Iron Chef Gauntlet

This program is rated g

and is suitable for general audiences.

Brown: The most coveted

culinary title in the world is back.

- Whoo! - The chairman has assembled

seven of the finest chefs in a battle to end all battles.

My life is on the line! I am not going home.

But, to become an iron chef, the last chef standing

will have to face not one, not two,

but three iron chefs in the gauntlet.

Dig deep! Come on.

Let's do this!

Chefs: Whoa! - You might regret this.

- Let's go swimmin'. - Aah!

This was just a bad idea.

Iron chefs don't try, chef balloo,

iron chefs just frickin' do it!

Chairman: Allez cuisine!

It's time, once again,

to find out whose cuisine reigns supreme.

This is "iron chef gauntlet."

Welcome.

The chairman has assembled you, seven of the finest chefs,

to find out if one among you is worthy

of the most coveted title in the culinary universe:

Iron chef.

Mackay: Being iron chef is all I think about.

More people have been on the moon

than have become an iron chef.

I'm not that interested in going to the moon, so,

I'll take the iron chef title.

My name is Dale mackay

and I'm from saskatoon, saskatchewan, Canada.

My culinary

with a heavy Asian influence.

I dropped out of school when I was 14.

I started cooking and that's when I knew

that I was gonna be a chef for the rest of my life.

By the time I was 26, I was an executive chef

for Gordon ramsay.

By 28, I was an executive chef for Daniel boulud.

This takes a certain type of person

and I know I'm that person and I'm gonna be an iron chef.

Each week, there will be two challenges.

First, the chairman's challenge,

based on a theme devised by the chairman, himself.

The second is the secret ingredient showdown.

Only two chefs will compete.

The winner lives to cook another day.

As for the other chef, that chef will survive

to cook another day as well, just...

Not here.

When we've pared it down to just one,

that finalist will face the ultimate culinary crusade:

Competing against three iron chefs,

aka the gauntlet.

If you can best the iron chefs, you will become an iron chef

and, for a cook, that's the ultimate prize.

"Iron chef gauntlet," it's like

taking on the jedi council of chefs.

If I hadn't seen iron chef izard do it,

I don't know that I would think anybody could do it.

My name's David Lefevre.

I'm an executive chef and restaurateur

in Manhattan beach, California.

I don't think you can really put me in a certain box

of what type of chef I am.

To me, food has to have an emotional feeling to it.

I've been nominated for James beard awards,

I received a michelin star two years in a row.

Now, it's time to get my place on the pedestal as an iron chef.

Let us begin with the first chairman's challenge,

a test of your resourcefulness.

Behold!

Duck, salmon, flounder,

chicken, lobster,

Turkey, squid.

Now, your challenge is to demonstrate your resourcefulness

by employing as many techniques and using as many parts

of the critters as you can in what you create.

Which ingredient will you choose?

My advice: Pick it quickly,

because it's first come, first served.

Tien: I don't like to waste things.

At my restaurant, I try using every part of every ingredient.

I'm hopin' I get seafood.

It's what I'm best at.

I will be judging you based on: Flavor, presentation,

and how well you represented the chairman's theme.

You have 45 minutes for this challenge and guess what:

It begins right now.

- Ah! - Oh, come on.

Nice Turkey.

Brown: So, looking at where all the food is dispersed,

chef Roland managed to land herself a six-pound lobster.

Chef thaimee has a salmon.

How do you feel about your protein?

Love chicken, man.

Brown: On chef balloo's station, he's got the squid.

Chef gomes has duck.

Chef mackay is already breaking down the flounder.

Chef Lefevre has got, uh, the chicken.

And we've got chef tien

removing the, uh, leg off of his Turkey.

Oh, man!

If I could've had any ingredient here,

squid probably would've been number one, then after that,

I would've gone for the chicken.

Tien: Hey, Dave. How you doing, old man?

I'm gonna kick your little whippersnapper butt

up off the porch, bro.

The competition is really tough.

There are six other amazing chefs.

They're all great restaurateurs

and they have so much more experience.

I'm the youngest chef here, but I am a threat to them,

and they know it.

My name is Kevin tien and I'm from Washington, DC.

I may only be 30 years old,

but I've been cookin' professionally for 15 years.

My cooking is Japanese-inspired,

but I put a lot of my Vietnamese flair into it.

I started cookin' in a convenience store

and, now, I own one of the best new restaurants in america

and a nomination for James beard rising star chef of the year.

I will be the youngest iron chef.

How much Turkey you cook in your restaurant, tien?

Zero. I cook absolutely zero Turkey.

I never cook Turkey. I don't cook it at home.

I cooked a duck for Thanksgiving.

Yeah, I think it has a tendency to be dry,

but, if you can't do anything with Turkey,

then you can't be iron chef.

I love boneless wings,

but, I need to be as resourceful as possible,

so I'm gonna stuff the Turkey wing with more Turkey.

Come on! Once I debone the Turkey wings,

I start grinding the Turkey thighs, Turkey gizzards.

I get it into a piping bag and stuff it.

All right. And I'm using the Turkey neck

to make a sauce to coat the outside of the wing.

Hi, chef tien. What are the advantages

that you feel you bring

to this particular ingredient?

In my generation of chefs, you know, we're very good

at doing a lot of new things

that, uh, some of these older guys don't do.

Sometimes they say "young and dumb," but,

not today.

Hey, Dale, how you doing over there?

Uh, good. I haven't worked with flounder in a long time,

'cause I live in the prairies, but I'm trying to use

as many different ways and techniques

as possible, like all iron chefy.

First thing I do is break down the fish, get the fillets off.

Uh, right now, I'm gonna make a little,

kind of like Spanish broth.

Take those beautiful bones and get it into a pressure cooker

will bell peppers, some tomatoes, some garlic,

so I can really trap in that flavor.

I'm gonna make a little, uh, mousse.

So, I take some of the flounder fillets,

get it in the food processor with a bit of cream,

salt, and smoked paprika,

and then, I'm gonna put the mousse

in between two pieces of the fish

and kind of, uh, sandwich that.

I have an idea to shave off some chorizo

and kind of mimic scales.

I just wanna make sure that the ingredient is the main show.

When you're doing something multiple different ways,

you have to really think about it.

You can't just do four or five different techniques

and just smash them together.

I think that's the test.

How many minutes we got?

Brown: 30 minutes!

15 minutes already gone.

- Whew! - Uhh!

I got salmon, which is

a good ingredient for me to showcase Thai flavor.

My plan is to make a...

with the curry that I made from fish.

Which is like a very classic Thai dish.

To make the curry, I use the fresh fillet of the salmon,

red curry paste, and, in there, I season with fish sauce

and palm sugar and then coconut milk.

Then, at the same time, I make a fish broth

from the head and the tail and the bones.

I'm going to use that to blanch my homemade vermicelli noodle.

I'm making good stuff happen.

My name is Hong thaimee.

My culinary style is cooking true Thai,

which I've learned from the best chef I've ever known.

Thank you, grandma.

I moved from Thailand 10 years ago

with $300 in my pocket and a huge dream.

And, now, I run a top-ranked

Thai restaurant in New York City.

To become an iron chef, it would change my life.