MANILA, Philippines?For weeks now, our televiewing family has been in a blue funk, because one of our favorite shows, ?Iron Chef America,? has been on replay mode. It all started when the exciting cooking show launched a search for its sixth Iron (or master) Chef. For eight episodes, it subjected finalists to a series of tough culinary tests. However, even after the winner had been selected, more replays followed, and we continued to chafe and fret.

Last week, however, we finally caught a new telecast of ?Iron Chef America,? and our foodie family rejoiced. Once more, we were treated to the culinary expertise of master chefs who pushed the limits of creativity, technique and ?kitchen science? to come up with exciting dishes that were innovative and just plain yummy.

Secret ingredient

Each week, the show has a secret ingredient, and last week it was: Elk! The unconventional choice challenged both the week?s master chef (Bobby Flay) and his two challengers to come up with really interesting culinary concepts that fully revived our fascination with the program. Let?s hope that we?ll be watching more new episodes from here on in.

Some viewers may wonder why, with so many other cooking shows on TV, we dote on ?Iron Chef America.? Well, our interest in the program started many years ago, when it began as a Japanese cooking show (in English translation) simply as ?Iron Chef.?

We liked watching that first program because we love Japanese food. We also found the show unique because its Japanese master chefs regarded cooking as an art. The judges of the cooking competition added to its mystique by waxing poetic with their comments and critiques.

At times, this got to be quite odd and funny, with one judge going on and on about the preternaturally exquisite quality of the ambrosia of the gods that he was, oh, so reverentially masticating.

Tradition

On a less cultish level, however, we learned a lot about Japanese cooking and the long tradition that came with it.

When the American version was launched, we liked how it was able to combine the best of the Japanese original with new touches that made it more contemporary and international in both attitude and output. So, we continue to watch and learn from it to this day, despite the competition now provided by scores of other cooking shows on the tube.