by Gina Scarpa

 

Ten new chefs, all with impressive resumes and awards to boot, headed to Kitchen Stadium to cook for their lives on the season premiere of The Next Iron Chef. Alton Brown and The Chairman meet up with the contestants and deliver their first challenge immediately: create a sandwich in 30 minutes that shows off who they are. Making a sandwich in 30 minutes sounds easy but these chefs have to not only get their bearings in a new kitchen but figure out what they can make that is both Iron Chef worthy and defines who they are.

 

The chefs were probably expecting Michael Symon, Donatella Arpaia, and Simon Majumdar to judge them but there's a twist. For their first challenge, they judged each other. You can tell, from the looks on some of their faces, that they did not want to hear what their peers have to say... because a lot of it was criticism. They're particularly hard on Ming Tsai but give me a break! You're trying to tell me that they're not threatened by him?

 

Duskie's lamb meatball sandwich with cherries was voted the favorite by her peers while Mario's was voted the weakest. Both Duskie and Mario even voted for themselves in their respective categories. A little ballsy of Duskie but hey, if she thinks she's the best, so be it.

 

After a quick meeting with the judges, the contestants head to the beach for the Chairman's Challenge. In their casting interviews, they were asked this question: "If they were stranded on a desert island, what is the one ingredient you could not live without?" That question was asked specifically for this challenge. They'll have to use that ingredient to create one amazing dish in order to stay in the competition.

 

For her prize from the sandwich competition, Duskie is given a 5 minute headstart which doesn't seem like much... unless you're cooking for Next Iron Chef. Every second counts! When the time starts for everyone else, Marc runs like a maniac, slides in the sand, and gets it all over the herbs. Way to go, buddy.

 

The dishes presented to the judges are:
Maneet - Turkey Roulade with Coconut Giblet Sauce
Marc - Chicken Under a Coconut and Rosemary Honey Chicken Wing
Duskie - Sucking Pig Surf and Turf
Ming - Tropical Parfait
Bryan - Quick Cured Amberjack with Cactus Pear
Marco - Stuffed Pork Loin with Lemongrass Pork Shoulder
Mary - Corn and Coconut Poached Prawns
Andrew - Duck with Green Papaya and Mango Salad
Mario - Prawn Ceviche with Lime Coconut Mojo
Celina - Prawn with Roasted Corn

 

When the judges sit down to debate, they need to not only consider how amazing the dish tasted but how ingenius it was. The Chairman specifically asked for ingenuity. They decide that they top 3 this week are Maneet, Marco, and Ming. Ming Tsai is named the winner of the challenge. Everybody better look out for him!

 

The first contestant to leave The Next Iron Chef is... Andrew Kirschner.

 

Check out our exclusive video interview with Next Iron Chef judge Michael Symon here!

 

The Next Iron Chef airs Sundays at 9/8c on Food Network.

 

(Image courtesy of Food Network)

 

Follow Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa