Buffalo Rising Online

Oct 15th 2007, 1:28pm By Christa Glennie Seychew

Did you catch the second episode of Next Iron Chef last night? I'll offer up some thoughts and opinions in this week's review, but I'd like, most of all, to know what you think about the episode, the chefs and the general structure of the program.

Don't forget that on November 11th we'll be hosting a screening party for the Next Iron Chef Finale. It will be a rather intimate affair, and we'd like to make sure we have a few readers there. We'll let you know the details as we get closer to the date.

Last night, the Chairman's chosen tasks were based around the concepts of simplicity and innovation. First let me comment that the whole Chairman thing is a little campy. It is in the regular Iron Chef challenges, but there it somehow feels, despite the back flips and zealous apple munching, to be less staged than it is here. Last night, Alton Brown's attempt to act his way through a last minute urgent phone call from the Chairman was obtuse. Anyway...

In each episode he first task is important in the sense that it determines which chef will have an advantage in the elimination round. Simplicity being the goal here, chefs were asked to prepare a single bite for six judges in just 30 minutes. Bites are an increasing trend, something that SAMPLE in Allentown has turned into a thriving business. (If you haven't yet visited, I suggest you do- make sure to have a Roasted Pineapple Mojito while you're there.) In this round, we watched all but one of the chefs prepare visually beautiful bites. Sanchez, the rebel, only managed to plate one bite- he seems to think that the rules are negotiable. Somehow Besh got carried away and made his a rather extensive sampling as opposed to a bite. Davie's plate was a complete mess, I'm really not sure what she was thinking, but I'd argue that she's appeared to be without direction and focus in both episodes. My personal favorite (of two), Michael Symon, won with a scrumptious looking lamb tartare enhanced by the inclusion of olives, garlic, shallots, a bit of chili, fresh mint and Greek yogurt. Plated on a bed of heirloom tomatoes, Symon, judged by his peers as all of the chefs were, took the prize.

Innovation is a major part of the scientific rumblings that have infiltrated the contemporary culinary world. Geniuses like Jose Andreas, Heston Blumenthal, Ferran Adria, Thomas Keller and Wylie Dufresne (among others) have been pioneers in the movement known as molecular gastronomy. The use of science in the kitchen in the form of both chemicals and equipment has become more than a trend for these chefs, it can more readily be likened to a philosophy. For a closer examination of molecular gastronomy, consider consulting its bible, On Food and Cooking written by Harold McGee. We'll talk more about this trend and the techniques associated with it in another post in the near future.

For the innovation challenge, the contestants were presented with the task of incorporating some of these techniques and ingredients into their dishes. An assortment of chemicals, including methylcellulose, liquid nitrogen, xanthan gum, lethicin and sodium alginate were available as was an immersion circulator, most commonly used in the process known as sous vide, an anti-griddle, which freezes things in a flash, and a smoker that infuses any item with smoke without the use of heat. I was saddened to see that most of the chefs appeared to be terrified of the challenge, seemingly unaware of the recent shift toward cooking with science.

As the winner of the first heat, Symon had first pick of the pantry and a lab of his own. After a little lesson from Wylie Dufresne and Phillip Preston, chefs were left to their own devices. Some of the chefs didn't work hard enough to create innovative dishes and instead used the techniques to prepare dishes that they, to some extent, could have executed in their own kitchens, albeit not as quickly. Symon fell prey to this himself.

Many of the proponents of molecular gastronomy use humor when developing dishes, regularly offering things that are a play on something more traditional, the name of said dish often appearing in quotation marks. Take for instance Dufresne's “egg served sunny-side up”, which despite its appearance is actually made of carrot and coconut (see inset).

I think that only two of the chefs really made this connection, one of which became the winner and the other the loser.

The winner, Chris Cosentino (my other favorite) executed this concept with one of his dishes, which happened to be the winning one. He served a razor clam filled with champagne grapes, macerated red onion, parsley and toasted pine nuts. The topping, or “shaving cream” (get it, razor clam, shaving cream), was a foam made of saor. His less popular dish was a duck breast that was sous vide, smoked with Ancient Spice and served beside a carrot salad.

Jill Davie, the last woman standing, prepared “Osso Bucco” using a sculpted potato, wild mushrooms and a piece of black cod that had been sous vide. She may not have lost for that alone, but her “Freezo Frito” a salad made of citrus fruits and parsley frozen with liquid nitrogen proved inedible and ultimately sent her packing.

I'm not happy to see Jill go, but I don't think she should have stayed either. She appeared (at least through the magic art of editing), to be completely out of her league through both episodes, but she was the last of only two female contestants.

Though his plating is remarkable and his passion for simple, fresh food is evident, I think that youngster Gavin Kaysen had better start tasting his food. Clean and simple as it may be, it is going to continue to be lost on the palates of those sampling the wild flavors of Sanchez, Morou and Besh. We may say goodbye to him next week.

Who do you think is teetering on the edge of greatness? Who looks to be the weakling?



Author's Note:

Last year Chef Roo Buckely introduced me to Ferran Adria and his world of molecular gastronomy, for which I am very grateful.