Iron Chef: Why you need to stream the OG cooking competition ASAP
Cooking shows have been around as long as television itself, but the cooking competition subgenre — think Top Chef and Great British Bake-Off — is a relatively new phenomenon. Like somanythings we love here at Polygon, it’s also a product of Japan in the 1990s. Iron Chef turns the typical cooking show into a head-to-head duel lasting just one hour, with a dramatic stadium setting, color commentary, and a rotating panel of judges. It first aired in Japan from 1993 to 1999, and gained a second life in the United States when dubbed episodes aired on the Food Network from 1999 to 2004. The dubbing blends corny camp with exhaustive attention to detail, and adds a lot to the overall charm of the experience. Seven seasons of that English dub are available to stream now on Peacock and Pluto TV.
