01x01 - Battle Street Food

[bunniefuu]

[dramatic music plays]

So, feeling hungry, old friend?

Hungry

for battle!

What a coincidence, because

that's exactly what's on the menu.

[cheering and applause]

Welcome, everyone. I'm Alton Brown

and your long wait is over.

The king of culinary competitions

has returned.

And I'm Kristen Kish. Along with Alton,

we'll be guiding you through

the exciting cooking combat.

Iron Chef is back.

[chef] Ooh-ah!

[Alton] The epicurean experience

started in Japan in 1993.

And here, the tradition continues.

Let's do this, guys.

[chef 1] Come on, girls, come on.

[chef 2] Let's push.

[people exclaim]

[chef 3] Comin' in hot.

[chef 4] Let's go.

[chefs chuckle and exclaim]

[Alton] The challenging chefs,

already at the top of their games,

come to Kitchen Stadium

to prove themselves

against the Iron Chefs,

the greatest gastronomic talents

on the planet.

Hey, what's all that noise over there?

The sound you're gonna hear

in your nightmares!

[Kristen] In this storied kitchen,

fierce battles will be waged,

edible masterpieces will be created,

and new legends will be forged.

-We got a plate.

-[screams excitedly]

[Alton] Each challenger

that steps up to battle

is fighting to earn the most coveted title

ever bestowed in Kitchen Stadium.

They're trying to win that.

[heavenly choral music plays]

[dramatic drumbeats build]

The Golden Knife

that declares to the world

that they are the very first Iron Legend.

Live sturgeon!

Chocolate!

Game birds!

-[chef 1] Get it!

-[chef 2] Whoa!

[Kristen] After a series of hard-fought

head-to-head culinary battles,

only our most successful challenger

will get the opportunity

to take on all five Iron Chefs

Zester, there you go.

[Kristen] in an epic battle royale

with the chance

to be crowned the Iron Legend.

Welcome to Kitchen Stadium.

This isIron Chef.

[cheering and applause]

Every challenger that steps up

to do battle here

is fighting to earn the title

of the very first Iron Legend.

And who will they be battling

for the title?

Our very own Iron Chefs.

Some of the world's most renowned

culinary heavyweights,

handpicked by our distinguished Chairman.

Now, for our first challenger.

He is talented. He is brave.

Please welcome Chef Mason Hereford.

[cheering and applause]

[Alton]Hailing from New Orleans,

he's worked in some

of the finest restaurants in the world,

but he rocketed to fame

with his unconventional sandwiches

which led to his latest eatery

being named the best

new restaurant in America.

[Mason] I don't think

I'm a traditional chef.

I spent a lot of time in fine dining,

a restaurant called Coquette

in New Orleans,

and I was always trying to get those

funny, reminds-me-of-being-a-kid,

gas-station ingredients on the menu.

Didn't always work.

I grew up dreaming

of opening a sandwich shop.

We did it. I own Turkey and the Wolf

and Molly's Rise and Shine in New Orleans.

My cooking style is playful,

occasionally funny.

I love to cook food that's nostalgic.

I like to cook things that remind me

of being a kid.

Chef Hereford, welcome.

What's up? Thanks for having me.

[audience chuckles]

Chef Hereford, do you think

you can withstand the pressure

from one of my Iron Chefs?

Yes. I think I do.

I have five culinary giants

to choose from.

For you, I have picked someone

known throughout the world.

To beat this chef, you'll have to bring

impeccable food!

[Gregorian-chant-style music plays]

Please welcome Iron Chef

Curtis Stone!

[rock music plays]

[cheering and applause]

[Mason] Oh!

[Alton]Originally from

the beaches of Australia,

he now makes culinary waves in Los Angeles

with his award-winning style:

simple, seasonal, and always stunning.

Please welcome Iron Chef Curtis Stone.

[Curtis] I've been cooking my whole life.

I think about virtually nothing but food.

I have restaurants here in the States.

Maude, our little one in Beverly Hills,

we change the menu every single month

and we base it around one ingredient.

Gwen is a butcher shop and a restaurant,

whole-animal butchery,

and then we cook

exclusively over a live fire.

But most importantly,

what we put on that plate

is gonna taste insanely good.

My sous-chefs would describe me

as a lovely guy

who's very carefree and easygoing.

[chuckles]

That's not true.

You're gonna see a very different side

of Curtis Stone in Kitchen Stadium today.

I think the bright lights

are gonna dim the smile.

I'm here to win.

Iron Chef Stone. Welcome.

Thank you very much.

Good luck to you both.

If you are seeking the scrumptious soul

of a cuisine,

you must head to the streets!

[relaxing plucked strings play]

[dramatic drum beat builds]

Oh, wow.

To cook our secret ingredient

lamb!

There is one element

that unifies all food cooked on the street

and that is

fire!

Yes,

all five of your

street-food-inspired dishes

must be kissed by the flame

in a different way.

Chefs, you will have just one hour

to make five fiery lamb

street-food-inspired dishes.

And your first dish

will be due within 30 minutes.

So now,

with an open heart and empty stomach,

I say unto you in the words of my uncle

Allez cuisine!

[Alton] And battle street food is on

here in Kitchen Stadium.

[Mason] Watch it.

[Curtis chuckles]

The challenger, Chef Hereford,

and Iron Chef Stone,

immediately running for the lamb

with their respective teams.

[Mason] So you grab a couple of those.

-[Mason] Three?

-[woman] What else?

I wanna mention we need to utilize fire

in all five courses.

And at the end of the day, the final dish

must involve fire in its presentation.

[Mason] Hearts are over here.

[woman] I'm taking 'em all.

What else we want, brains?

We are mere minutes into the battle

and these chefs have got to serve up

their first dishes

within the first 30 minutes.

Their remaining four dishes

will be judged at the end.

-[Mason] We're good. Let's go.

-Okay.

[Alton] The challenger Chef Hereford

and Iron Chef Curtis Stone

bring down one of those lambs.

These are Dorper Lambs.

It's a hybrid lamb

that was developed in South Africa,

known for its very fast growth.

I think of my mates in Melbourne

that are Greek

and they'd have these wicked barbecues

with something cooked on a spit.

Maybe we spit-roast it.

We gotta get one thing done in 30 minutes.

-Seared tartare.

-Toast the spices, yeah.

The lamb saddle.

Make some sort of raw preparation.

-Kibbeh nayyeh.

-Kibbeh nayyeh.

Hearts, we'll grill really thin.

Something else for the rib eye.

We're the sandwich people.

-We gotta make a sandwich.

-We'll make a sandwich!

I wanna use the toughest pieces.

The shank. Maybe this neck.

And I'll flame grill it. Let's do it.

We're on freakin'Iron Chef!

[women] Whoo!

-We're not drinking yet, fellas.

-Ready?

[Alton] This is going

to be a very interesting battle

given how different these two chefs are.

[Kristen] And of course,

a crucial component to Kitchen Stadium,

our judges.

Let's say hi to our honorable

and discerning palates:

Nilou Motamed,

Andrew Zimmern

and our very special guest,

award-winning food journalist,

the ever-so-charming Francis Lam.

[Alton] Now we can see Iron Chef Stone

immediately starting

to score the neck meat.

Interestingly, most of the lamb

raised in America

goes either to restaurant chefs

or is shipped to other countries,

namely Greece and Ireland, where they eat

a heck of a lot more lamb than we do.

-[Zimmern] Here comes the saw.

-The saw has emerged.

[Curtis] Just like in the butcher shop,

we cook with every single piece of it.

[Kristen] He knows what he's doing.

Growing up in Australia,

he's had plenty of lamb, I'm sure.

[Alton] I'm certain.

The challenger, Chef Hereford,

also breaking down the whole lamb.

Chef Hereford

has classical French training.

Look at how he's butchering that lamb.

There's finesse, technique.

This is lamb belly getting chopped up

to go into the grinder

for our second course.

Add in a little leg meat with that.

Then I'm gonna attack the loins

for that first course.

In Australia, we eat a lot of lamb.

We love it.

It's one of our favorite ingredients.

It's amazing that we got it today.

I'm super stoked.

The challenger, Chef Hereford, it looks

like he's cutting the entire muscle group

from the front rib section

back to the saddle.

I'm getting the loin

and the rib eye off now.

[Kristen] Let's talk about sous-chefs.

When you think of who you trust

to bring in an arena like this,

to help you,

to be your left and right hand

when you are too busy

using your left and right hand,

you have your sous-chefs.

Chef Hereford brought along

the chefs who work with him

at Molly's Rise and Shine, which is

one of his restaurants in New Orleans.

There's sous-chef Liz.

Just gonna, like, blast the spices.

It's gonna be awesome.

[Kristen] And sous-chef Colleen.

She's got some tenderloin pieces there,

uh, and some tomatoes,

onions, and green peppers.

I'm not sure where that's headed.

[Alton] Let's go back

to the Iron Chef side of the world.

He's using the charcoal blower.

You know what it kinda looks like,

is the candle-putter-outer thing.

Yes. It does look

like a very large candle snuffter

which he's using to blow

thebinchōtanJapanese oak charcoal.

This gives you a very clean burn,

very high heat, not a lot of smoke

and it burns evenly

to maintain temperatures.

Okay, so I'm caramelizing this lamb,

'cause I want some color.

I wanna get a beautiful flavor on that.

-How you doing, Osiel?

-Very good, Chef.

[Kristen] On Iron Chef Stone's team,

he brought his chefs from Gwen,

his restaurant and butchery

in Los Angeles.

That's sous-chef Osiel. He's clearly

done this kind of knife work before.

He's boning out the leg,

at least that's what it looks like.

We also have sous-chef Gareth

on the Iron Chef side.

Sous-chef Gareth, what you up to?

[Gareth] We've got

a little lavash cr*cker goin' on,

so a little semolina dough,

and then we're gonna bake this

for the first bite.

[Alton] So, they're going to have lavash

with, oh I don't know, lamb

for their first course.

We'll have to see how

that's gonna come together.

We've got a Searzall

out over on Chef Hereford's side.

That, of course, is a propane device

that uses interlocking screens

so that the flame heats the screen

creating something like a broiler.

-[Kristen] Chef Hereford.

-[Mason] Yo.

[Kristen] What's that spice rub?

[Mason] Pink peppercorns,

coriander, black peppercorns.

[Kristen] Ah, got it.

We're trying to burn the spices

on the outside of this thing,

introduce a little fire into the dish.

Then I'll put it in the blast chiller,

chop it up and make tartare.

[Kristen] Okay, Chef Hereford's

making a tartare

and I'm definitely gonna bet

that that's his first course.

[Nilou] Do you see across the way,

Mason is using a pizza oven?

So some really high-heat cooking.

[Alton] Colleen is cooking up

her tenderloin, tomatoes, onion

and peppers.

I'm trying to do walking tacos.

[Kristen] Okay, a walking taco.

That is a classic American street food.

So for those of you who haven't been

to a high school football game in a while,

a walking taco is basically

all of your favorite taco ingredients

served with, and thenin,a chip bag.

They're a staple in the South,

and I heard a rumor

that they're one of The Chairman's

favorite late-night snacks.

Sous-chef Colleen almost

set her towel on fire.

-That could be a problem.

-Man.

We might need some fireproof towels.

[Alton] Looking at the Iron Chef's side,

sous-chef Gareth has ribs

with some sort of spice rub.

[Andrew] Those are the ribs.

-Now I'm getting hungry.

-Yeah.

[Alton] And those are now

going into the pressure cooker.

Lamb is everywhere.

I'm losing what the actual chunks are.

Are those back legs or front legs?

I'll go down there and find out.

Alright, shanks, neck meat.

Alton, what's happening?

There's a lot of meat going on here.

-Okay, yeah. Got it.

-There's still fur on this one.

-[Andrew] Fantastic.

-Oh yeah.

Chef, those are just the forelegs, right?

Osiel is butterflying the back legs

over there.

We'll turn that into a gyro.

Greek-style sort of souvlaki.

Thank you for not saying "gee-ro."

I'd have to make fun of you all day long.

Thanks for letting me know.

Alright, so we'll be seeing a gyro

for the Iron Chef's second course.

-[Mason] You got mayonnaise?

-[Colleen] Wanna catch it?

Yeah.

Thank you.

First thing you do

when you open mayonnaise,

you throw away the lid

because you know you'll eat it all.

Just like ice cream.

[Kristen] Okay, hold on, wait a second.

I'm looking over at sous-chef Colleen

and that is definitely a squirt g*n.

[Colleen] Squirt g*ns are ready.

Squirt g*ns. These are words

I've never used in any Kitchen Stadium

and I've been in all the Kitchen Stadiums!

[Alton] What's in the g*n?

Squirt, grapefruit soda,

it's a palate cleanser.

-[Alton] You're squirting Squirt.

-Exactly.

Got it.

-[Curtis] How you doin' over there?

-[Gareth] Good.

[Alton] Over on the Iron Chef's side,

I see sous-chef Gareth working with

what looks to me like bulgur wheat.

Perhaps there's a kibbeh happening here.

If there is ground meat and barley,

then that's what's going to happen.

[Alton] Kibbeh, of course,

is a Middle Eastern dish

of raw lamb, bulgur wheat and seasoning.

-[Kristen] I'm gonna go see.

-[Alton] Where first?

Good. Go to Curtis' side.

I'll keep up

with what's going on over here.

[Kristen] Chef Stone,

I'm getting cumin seeds.

Cumin, now we've just roasted it.

This is gonna go a little later,

but I've got to get it pressure cooking.

Uh, we're doing an Indian

sort of cinnamon-scented curry.

We're gonna use the shank and the neck.

[Andrew] Well, if you've got lamb,

it walks right into a curry and says

-"Let this be my final resting place."

-Yeah.

[Nilou chuckles]

Okay. So I've got my lamb curry workin'.

Okay, here we go, pressure cooker.

I'm gonna lock it down.

[Francis] Forty minutes left is not

a lot of time in a pressure cooker.

You're pushing the limits.

[Alton] Kristen now coming

from the challenger's side.

This is the toasted Searzall situation

you were working on.

Yeah, so we seared off one of the loins

and I'm going to chop it up

and make a tartare.

What's the binding agent?

Mayonnaise, chopped up anchovies

to bring out the funkiness of the lamb.

Shallots, lemon juice,

and then a bunch of the spices.

I mean, I like it.

You gotta butter both sides.

[Alton] Big hunks of white bread,

like, pullman loaf

down on the flattop

over on Chef Hereford's side.

We're obviously gonna

to have a sandwich of some type.

Number one, the guy has a sandwich shop.

[giggles]

What is your take on what you saw

down on the floor?

[Kristen] On the Iron Chef's side,

there's a seriousness and urgency.

It is like Michelin Star-kitchen urgency.

[Alton] It's that head-down

"doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!" Go, go, go.

Over on Chef Hereford's side,

they seem a bit more chill.

-That's 'cause they've been drinking.

-Good point.

Cheers, bud.

[Alton] Alright, three minutes 29 seconds

to get that first course up to the judges.

And don't forget, fire has got

to be involved or it just doesn't count.

[Andrew] Kissed with fire, lamb is ideal.

[Nilou] I want it to have

like a big, wet smooch with fire.

-That's weird, Nilou.

-[Andrew] She's very passionate.

I'm of the Middle East, we love

-[Francis] Big smooches with fire?

-Yeah.

[Alton] Okay. Look at this.

Sous-chef Gareth is putting a blowtorch

to the dried-up lamb fat.

So, what he did

was he rendered down some lamb fat

and he mixed it with tapioca maltodextrin.

Thing about tapioca maltodextrin

is it can turn almost any fat to a powder,

but I've never seen anybody char it.

I bet this will be the fire component

of his first dish.

So, he's made charred lamb-fat powder!

-[Kristen] Dreams come true.

-Which I would snort.

[chuckles]

[Kristen] On the challenger's side,

Chef Hereford now has some chips out.

Chef Hereford, what are you doing?

We have a sandwich on our menu

that's covered in chips.

-It's one of the flagship menu items.

-[Kristen] Why salt and vinegar?

I decided the perfect vehicle

would be a salt-and-vinegar Pringle.

It's the right shape.

It's now a handheld edible food,

so I'm kind of trying

to street food-ify tartare a little bit.

Hopefully the judges are okay with that.

[Alton] Over on the Iron Chef's side,

we can see sous-chef Gareth.

He's still working on the kibbeh

for the first course.

He really needs to hurry at this point

with only a couple of minutes left.

I guess that that's going to go

with the lavash crackers

that we saw earlier.

[Mason] Course is ready to go.

[Alton] Chef Hereford is finished

with his first course.

He is headed out to the judges' table

where Kristen is standing by.

-How's it going?

-Good. I'm nervous.

Oh, you're going to be fine.

[Kristen] Mason, tell us about this dish.

So I wanted to get something done fast.

We did a tartare, but I knew

tartare wasn't traditionally street food

so I tried to make it a pick-up,

grab-on-the-go type situation.

Please enjoy.

And this is a palate cleanser.

Squirt that in your mouth.

That's a squirt g*n full of Squirt.

The drink that tastes like grapefruit.

-What cut of lamb?

-[Mason] That's the loin.

So for the fire, we seared the outside

of the tartare before we chopped it.

-[Francis] Okay.

-I'll get the real juice when you leave.

[Mason] Okay, bye!

Francis, what do we think?

I am kind of amazed by the balance

of acidity and fat and salt.

Those three elements

are really sort of incredible

and especially if you're using

a salt-and-vinegar Pringle,

it's like he actually calibrated

the rest of it to match that.

My only complaint is that

the tartare was a little bit cold.

I think the flavors are fantastic,

but if it was a little bit warmer,

more of the fat would come through,

more lamb flavor would come through.

The one thing that I would say

is I'm not getting that kiss of the fire

as much as I would like.

Understood. Andrew?

[Andrew] The seasoning

and all of the acidity in the powder

that is used on the Pringle

knocked back the lamb flavor a little bit,

but I will tell you it was delicious.

-I'm just happy.

-[Nilou] Yeah, joyful.

Food should make you happy.

I'd have another one.

And did the squirt g*n add or deter or

[Nilou] It was actually such a smart move

because it really was a palate cleanser.

It was like a Zamboni for your tongue

and you want to go back for another bite.

Iron Chef Stone is shortly behind him.

-[Curtis] How you doing, Gaz?

-[Gareth] Uh, lamb's up.

Spoon's there for tasting, Chef.

[Alton] And we've gotta get the plates up

in 30 seconds.

Iron Chef Stone, you're scaring me.

Oui,Chef.

-[Alton] That needs to be up

Don't"Oui,Chef" me,

I know what that means. [chuckles]

Alright, uh, there's that charred

powdered lamb fat going down

and his lavash cr*cker.

Iron Chef Stone, you have ten seconds.

Nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four, three

-Hello.

-Why, hello.

Wow. Gorgeous.

-[Nilou] Beautiful presentation.

-Thank you.

This is some first course.

-Chef, what'd you make?

-[Curtis] Kibbeh nayyeh.

We've taken the lamb saddle,

minced it with a variety

of different herbs.

We made a quick lavash, we spiced that,

we torched the lamb fat, we turned it

into a maltodextrin powder.

So you'll get that bit of char.

-You made the lavash?

-We did.

-Go, go, go!

-[Andrew] Wow.

[Francis] Keep cooking, Chef.

-Nilou, what are your thoughts?

-This is beautiful.

The flavor is stunning,

but kibbehs that I've had before

have been a little less watery than this.

This feels a tiny bit looser

than what I'm accustomed to.

This is brilliant in so many ways.

Presentation, technical acumen,

and I like the creativity

of the fire-kissed fat

turned into a powder.

-Francis, what are your thoughts?

-I think the flavors are fantastic.

To make this lavash

in that amount of time,

it's beautiful, it's crisp,

it's cooked beautifully,

the spicing on it. It's real tasty.

You've tasted both dishes.

Now it's time to do the numbers.

I'm going to go back up to Alton.

Judges, you can award a total of 25 points

for this first course.

Thank you. Thank you, Kristen.

Okay.

[Alton] Right, we have 27 minutes

and 12 seconds left

for each side to plate four more

street-food-themed lamb dishes.

And where'd we leave off?

The Iron Chef has a Greek gyro

with the lamb leg

that Osiel butterflied and marinated

in rosemary, garlic and marjoram

and he has a lamb-neck curry.

Then, of course, the challenger,

Chef Hereford, is making walking tacos.

And look, is is that a heart?

[Mason] Yes, sir, yeah.

Strips of hearts to go on the grill.

You might go, "Ooh!"

but they are nowhere near as kind of gamey

or organ-y as say, liver.

They're clean tasting.

The lamb heart you can grill really fast,

and 'cause we're under time constraints,

we're trying to bust it out real quick.

I'm about to have lamb hearts

for you, Liz.

Great. Thank you.

Kristen, where I thought

you, like, left the building.

I was up there eating with them.

Just kidding.

So now, I'm going to make some skewers

out of these lemongrass.

[Kristen] Over on the challenger's side,

I see lemongrass

in the capable hands of sous-chef Colleen.

[Alton] They took their lamb

and put it through the grinder.

It's got lamb shoulder in it

and I think there's

some belly meat in there.

With the lemongrass, I'm thinking Thai,

I'm going street food.

-[Alton] It makes sense.

-[Kristen] Colleen, what are you planning?

[Colleen] We're going to do

a charred, minced lamb salad.

[Kristen] I like it. I dig it.

And we have lemongrass

on Iron Chef Stone's side.

[Alton] We've got it on both sides.

[Curtis] All the flavor of the lemongrass

is all the way down here in the stem.

Make sure it's nice and clean,

and then treat it like your worst enemy.

That's what he's smashing right now,

to open up the flavors.

[Curtis] And here

we've got some lemongrass working,

a little salt.

-I need a little bit of turmeric.

-What you got, Iron Chef?

A little cayenne pepper,

some lemongrass, some garlic,

some cumin, some coriander.

I'm doing a marinade for the satay.

-Did you say a satay?

-Yeah.

[Alton] Thank you

for letting us know what you're doing.

That's very, very helpful.

Hey, what's that noise over there, Curtis?

That's the sound you're gonna hear

in your nightmares.

[chuckles]

[Kristen] I see the Iron Chef's sous-chef

Osiel is putting that lamb meat on a spit

and that's gotta be for their gyro dish.

That's a bold move, because there's

not a lot of time to cook that meat.

-[Osiel] The meat's all set.

-[Liz and Colleen whoop]

[Curtis] Party going on over there.

Guys, we're on the wrong side.

Holy smokes, that looks like roti

over on Chef Hereford's side.

We're going to do roti paratha,

an open-faced sandwich

that's going to have lamb heart.

[Kristen] Okay, Alton, the hearts

are gonna go with the roti.

These are the hearts. We did a little salt

and a little berbere spice.

[Alton] Ah, berbere, of course,

used a lot in Ethiopian cuisine.

Strong, complex flavor.

Can also be smoky and sometimes bitter.

Hey, how are we on time?

[Kristen] Chefs, you have 22 minutes

and nine seconds left

in this street-food battle

here in Kitchen Stadium

with lamb as your secret ingredient.

[Alton] And since The Chairman

never makes things easy,

he's requiring each dish

to be touched by fire

and the last dish has to involve fire

in the final presentation.

No easy feat in 60 minutes.

[Kristen] Definitely not.

[Alton] Looking down

on the Iron Chef's part of the world,

he's working on his satay

and using a waving motion

so that hopefully what he's going to get

is kind of a range of doneness textures

depending on what's closer to the fire.

What you doin' over there?

I'm gonna marinate it.

So that is goin' into my bag.

[Kristen] That was the marinade

he made earlier,

with turmeric, lemongrass,

he had some fish sauce in there,

lime and coconut.

[Alton] The best they can do at this point

is use that vacuum pressure

to really squeeze those flavors

into the meat.

It's kind of a speed-marinade move.

[Kristen] We can see sous-chef Gareth

is forming some kind of dough.

He definitely has masa in there,

so I have an idea of what it might be,

but I don't want to say anything yet.

Chefs, you might like to know this:

The Chairman snuck down the scores

for the first dish.

-[Liz] Oh God!

-[Alton] Currently in the lead is nobody!

It's a tie!

[sous-chefs whoop]

[Alton] Nineteen points

to nineteen points,

so no one will have an advantage

going into the rest of the dishes

with the judges.

Guys, congratulations

on tying these big shots.

-[Liz] I know!

-[Mason] You're amazing. I love you.

[Kristen] Becoming an Iron Legend

is no joke

and Chef Hereford's off to a solid start.

[Alton] Iron Chef, thoughts?

Uh, that puts more pressure on me

now we're tied.

I can tell that the man can cook,

with his talented team over there.

But I'm not scared.

[Kristen] Iron Chef Stone

releasing the pressure

from his pressure cooker,

and that's got the lamb curry in there.

Sous-chef Gareth's taking his lamb ribs

out of the pressure cooker.

Ribs in an hour is pretty risky,

but they do look delicious.

[Alton] He also took

that masa and water dough

and is cooking them with fat,

so that's arepa,

which, of course,

a very popular street food

in Venezuela and Central America.

[Kristen] Over on the challenger's side,

I see something very familiar

and those are Frito bags.

Sous-chef Colleen

is taking that walking-taco mixture

that was in the pizza oven

and putting it in the bag.

She added guajillo

and morita chilies in there

and of course, there's Fritos.

The one thing about plating,

or I guess I should say bagging,

is that you don't want things

to get mushy,

so they've gotta be careful.

[Alton] Alright, so let's break this down.

Okay, on this side,

we know they have the walking taco.

[Kristen] They also have

some sort of grilled-lamb salad.

[Alton] Of course,

and the grilled-lamb-heart roti sandwich

and I'm not sure what else.

[Kristen] Okay, on the Iron Chef's side,

he has that gyro spinning around

and that lamb-neck curry.

[Alton] He also has his satay

marinating in that bag,

and he has an arepa.

-You gonna fry those, Chef?

-[Osiel] Yeah, we are.

[Alton] He's a Southern boy,

I'm a Southern boy.

That is the sound of chicken-fried steak

getting ready to happen.

-[Kristen] Ten minutes!

-[Mason chuckles]

Ten minutes?!

Don't panic, but panic anyway.

This is gonna be, like,

down to the last second I think, Liz.

Iron Chef Curtis, where do you feel

you are right now in the scheme of things?

A little behind where I would like to be,

Alton, I'm not gonna lie,

but I'll get there.

[Alton] Osiel at the back station

has a dough.

I did not even see him make that.

[Osiel] I'm grilling

the pita bread right now.

[Alton] Okay, pita, okay,

now that's gotta be for the gyro.

-[Mason] You grind the rice powder?

-[Liz] You know it.

[Alton] On the challenger's side,

Chef Hereford is mixing up his lamb salad.

He has some rice powder in there,

herbs, lime leaf.

Uh, maybe kind of the school of a larb?

Mm, yeah.

[Alton] Which is

like a Thai-style chopped-meat salad.

Usually very highly spiced.

[Kristen] Breading station's now out

with sous-chef Liz,

and that's for their chicken-fried lamb.

Chef Hereford is now plating a larb salad

in an old-school lunch box?

Alton, what's happening

over on the Iron Chef side?

[Alton] What the Iron Chef

just put on the yakitori grill,

that is the very thinly sliced tenderloin

that had gone into the vacuum bag.

[Kristen] Which I assume is now his satay.

[Alton] Over on the challenger's side,

Chef Hereford right now

[Kristen] Is that a dinosaur?

That's a dinosaur.

It's the first time I've seen a dinosaur

used as a plating device

in Kitchen Stadium.

What is that about?

[Kristen] Here's the thing

about Chef Hereford is that he is playful,

he loves whimsical plating,

he likes to get you involved.

-[Alton] He's a ten-year-old boy!

-[chuckles]

[Kristen] That's gonna be carrying

that lamb-heart roti sandwich.

Uh-oh.

-We got a problem.

-Uh-oh.

-[Mason] What's wrong?

-We got no heat on the fryers.

[Alton] Oh. That's a That's a tough one.

With so much going on,

maybe they forgot to turn it on in time.

You got five minutes and 20 seconds.

Put a very shallow pot of oil

on high heat.

-[Liz] You grabbing that, Colleen?

-[Colleen] Yeah, I got pans.

[Alton] They're gonna need to pivot,

because those fryers can

take up to 15 minutes to heat up.

Looks like they are

triaging that situation.

Do you notice the change

in the atmosphere here?

-You could hear a pin drop.

-Yes.

It is go time.

[Curtis] Getting the curry out.

It's looking pretty good.

It's caught just a little.

That's okay. That'll add

to that beautiful smoky flavor.

[Kristen] Lots of action

on the Iron Chef's side.

His sous-chef Osiel

now making sure he gets the perfect slice

with the proper doneness,

and that's for their gyro dish.

-[Mason] We gotta get a steak in a pan.

-[Liz] I'm doing it.

[Alton] What's happening

with that chicken-fried lamb?

[Kristen] Sous-chef Liz

went into the fryer,

wasn't working, took it out,

didn't think it was gonna be done.

-Went straight into a pan fry.

-I love when people adapt.

[Kristen] I just hope

they nail the cook on that meat.

Two minutes!

[Alton] Over on the Iron Chef's side,

the thinly sliced leg meat

that was on the spit,

now some of that went on to the pita

and it got some garnishes.

Now the satay is down.

Now that looks simple,

but to make one

that's really unforgettable,

that requires flavor knowledge

and technique.

Hey, where's the mustard?

Looking over on the challenger's side,

is that a freaking train, Kristen?

-It's a train on a track in a plate.

-In a plate.

[Kristen] We gotta give him

a hand with plating.

Literally a hand, and those hands

right now are getting a walking taco.

-Taste everything, guys, taste it.

-[Gareth] Yes, Chef.

[Alton] Okay, looking over

at the Iron Chef's side,

the arepa got plated up

with some of the rib meat

that sous-chef Gareth cooked

and I think that's now under a dome

getting some smoke.

[Gareth] Yep. Good.

Thirty-five seconds left

for all the food to be finished.

[Kristen] Chef Hereford dressing the bread

with the mustard sous-chef Liz made.

-[Mason] Has anybody got sugar?

-[Liz] Right in front of you.

[Alton] A lot of plating needs to happen

and I'm concerned.

-[Curtis] Coming through.

-[Alton] It's moving so fast.

-It's hard to keep track.

-Behind.

[Alton] Five, four, three, two, one.

The cook is over.

[chefs whoop and cheer]

[cheering and applause]

[Curtis sighs]

[Curtis] I feel

like I just got into a fight,

but it was a good fight,

it was lots of fun,

and I'm going to do my team

and my restaurants proud.

Flavor's there. It's gonna taste amazing.

Can't wait for them to taste it.

[Mason] That hour felt like ten minutes.

It was wild but, you know,

we got it up before they said, "One."

Or whatever they said.

[chuckling] So we got there!

[heavenly choral music plays]

[dramatic drumbeats build]

Judges, Kristen, welcome to the large

and impressive round table.

I feel as though we should be knights,

but we're not,

but we're gonna do

some mighty fine eating here.

As our first chef,

Chef Hereford, comes up,

keep in mind

that because of your judging so far,

that first dish is split.

Nineteen points to both chefs,

so it's an even race at this time.

But remember, we're gonna be

awarding points based on taste,

presentation, and use

of the secret ingredient.

We have 75 more points

to allot in the next four dishes

that will eventually make up

the hundred points for each chef.

So let's start with Chef Hereford.

Okay, my friends.

I must tell you it is an absolute honor

to cook for you guys,

as much as it is an honor

to cook in Kitchen Stadium.

Alright, I am feeling some good vibes.

Chef Hereford, what was your

general approach to the challenge?

We wanted to use

different parts of the lamb

and we wanted that street-food theme

and then fire in every course

and we want you guys to have fun,

feel like kids, eat out of a lunch box.

Chef, tell us about this one.

[Mason] So this dish is a larb

from Laos or Thailand.

We ground up the lamb and we skewered it

on a piece of lemongrass,

cooked it over the coals,

get a little bit of that fire on there,

chopped it up

and then lime leaf, lemongrass, shallots.

What cut of lamb did you use for this?

Shoulder and belly.

There is a lot of intense flavor

that you've packed into this dish

and I absolutely love the fact

that you gave us more herbs

to make it really feel like you were

having a street-food experience.

-Thank you.

-Francis.

Typically larb is not made

in a caramelized way.

It's kind of sautéed with a little water.

In this case,

adding that little bit of brown flavor

is a nice complement to the flavors.

Fire is a seminal piece of judging

for this challenge.

Maybe you got a good char-y bite.

I did not,

but the grind,

the amount of fat, it was perfect.

As you can see, empty plate.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

You can bring us another course.

-Alright, I'm on it.

-Delicious.

[Nilou] The yum factor is high.

-Alright.

-Frito pie.

-Here we go again.

-Oh!

Chef Hereford, what is this?

[laughter]

So this is what?

Sort of an American street food of sorts,

known as the walking taco or Frito pie.

It's a bag of Fritos

with some stuff in it.

Today we made it out of lamb,

so we took the tenderloins,

we wanted something that was

gonna cook fast and still stay juicy.

We cooked it in a pizza oven

under the open fire

with guajillo and dried morita chilies,

onions, garlic, cumin, coriander,

made a bit of a gravy of sorts.

That sauce with those chilies

is one of the better things

that I've eaten in a long time.

-Thank you so much.

-Playful and fun.

The bagging is challenging

because it was a little bit of a mush.

Maybe the chew on the meat

was a little tough.

The lime, the beautiful chili

and tomato sauce,

it so went well with, like,

the industrial, calibrated-to-perfection,

fried aftertaste of the Frito.

All those toppings sat on that base

and just kind of rode off into the sunset.

Francis Lam will be

authoring my tombstone.

[laughter]

Chef Hereford,

bring on the next one, please.

Oh, my pleasure. Thank you, guys.

Here, let's give him a hand.

[judges laugh and groan]

[Mason] Get outta town!

Alright, guys.

Oh!

-She's cute.

-[Andrew] My goodness.

Ooh.

Chef Hereford, do tell us

about your Jurassic offering here.

Yeah, as someone who saw Jurassic Park

four times in theaters,

I thought we would plate on a dinosaur.

The dish is roti paratha lamb heart

served as an open-faced sandwich.

Sandwiches are sort of our love language.

So we took the lamb heart, we grilled it,

we tried to get a good char on it,

a little bit of berbere spice,

an Ethiopian spice,

and then just dill, cilantro.

I wanted meat plus fire, right?

And this delivered on that.

The heart of the animal is one of

the most famous street foods in the world,

just not in this country.

I think what's really cool about heart

is it really tastes like the halfway point

between muscle meat and organ meat.

-[Nilou] Mm.

-Totally.

-Beautifully cooked.

-Thanks.

Thank you, Chef. Next course, please.

You really get that char,

which I've been kind of missing

along the way,

so this is a great moment of char.

Um, it's a really interesting dish.

-The bitterness is

-[Nilou] It's too much.

-I have bitterness issues.

-We all have baggage, it's okay.

Are we thinking the bitterness

has to do with the way he charred

or flame-broiled anything?

I think it's the berbere.

Berbere doesn't do that though.

Any un-toasted spice

will carry a bitterness

until you put a little heat on it.

[Alton] Yes.

[Kristen] I'm not sure.

Perhaps it has something to do with it.

[Alton] Very much so.

The last course on a cart.

It is your fifth and final course,

which means you have to bring

some form of flame close to our face.

Not that close to our faces.

What did you make

and what are you gonna fire away on?

[Mason] Uh, we've got

a chicken-fried-lamb-steak sandwich.

We've got a mustard,

we covered it in sugar.

-I'm going to brûlée it.

-[Nilou] Mm!

[Mason] And it's gonna taste

like a honey mustard on the sandwich.

And then there's a lemon on a train

'cause I think it's adorable.

You can squeeze the lemon on the steak.

-Fire away.

-[Mason] Oh! Thank you.

Oh yeah, that's working.

-[Mason] There we go.

-[Nilou] Oh, it's real nice.

[Francis] That is a brûlée torch

like no other.

[Andrew] It's fantastic!

[Mason chuckles]

So what is the sugar

that you put on top of the mustard?

Granulated, regular old sugar.

It's a very spicy mustard recipe,

so it should balance out nicely.

[Kristen] Andrew?

That smell of the brûléed mustard

was fantastic.

I'm a mustard fan, so this

played right into my wheelhouse.

-[Mason] Thank you.

-I'm stealing that.

-I'm gonna usemytorch.

-There you go, yeah.

[Andrew] Great!

This was actually probably the most

successful use of fire.

The flavor of burnt sugar

you can essentially only get

-[Alton] Yeah.

-by using an actual flame.

-Thank you.

-[Kristen] Nilou.

I have a kind of obsession

with the perfect sandwich.

-I know you do too.

-Sure.

But the idea of getting

the crispy, the salty,

the sweet, the crunchy, the tangy.

I just got a pretty close to perfect bite.

I will say my meat is overdone.

[Mason] Gotcha.

But the crunch of the breading

is unbelievable.

I think the meat was probably perfect

before I brought the torch to the table.

-Thank you, Chef.

-Thank you so much.

This place rules. Thank you so much.

-Thanks, Mason.

-Thank you, Chef.

This is a very compelling journey

we've been on with Chef Hereford.

He has told us his story,

and now the question is whether

he told the story of the ingredient.

Well, he doesn't have

to tell a perfect story,

he has to just tell a better one

than Iron Chef Stone.

-Oh-h*!

-Oh, yeah.

[Nilou] Talk about making an entrance!

A smoky one.

That's really pretty.

Before we get to the particulars

of this dish,

tell us something, Iron Chef Stone,

about your general approach

to the challenge.

We thought we'd take you

all around the world,

which we're gonna do today.

A whole lamb is a big challenge

in 60 minutes, but one that I welcome

because we love

breaking down whole animals

at my butcher shop and restaurant.

We've tried to serve you dishes

from the neck to the shank,

and everything in between.

Tell us about this dish.

[Curtis] So this is an arepa,

a wonderful dish from South America.

Underneath that cloche,

and you're welcome to pick it up,

there's a bit of that smoke.

The arepa, we actually make

with masa of course,

and then cook it on a flat, flat griddle.

The lamb ribs is what we used here,

where we fast cooked them

in the pressure cooker.

There's a little crema

and pickled onion as well.

-Anyone who cares enough about an arepa

-Mm!

to crisp it up this nicely

really loves an arepa.

It's It's It's delightful.

The lamb? Perfectly cooked,

smokey, fiery, loved it,

but this is what won me over.

A cloche filled with smoke

is gonna jazz us up,

but what I just taste

is what I would wanna have

if I was sitting on a low stool

in the back alley somewhere.

Thank you, Iron Chef.

We'll be ready for your next course.

This, for a second dish,

is really going places.

Iron Chef Stone,

please tell us about this dish.

[Curtis] For my third course,

I went to India.

I made a beautiful lamb curry.

-[Andrew] This is the neck?

-[Curtis] Mm-hmm.

Of all the cuts on the lamb,

there is no piece of lamb

I would rather seen turn into a curry.

[Alton] You also had the four legs

in that pressure cooker?

[Curtis] I did.

We're eating mostly neck.

From what I'm getting,

a lot of gelatin probably

came off of those legs as well.

[Curtis] That was the strategy.

The only thing that I wished

I had a little more of

was fire, smoke, in there.

I mean, it is at that point

where the collagen is melted,

it feels silky, you feel it in the sauce,

but there's still bite.

-And there's still chew.

-Ooh!

Iron Chef, thank you.

We look forward to the next course.

-Thank you so much.

-Thank you.

This is exquisite.

I don't know that it's street food.

No. When I think of street food,

I think of food

that is accessible, affordable.

It doesn't have to be in a street stall.

To me, this is certainly elevated,

but very much in the street-food canon.

[Alton] Iron Chef Stone,

tell us about this dish.

Thank you, Chef.

[Curtis] You'd have this after a few beers

in a taverna in the Greek islands

or somewhere throughout Greece.

For our fourth course we did a gyro

and what that is is a lamb leg

that we butterfly,

we marinate and we spit roast,

and then we serve it in a homemade pita,

some tomatoes, a garlic-scented tzatziki.

Ooh!

To do the pita and to nail that,

and I taste the fire on that pita.

The restaurant that I go to in Athens

to get what I feel

is the best version of this in the world,

this might have bested that.

-Wow.

-Thank you.

The lamb is so tender and smoky

all at the same time.

I do think the marjoram

was a smidge strong

and I am not sure about the tomato.

Okay.

-We'll be ready for your next course.

-Thank you.

We know this was spit fired.

Can you taste it?

-[Andrew] Without a doubt.

-[Nilou] No question.

Iron Chef Stone, it's your final dish.

Whatcha got?

My trip around the world with street food

wouldn't be complete without a satay.

It's very humble, very simple,

but one of the most fabulous things

that you can eat.

[Nilou] Thank you.

[Curtis] So what we've done

is a lamb satay,

we've marinated them

in a mixture of turmeric,

lime, some fish sauce, coconut.

We've made a satay sauce

that you have on your plates there.

Talking and grilling

at the same time is hard.

I know. I I

I didn't realize it was this hard,

but I've got a newfound respect.

Which cut of meat did you use?

Uh, this is the filet.

And this is what went into the vacuum bag

for a bit of a speed marinade.

That's correct. Yes.

By marinating this

and sucking all the air out of it,

you're pushing all those flavors into it.

Then the slow cook.

I can taste every single ingredient

that's gone into here.

-It's beautifully done.

-Thank you.

It's dynamite.

This sauce, delicious, aromatic.

Still a little sweet for my taste,

but, eaten with the lamb,

with that smoke flavor, it's lovely.

It was as good as any satay

I've had anywhere in the world.

Wow, thank you.

Brilliant choice of marrying a recipe

to all the different cuts that you used.

That's tricky in an hour

with the whole animal.

This is a very intimidating table.

It's magic to hear those words.

Thank you so much.

Iron Chef, thank you very much.

Thank you so much.

[judges] Thank you, Iron Chef.

Alright, judges, you have dined

and now, you've got to do your part

in paying the dinner tab.

Now we dash.

And you do that, not with cash,

but with the numbers

you're going to put on those cards.

So, Kristen and I are

heading up to our spots.

You head to yours, do your job.

-[Nilou] Alright.

-[Francis] Where do we leave a tip?

[Alton] Will it be Chef Hereford's

whimsical take on the secret ingredient

or Iron Chef Stone's

globally inspired menu

that comes out on top

in this lamb street-food battle?

Mr. Chairman, the fate of these chefs

is in your hands.

It's the moment of truth.

As predicted, this was a street fight.

Chef Hereford.

Iron Chef Stone.

Only one of you have raced

down the road to victory today.

And that chef is

Iron Chef Stone.

[cheering and applause]

-Great job, brother.

-Well done.

[Alton] Well, there you have it,

ladies and gentlemen.

The Chairman has declared Iron Chef Stone

the winner of this street-food battle,

with the judges scoring at 85 points

to 78 in favor of the Iron Chef.

Both chefs created

such beautiful meals for us,

but what gave Iron Chef Stone the edge

was his use of all parts of the lamb,

his masterful cookery

of the secret ingredient

and through his menu that took us

on a culinary journey around the world.

Thanks to our amazing combatants,

Chef Hereford and Iron Chef Stone,

for a fiery street food fight

for the ages. [chuckles]

Remember, our most successful challenger

will return for a final showdown

against all five Iron Chefs

to compete for a chance to be

crowned the Iron Legend.

Chairman, any final words?

For our next battle,

cooking is a full-contact sport,

especially when the food

comes into contact with

my belly!

-[whistle blows]

-[man] Hut, hut, hut!

[gasps]

Game on.

[men grunt]

[closing theme music playing]