The words "cooking" and "competition" don't normally go hand in hand, but the "Iron Chef" franchise has done for the culinary world what the Olympics do to archery and ping-pong every four years - turn them into fringe sports.

"Iron Chef America," a spin-off from the original Japanese version, now has a spin-off of its own: "Next Iron Chef," which pits 10 chefs against each other to see who will join the ranks of Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, and Masaharu Morimoto.

Season 2 of "Next Iron Chef" has been pared down to the final two - Jehangir Mehta and Jose Garces - and come Sunday night, we'll know which chef will become Kitchen Stadium royalty.

"It almost becomes a sport - becomes combative - and when you're cooking in that light," says Garces, "it just makes the experience different as a chef. It becomes intense, there's pressure, and you're racing against the clock."

After watching Mehta and Garces the past two months, it's obvious that each chef has what it takes to proudly hold the title of Iron Chef. In fact, Garces made an appearance on "Iron Chef America" and outperformed Iron Chef Flay in Kitchen Stadium.

"I've been a huge fan of the show for years," Chef Garces says. "It was always a dream or a goal to become an Iron Chef, and after my first experience, where we had some success, it definitely gave me confidence to participate in 'Next Iron Chef.'"

Mehta, who would be the first Iron Chef with a background as a pastry chef, didn't fare so well in his first trip to Kitchen Stadium and fell to Morimoto in Battle Coconut.

"I loved my experience on 'Iron Chef America,' but I knew ['Next Iron Chef'] would be so different and that it would not be like the regular show," Mehta explains. "It was going to be hard, it was going to be challenging…and I'm very thankful that I'm here right now."

With their experience being on "Iron Chef America" and "Next Iron Chef," the finalists have learned how to deal with the intense pressure that comes with cooking on a strict time limit. Mehta, in particular, knew how to keep his cool while other people may have been overwhelmed by the situation.

"Instead of just jumping into something," Mehta says, "it's better to take a minute and just think about it and go from that."

Garces thinks that experience is the greatest asset he has in Kitchen Stadium: "I think the preparation you have is years of knowledge you have in the food business and dealing with similar situations - obviously, the magnitude is not as much - but having that knowledge and that background information is the best prep for any challenge."

Another vital trait that an Iron Chef must have is the ability to adapt to strange ingredients. Mehta, however, doesn't necessarily believe that any ingredient qualifies as "strange."

"To me, peanut butter and jelly seemed very odd until I came to America," says Mehta, a native of India. "And I'm still not a fan of those two as a mix, very honestly…But to millions of people, it is one of the best things they have tasted."

Chef Garces agrees with that mentality toward ingredients that aren't prevalent in America.

"As a chef, I appreciate and love all ingredients, and our task is to make everything taste good," Garces says. "So from my perspective, I love it all - whether it's grasshoppers, sea cucumber, or jellyfish."

Aside from the intense challenges and difficult ingredients, the chefs had to deal with another huge obstacle to reach the season finale: judge Jeffrey Steingarten, who has a tendency to be harsh and rub people the wrong way.

Even Garces and Mehta couldn't avoid his wrath throughout the season.


"His knowledge of food was unquestionably at a high level," Garces says about Steingarten. "Did I appreciate some of his comments? No. Did I agree with them? Sometimes - probably not."

Mehta had a different take.

"I didn't find judge Jeffrey Steingarten annoying in the least bit, and if some people did, it was their opinion," Mehta argues. "Some people who can't hack [getting criticized], tough luck. But you need to know this is life, and everything does come easy."

A lot of qualified chefs failed to please the judges, and Garces and Mehta agreed that it was surprising to see fellow contestants Brad Farmerie and Dominique Crenn get kicked off the show fairly early.

"All [the chefs] are equally talented," Mehta says. "They could've just had that one bad day or that one bad moment, but that doesn't make anyone good or bad. It could just be that one small thing or one small error for that day."

Those words could prove prophetic when Sunday rolls around. For two chefs who both know how to put together amazing dishes under immense pressure, one slight miscue could be the difference between becoming Iron Chef or going back home empty handed.

Just know that they want to win badly.



"[Mehta] should know that come Sunday, I'm going to be very focused and I'm going to be ready to win, ready to take on the challenge and just go for it," Garces says.

"I will prove myself as much as I have to and try to get the job," Mehta counters. "Without any sort of negativity toward anybody…I will put in my ultimate best, and that is what I can bring to the table - and after that, it's for the judges to say."

The bottom line is that "Next Iron Chef" has given us an exciting season of cooking and Sunday should be no different. Mehta or Garces will be a tremendous Iron Chef, and each chef deserves a lot of credit for making it this far.


Story by Phil McRae

Starpulse contributing writer

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