Customer Reviews

Iron Chef: The Official Book

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the definitive work on the Iron Chef television program. It is deep in detail for those fanatics looking for those extra insider tidbits on the program. The book brings out the trials and tribulations of the Chefs as they fought to stay on top. It also contains a deep mathematical analysis of the Iron Chefs that can only be appreciated by the true believers. The camp seriousness that pervades the show appears in the book as well.

If you care about knowing why Chairman Kaga's voice was subtitled, while everyone else was dubbed, this is the book for you.

If you want to know which Iron Chef talked Chen Kinichi out of walking away from the show, this book is for you.

If you're an Iron Chef fanatic, this book is for you.

If you're an aspiring chef or casual viewer, this probably isn't the right book for you.

Iron Chef is the most ingenious TV show ever created, well, the REAL original IC show, at any rate.

The over-the top cheesy quality, the bad-English dubbing, the dumb air-head actresses(who sometimes come up with surprising smart comments); the exotic ingredients, and of course--the challenges. The stuff that no normal person would ever cook, or dream of touching on his dinner plate.
The combination of sports arena quality and the sideshow of Prices Right, equals=valuable hours of your life spent on watching TV!

the book is very in depth, though not quite a "cook" book, the only true thing it lacks it the statistical point. Who won the battles, etc.

I am very disappointed in Food Network for not continuing to buy more Iron Chef shows and or continuing to show the reruns; and not to make them into DVDs....instead they're being despots and forcing us to watch that horrible horrible horrible mutant child that came out of that so called "chef".
Yet again, an original anime/comedy/whatever show is ruined...just like how they mangled Godzilla. the "Other Thing" show lacks the corny flavor, the second commentator (Fuki-San was awesome), the REAL chairman, a REAL Chef, REAL ingredients; Fun challengers, (ok, Ming Tsai was funny, but that's it);my respect for Ming grew after watching that only good episode...he was funny, relaxed, self-assured and he kicked Flay's butt!!
awful musical score (sure the soundtrack of the ONLY incarnation of IC was from.....movie, Backdraft), pathetic judges (they ALL annoy me, for some reason).

watching the "OTher Thing" gives me a stomach ache, a headache....and I keep rambling.

SCOUR THE EARTH for lost videos/tapes/bootlegs of the ONLY IRON CHEF. If you're a true fan, don't even bother watching "Other Thing".

"If my memory serves me correctly....this book will give me recollections of funny and good times."

+150 on the Wow meter for the show, 6+ for the book;
-100 on the Puke-O-Meter for "the Other Thing"

I started watching the Iron Chef show as a lark. I thought it was fun and funny. Very cheesy and very funny. The whispered notes of disbelief, the cries of : "very sophisticated", "very well controled", "this is so good" really got me to giggle about the silliness. This book prolongs and deepens all the silliness. It is written as a serious review of all the shows in the series, with features on certain challengers deemed worthy by the author and of course all the Iron Chefs. It kind of walks the fine line between treating the show as reality and as a farce. Regardless of how you feel about the show, the book is superficially fascinating. I would never have thought that I would be the owner of a book on a TV show, a Japanese TV show featuring Chefs as gladiators and a comically dressed emcee who looks like he was dress by a crazed Andrew Lloyd Webber. I love the show, I never miss a new episode, I even sit through some of the old ones I have already seen. I like this book. I wouldn't feature it prominently on my bookshelf. I would, however, stealthily break it out whenever anyone speaks fondly of the show. Then I can share my guilty pleasure.

The book was was very enlightening in explaining how things got started, giving you a chronological view of all the battles (albeit they neglected to say who won each battle) and a few (very few) insights into some of the key players.

Each chef gets a few pages to talk about their stint on the show and if one of them had not mentioned the idea of hints we would never know that about the show. They are given 5 hints as to what the secret ingredient will be about a week before taping. That gives them time to come up with possible menus. This kind of irked me. Why did we find out a valuable piece of info like this through Iron Chef Chinese and it's not fully explained who comes up with the hints nor any examples of the hints. I would have liked a little more insight into this aspect of the show.

What I did enjoy was hearing about it from everyone's perspective from the announcers, chefs, directors, producers, etc. I also think that a little more explanation of Japanese culture regarding losing vs. winning might have helped to explain some of the reactions of the chefs to losing a battle.

All in all it was enjoyable to read the behind the scenes info regarding the show but it certainly left a true fan wanting more.

My husband has been waiting for this book to come out, and we just got a copy. It's great, lots of photos and recipes. Our favorite part was the behind-the-scenes stuff. I never realized the pressure that is on each Iron Chef, and their challengers. It's funny to us, but to them, it is their reputations on the line each and every show. What fun!

If you have ever had anything more than a passing interest with Iron Chef before, this is certainly a book worth picking up. The book itself is packed with gorgeous photos, plenty of interviews, and a staggering amount of information about the show itself, particular episodes, and even recipes. Granted, most people won't necessarily be using this book as a typical cookbook, but the added recipes just feel like a bonus on top of an already excellent book.

All in all, I was delightfully satisfied with this gem. Also, if you're looking for a bargain and are not sure about the book itself as far as quality is concerned, I highly suggest taking a look at the Used section here at Amazon. I picked up my copy that way for a fantastic $1.98 last year for pristine quality and even now the prices for the Used copies are in the same ballpark.

I'm an IC fan, but not a cook, but I still got the book. Gee, that was a pleasant little rhyme! Anyways, this book provides crucial information on the Iron Chefs, both old and new. It also provides crew interviews, menus, recipes, a timeline, battle records, battle info, Chairman Takeshi Kaga's 10 favourite dishes, a restaurant guide, a glossary, AND MUCH, MUCH, MORE!!!!!!!!! My only complaint are all the name spelling errors & inconsistensies. For heaven's sake, it's Masahiko Kobe, not Katsuhiko Kobe!!!!!!! This book is a must-have for any fellow Iron Chef fan!!!!

I think we all need to rember that this was actually the frist of a five volume set of books about the Iron Chef. This is one of those items to own if you are a true fan. Fuji TV always said that it was almost impossible to record the receipes from the show, due to there complexity and speed and that is something to rember about the books.

To be honest I didn't buy this book as a cookbook but as a piece of fan memoribilia, just like my iron chef apron. Though if you are looking for a cookbook you can not beat Chen Kenichi new cookbook, My Philosophy, My Family, My Cooking. Hopefully it will get transltated for the US fans. I was so excited when I found it in the Asian Bookstore.

This is a great book, for your Iron Chef collection.

This book has it all... behind-the-scenes interviews, some of the recipes (we knew no one could write down ALL the ingredients as the went!)and a detailed history of all the chefs... this is the kind of information that I've been looking for! The photos are vibrant and give a real feel of artistry to the dishes and presentation of the characters we have all come to know and love on the show. I can't wait to try and recreate some of these recipes at home!

While recovering from knee surgery back in 1997, I stumbled across Iron Chef while channel surfing. It quickly became a Saturday night ritual, English subtitles and all. Words were hard to choose when trying to describe the show to friends, even friends that were foodies and understood the restaurant business. It was truly one of those things that you had to see in order to understand. Then -- horrors -- tragedy struck and the English subtitles were no more. Interestingly enough, the hard core fans in San Francisco stuck it out and kept watching. True the battles were a little harder to understand and the Iron Chef e-mail list was usually abuzz the next day with the language challenged trying to figure out the nuances. But the show still worked, it still had charm, it still had drama, it still had charisma, it was still high camp.........basically it was still FUN.

And that is more or less what the book is. The book is FUN. It will never be mistaken for Pulizter quality writing or publishing. This is not the bible of Iron Chef-dom. It's a book about what 7 men, a cast of many and a flashy host with a penchant for Libarace style outer-wear did for 6 years, did well, and how they did it.

To approach this book with the reverence and awe reserved for *serious* literature does the book and the concept an injustice. This book does what the show did, it entertains. It's all in there, the info on the chefs (and challengers alike), the list of battles, who won, who the judges were. There is also a very helpful little dictionary of japanese foods and terms. There are comments from all the major players, the ones in front of the camera and those unseen. And, they saved the best for last, the names and locations of not only all the Iron Chefs restaurants, but the restaurants of the challengers who won as well. Definitely a must have for any fan of the show who can (or someday might) travel to Japan. The recipes are not the ones I would have chosen, but everyone's an expert on food, so tastes and expectations will differ with this section.

I wish there had been more on Kaga. And, the restaurant information on Ron Siegel - the only American Challenger to have beaten an Iron Chef - is not longer correct. He has left Charles Nob Hill and is now cheffing at Masa's in San Francisco. Whip up a plate of Shrimps in Spicy Sauce, pour a beer, pop an Iron Chef tape in the VCR, sit back, open the book and let yourself be entertained.