2 – Iron Chef Morimoto vs. Iron Chef Sakai – Bell Pepper
- Final – Iron Chef Chen vs. Iron Chef Sakai – Lobster (Homard) — Two of the longest tenured Iron Chefs (and really good friends) meet in the King of Iron Chefs Final.
- Final Kitchen Stadium Battle – The Champion Iron Chef (no spoilers here) vs. Alain Passard – Longgang Chicken — This was the last episode of the original production run of the show. Alain Passard competed in the 1997 World Cup vs. Nakamura. They tied in a Foie Gras battle. (That episode did not air on Food Network.)
You may find all of these episodes for download or viewing in our files database in the Iron Chef Specials category.
- We also have an additional bonus BKS video for this week. We have a clip from the Japanese language broadcast of the announcement of the theme ingredient from Semi-Final #1 (Tokyo X) and Kobe’s mad dash to the podium. Enjoy.