The "secret ingredient" on Iron Chef often is something odd or exotic, such as buffalo, tofu, chickpeas, wild boar or Arctic char.
On Sunday, in a special two-hour episode of Iron Chef America(Food Network, 8 p.m. ET/PT), the secret ingredient has been partly revealed: It's the White House garden.
Chefs battling it out on any Iron Chef contest learn the secret ingredient just before cooking begins. They then must come up with delectable, judge-pleasing dishes in the allotted time to be declared the winner.
"Basically we went to the White House," says celebrity chef Bobby Flay, and "rummaged through the garden."
He and Cristeta Comerford, executive chef at the White House, teamed to take on Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse to create five dishes. After the garden goodies were picked, the show was shot in the show's studio, "Kitchen Stadium," in New York. Both places, Comerford explained in a recent press call, are "immensely intense." She added: "One thing the Kitchen Stadium has is a fog machine (used for dramatic effect). Not at the White House."
Flay had been to the White House before. He visited for a Father's Day event that included grilling with President Obama. "About halfway through, I tried to direct him on the grill, and he said, 'Hey, listen, I know what I'm doing.' He enjoyed it. You could tell he was more than interested in what was happening."
This time, Flay says, he was impressed with the "healthy and robust" garden. The chefs were there at the end of summer. "The tomatoes were calling our names," Comerford says.
Adds Flay, "I am not a gardener," and he thought it usually took a few seasons for a garden to hit its stride, but not this one. It had much to offer. "It wasn't just three or four things. It had an abundance of ingredients." He also noted the beehive next to the garden offers "delicious" honey "that we absolutely used."
Before the raid began, Flay says, everyone got to ask Michelle Obama, who made a brief appearance, a question about the garden. "I asked her if there was one ingredient I should not pass up. She promptly said, 'Sweet potatoes.' And the sweet potatoes in that garden are immense. Obviously, we took that cue."
The first lady, he adds, has "such incredible presence." She talked about the "garden as a symbol to get kids and people in general eating healthier."
What the chefs prepared remains a secret.
Each team had to produce five dishes that showcased the ingredients selected from the garden and which represented "the ultimate American meal." The judges were chef and cookbook author Nigella Lawson, Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin and actress/designer Jane Seymour.
As for whether the judges were liberal or conservative, Flay fielded that question.
"I felt them to be firm, but enthusiastic."
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