Iron Chef the Book

Little lull between edits of Dead Spaces. I know, summer is fast fading and still no book... oh well.

Iron Chef: The Official Book by Fuji Television
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I first saw Iron Chef on TV, I was on vacation, and the show was on the hotel TV. I remember sitting there on the edge of the stiff-as-a-board mattress, open mouthed, hand on the remote. It wasn't long before the remote was tossed aside and I tucked into watch this amazing, unique show. It was everything a foodie and halfway decent chef such as myself could thoroughly enjoy. I'd read Saburo Sakai's (related to the chef, perhaps?) account of being a Japanese fighter pilot in WWII (http://www.amazon.com/gp/0743412834).... and with my limited understanding of Japanese culture, at least the ancient appreciation of honor and battle, it was that much more impressive.
These were grown men flinging around fois gras and caviar like it was popcorn kernels. And the battles were epic, fever-pitched, and intense.

It's too bad this book doesn't really capture that.

Sure, I love the stats, eat them with a spoon. I enjoy the pictures and the little back stories provided. But somehow you can't really capture the show in a book. I would have preferred more pictures of the dishes and recipes along with the battle stats. The emotions of the combatants (for that is what they are), both winners and losers, were so palpable on the show, but yet I don't feel any of that in here.

There is nothing terribly wrong with this, thus three stars. It just doesn't grab me like the show did, but then maybe I was expecting something more.

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