Iron Chef America: Battle Banana
Tonight was an “Iron Chef America” challenge between Chef Sue Torres and Iron Chef Bobby Flay. The secret ingredient was bananas. The judges were author Mark Bittman (a first time judge on ICA), Isabel Gonzalez (from InStyle magazine), and fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi. Where are Ted Allen and Jeffrey Steingarten? I miss them!
Iron Chef Flay presented five dishes: plantain crusted snapper (which Isaac said was complex and delicious), banana curry (which Isabel felt was too sweet but Mark disagreed), plantain tamale, banana dessert duo (which Isaac felt was too salty), and banana sundae.
Chef Torres also presented five dishes: plantain tacos with tuna (Isabel though the plantain was the perfect receptacle), tacos al pastor (Isaac felt the flavors were delicious but questioned whether the pork was undercooked), plantain gordita, plantain crusted halibut (which Isaac raved was the best dish of the night), and caramelized bananas.
Iron Chef Flay took the challenge by a score of 52 to 48. They tied on plating (12), Flay beat her by one point on originality and three points on taste.
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