Every once in a while my familial insomnia gene rears its ugly head, and I find myself lying awake for hours each night when I should be sleeping. No matter how exhausted I am I find myself pondering the state of my world and compiling countless lists of things that must be done in the next rotation of the earth. Lately, my cerebral obsession has been the millions of things that need to be done by July 31st to officially move out of the apartment I’ve called home for the past four years. However, thanks to a late night channel surfing escapade I’ve discover one of my all-time favorite shows and secret joy is now on the Fine Living Network each night at midnight.

Four years ago as I was preparing for college graduation, I stumbled upon the show Iron Chef on the Food Network and immediately became enthralled by this cooking sensation. The formula for this show is simple. A challenger who has made a name for themselves somewhere in the world challenges one of Japan’s Iron Chefs to a 60 minute battle in Kitchen Stadium where both competitors have to make 5 dishes featuring a secret ingredient chosen by the Liberace-wannabe Chairman Kaga to be judged by Japanese celebrities. Originally filled in Japanese, the English voice-overs make the show feel like a cross between MXC, Julia Child, and the World Wrestling Federation. Ingredients like roe and foie gras that result in dishes like trout ice cream and truffle sake add to the marvel of entertainment anomaly.

In recent years, the Food Network has created their own versions of the Iron Chefs. The American Iron Chefs include chef all-stars like Bobby Flay, Cat Cora, Wolfgang Puck, Masaharu Morimoto, and Mario Batali with food trivia genius (and my personal favorite Food Network star) Alton Brown as the omniscient show host.  Unlike the original, ICA focuses more on the battle and education its viewers and less on the theatrics of television. However, despite the number of food celebs on this American version, I still prefer its Eastern counterpart.

Either way, the simple fact is there’s just something about this show that both entertains and lulls me to sleep.  For the past week and a half, I’ve turned it on with a racing mind and not even made it to the end to watch the final judging.  I’ve even considered taping it so I can play it earlier and be asleep before 12:45am.
Well, it’s almost time for Chairman Kaga to read me my Iron Chef bedtime story.  Goodnight and in the words of the chairman, “Allez Cuisine!”