The Iron Chef is a twisted
television show in which cooks take on one of the feared Iron Chefs:
Morimoto Masaharu (Japan),
Chen Kenichi (China),
Sakai Hiroyuki (France), and
Kobe Masahiko (Italy). They participate in a 1 hour contest to cook the best complete meal using whatever item is the
theme. The theme is announced by the
Chairman at the beginning of the show, after the
contestant decides which Iron Chef they will challenge. Each contestant is allowed helpers, and the entire thing is filmed like a sports contest, with
comentary from celebrities and critics, and taking place in "
Kitchen Stadium." At the end, the meals are judged by the panel of celebrity judges.
This must be seen to be believed. It doesn't really help that the voices are all (badly) dubbed over with utterly fake dialogue.
Some comments on the one episode I have seen: This was the "peach" episode, and if you think that making an entire meal based around a peaches theme is weird, let me tell you, the dishes sounded pretty weird to me. In this episode, the challenger refused to have helpers, and the Iron Chef he challenged (the French one) dismissed his helpers for honor. The Iron Chef still won, of course.
If you like the Iron Chef, you might like the movie, "The God of Cookery."