Tilth chef-owner Maria Hines entered Kitchen Stadium on “Iron Chef America” and beat longtime Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, in an episode that aired Sunday night.
Both chefs created five dishes using the secret ingredient, Pacific cod. These were Hines’ plates:
1) Smoked cod with paprika, served with fresh flagolets
2) Cod brandade
3) Sous-vide cod with lemon verbena and fried green tomatoes and tapioca pearls; topped with tomato fondue
4) Pan-seared cod (with skin) with artichokes and nasturtium vinaigrette
5) Alderwood planked balsamic cod and corn pudding cake
During the hour-long competition, host Alton Brown suggested numerous times that Hines wasn’t working fast enough and was falling behind in plating. But in the final seconds of the allotted hour of competition, Hines and her team had enough time to break out a bottle of Champagne, which they shared with Iron Chef Morimoto.
One judge commented that her food was so confident, and Hines replied she wanted to throw up the whole time she was cooking.
Another judge said she showed great reserve in her cooking, and didn’t need to gussy it up too much.
In contrast, Chef Morimoto’s dishes were very imaginative but lost on flavor. The scores:
Hines
Taste: 28
Plating: 12
Originality: 11
Total: 51
Morimoto
Taste: 23
Plating: 10
Originality: 13
Total: 46
This Tuesday, Hines will cook the winning dishes at Tilth for one special meal. Spots were still available as of July 27, but we suspect that they’ll fill up fast. Call 206-633-0801 for reservations.
Photo courtesy Food Network
JUST SAW YOU WIN OVER MORIMOTO – NEVER HAVE I HEARD MORE GLOWING REPORTS THAN TONIGHT – AM VISITING SEATTLE 1ST. TIME NEXT MONTH WILL MAKE TILTH A MUST STOP- A RECENT CULINARY GRAD AND VERY PROUD AND INSPIRED BY YOU! THANKS,SCOTT WOKER
Hines knew the ingredient beforehand and beat the most decorated iron chef. Funny how Tilth’s seafood distributor is the same as Food Network. Watch the episode and decide for yourself if she came up with those dishes on the spot… BS. I can see her beating any of the other chefs in a fish battle but not Morimoto San.
WallyDog: According to this story http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/8717337, the chefs know in advance that the “secret” ingredient will be one of five. They appear to be prepared (with other ingredients) for any of the five.
A lot of us had to Tivo the show to watch at a later date. It’d be nice if you’d not put the outcome in your headline so we can choose to read the article AFTER we’ve watched the show.
Marina: Your information is incorrect. The standard format for Iron Chef: America battles has been 3 ingredients known to each competitor. In this case, Hines knew exactly which ingredient would be selected. Please check the connection between Hines/Distributor/FoodNetwork before deeming my information ‘not credible.’ Feel free to call Tilth and ask them who distributes the cod they are using for their ‘Iron Chef Menu’ selection…