iron chef america - battle garlic

i'll admit, i'm not the biggest fan of the food network's iron chef america series. compared to the original japanese version, the american version just isn't as exotic in ingredient choice, inspiring in creative dish, nor as dramatic in action. i'm sure the fact that the japanese series being dubbed from a foreign language and the humor inherently "lost" in translation contributes to my love of the this version. but from what i've seen, the american version just doesn't measure up. it just turns out hokey. that, and i really don't care for bobby flay.

sitting here at home, flipping through the channels, i came across iron chef america - battle garlic, with iron chef mario battali versus san francisco's chris cosintino of incanto fame in noe valley. i put down the remote because i do respect batali and a recent trip to incanto over the holidays yielded an amazing holiday meal with christien. i was pretty curious how this battle would turn out.

the secret ingredient was garlic and the chefs were presented with a fantastic variety of them. 60 minutes and a flurry of activity later, here is what the chefs presented to the panel of judges (and i've tried to capture everything hereas accurately as possible):

chef chris cosentino's platings

crositini of ricotta w/baby rapini and rubbed garlic
sea scallop crudo with garlic
garlic pasta with sliced snails
garlic roasted squab with sauce royale and garlic flan (includes squab brain and other offals)
eighty clove braised pork belly and tripe chips
garlic infused honey mousse with garlic brittle

iron chef battali's platings

garlic bruschetta with lomo, branade stuffed picadillo pepper and tortilla espanola
garlic stuffed langostine wrapped in caul fat
cod with green garlic emulsion
hot sopa de ajo and cold gazpacho garlic soup with shaved lily bulb and orange
lamb chop with escalvida and garlic mojo zuchini blossom

both chefs put on a pretty good show, exhibiting some techniques i hadn't seen before. cosentino was definitely more rushed and seemed a little flustered with his sous chefs. baatali was just more comfortable and relaxed. understandable, given an unfamiliar kitchen. and 60 minutes goes by SO fast in the kitchen. at the end, even though cosentino garnered high originality points, iron chef batali won in taste and plating, 46 to 44.

i would've eaten any of those dishes. yum.