Angry, angry text on the corruption of a dynasty....

I've held it in for half a week now, but, I can contain my outrage no longer. I'm not sure how many of you in the collective caught the travesty that was Iron Chef America on FoodTV last week. It was absolutely brimming with potential: Alton Brown as œDoc” Yukio Hattori, a new, sword wielding, Chairman of the Gourmet Academy, and best of all two of REAL Iron Chefs. And, yet, it turned out to be a complete train wreck.

I'm going to get the obvious and superficial gripe out of the way first. How could they let that punk Bobby ”Home Star” Flay win? He is NO CHEF! There's no way he could best Sakai, particularly in a fish battle. Sakai is 83 and 7 and with exception of the 2000 battle with Kondagowa, undefeated when using fish. And, let's face facts, anyone who ritually shaves his head before cooking and shows up in padded samurai armor with a katana to cook is damn near invincible. So, that one doesn't countª

But, where thy really blew it was with the whole setup. Here is what I would envisionª

Bring in a new Chairman. Show us the passing of the torch “ Kaga telling his nephew to seek out never before tasted dishes in the West. Build a fortune and establish a Gourmet Academy in America. The new Chairman would travel from restaurant to restaurant seeking truly innovative cooking. Recruiting the new, unknown, American Iron Chefs over time. Show him spending his money to build the American Kitchen Stadium, as just as Kaga did (And he DID! Sure Kaga is an actor, but he did spend his money on Kitchen Stadium “ it's true I tell you.).

Then the new Iron Chefs could battle the big names of western cuisine like Puck and Flay. It's the story that makes Iron Chef so great, that and the capes.

To end this, I don't really have a specific call to action or anything. But, I would urge you trash-talk this bastardized version Iron Chef when ever possibleª

Semper Migratote

Trogdor!!!