I Am Very Tall

In a recent article, Robert Sietsama at the Village Voice is shocked to discover the following, during his visit to the set of Iron Chef America:

Several things slowly dawned on us as we watched the taping. The participants went about their tasks methodically but unhurriedly, as if they had all the time in the world. There was none of the huddling and dialogue among team members that we expected, even though they had to develop a menu from scratch using an unknown ingredient. Like a lightbulb coming on over our heads, we realized that the chefs had known the identity of the main ingredient all along, just as they had known ahead of time which Iron Chef would be paired with the challenger. How else to explain the utter nonchalance displayed by the sous chefs, who fetched ingredients and blended them; toasted, fried, and roasted them; then plated them like they were enjoying a relaxing holiday in the country.

Seriously, did anyone actually think that they were all just whipping out four-five courses without knowing anything before taping? For the most part, Sietsama seems to get really upset that a lot of stuff in the Iron Chef TV show aren't actually true in real life. I'm pretty surprised that anyone thought that they would be. That being said, he does mention a couple of things that are kind of interesting. They are:

* The competing Iron Chef is chosen before the show is taped - the other chefs are actually just look-alike stand-ins
* The chefs actually aren't all that rushed while they're making their dishes
* The judging section of the show takes 3 hours to tape

Link originally via Eater