Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredient. The series ended on September 24, 1999, although four occasional specials were produced from January 5, 2000, to January 2, 2002. The series aired 309 episodes. Repeats are regularly aired on the Food Network in Canada, the Cooking Channel in the United States, and on Special Broadcasting Service in Australia. Iron Chef can be viewed on Peacock TV and streamed for free on Pluto TV in the United States. There are 5 spinoffs, with the latest being Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend.
Foie gras ; French:[fwaɡʁɑ], ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a duck or goose. According to French law, foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by gavage.
Sarlat-la-Canéda, commonly known as Sarlat, is a commune in the southwestern French department of Dordogne, a part of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Sarlat and La Canéda were distinct towns until merged into one commune in March 1965.
A sommelier, or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the sommelier in fine dining today is much more specialized and informed than that of a wine waiter. Sommeliers Australia states that the role is strategically on par with that of the chef de cuisine.
The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, was a wine competition, to commemorate the United States Bicentennial, organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, and his American colleague, Patricia Gallagher, in which French oenophiles participated in two blind tasting comparisons: one of top-quality Chardonnays and another of red wines. A Napa County wine rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines. By the early 1970s, the quality of some California wines was outstanding but few took notice as the market favored French brands. Spurrier sold predominately French wines and believed the California wines would not be favored by the judges.
Blinded wine tasting is wine tasting undertaken in circumstances in which the tasters are kept unaware of the wines' identities. The blind approach is routine for wine professionals who wish to ensure impartiality in the judgment of the quality of wine during wine competitions or in the evaluation of a sommelier for professional certification. More recently wine scientists have used blinded tastings to explore the objective parameters of the human olfactory system as they apply to the ability of wine drinkers to identify and characterize the extraordinary variety of compounds that contribute to a wine’s aroma. Similarly, economists testing hypotheses relating to the wine market have used the technique in their research. Some blinded trials among wine consumers have indicated that people can find nothing in a wine's aroma or taste to distinguish between ordinary and pricey brands. Academic research on blinded wine tastings have also cast doubt on the ability of professional tasters to judge wines consistently.
A wine competition is an organized event in which trained judges or consumers competitively rate different vintages, categories, and/or brands of wine. Wine competitions generally use blind tasting of wine to prevent bias by the judges.
Anthony Rose is a British wine journalist known for his column in The Independent, which ran for the length of the print version from 1986 to 2016. He also contributes to publications such as Decanter, The Real Review , The Financial Times How to Spend It online and The Oxford Companion to Wine . Rose has contributed to several wine books including Wine Report, The Oxford Companion to Wine, and for five years co-authored the annual consumer guide Grapevine with Tim Atkin. Rose was one of four UK wine writers, along with Joanna Simon, David Williams and Jane Parkinson, to launch an online wine ratings magazine for the UK called The Wine Gang. He is the panel chair for Southern Italy at the Decanter World Wine Awards.
Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional wine tasters use a constantly evolving specialized terminology which is used to describe the range of perceived flavors, aromas and general characteristics of a wine. More informal, recreational tasting may use similar terminology, usually involving a much less analytical process for a more general, personal appreciation.
Food or drink competitions reward products primarily for their "gustative worth" in the form of an award or a medal. These competitions can be classified into different categories, and most awards are product-specific, such as for wines, beers, and cheeses. Others focus on local, regional and/or national products. Finally, the international competitions test all kinds of foods and drinks available to consumers on a retail basis. Wine is probably the most tested drink, followed by beer and spirits.
The California foie gras law or Senate Bill 1520 is a California State statute that prohibits the "force feed[ing of] a bird for the purpose of enlarging the bird's liver beyond normal size" as well as the sale of products that are a result of this process (§ 25982). This outlawed the traditional method of producing foie gras in California. The law was enacted in 2004 and went into effect on July 1, 2012. The law has been challenged repeatedly since its enactment. The ninth circuit in 2022 upheld a lower court’s 2020 ruling, which allowed residents to purchase foie gras for their individual use from out-of-state retailers.
A beer sommelier, also known as a cicerone in the United States, is a trained professional, working in the hospitality and alcoholic beverage industry, who specializes in the service and knowledge of beer, similar to a traditional wine sommelier. The knowledge required for certification includes an understanding of styles, brewing, ingredients, history of beer and brewing, glassware, beer service, draught systems, beer tasting, and food pairings. The profession is relatively new but growing.
The Sake Sommelier Association (SSA) is a global partnership of talented Sake Educators providing and accrediting sake courses and working to benefit the world of sake.
The Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS) is an educational organisation established in 1977 to encourage improved standards of beverage service by sommeliers, particularly in wine and food pairing. From the court's inception through 2018, a worldwide total of 274 people have earned its Master Sommelier diploma, the highest level.
With a growing number of offerings, such as those produced by an increasing number of microdistilleries, various mechanisms have arisen to provide reviews and opinions of individual varieties of spirits. These events generally use expert panels and blind tastings within specific categories to provide opinions and ratings.
The Judgment of Princeton was a wine tasting event held on 8 June 2012 during a conference of the American Association of Wine Economists held at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. The purpose of this event was to compare, by a blind tasting, of several French wines against wines produced in New Jersey in order to gauge the quality and development of the New Jersey wine industry. Because New Jersey's wine industry is relatively young and small, it has received little attention in the world wine market. The state's wine production has experienced growth in recent years largely as a result of state legislators offering new opportunities for winery licensing and repealing Prohibition-era laws that have constrained the industry's development in past years. This event was modeled after a 1976 blind tasting event dubbed the "Judgment of Paris" in which French wines were compared to several wines produced in California when that state's wine industry was similarly young and developing. The New Jersey wine industry heralded the results and asserted that the rating of New Jersey wines by the blind tasting's judges was a victory for the state's wine industry.
Sake Sommelier of the Year is an annual competition jointly organised by the Sake Sommelier Association. Started in London in 2013, the competition is the first its kind to be held outside Japan. The Sake Sommelier of the Year is a global event, and it was successfully held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2019. The competition aims to find the most skilful Sake Sommeliers bringing them to the attention of their customers and raising the profile of their establishments.
FIOL Prosecco is an Italian luxury brand of Prosecco DOC.
Ultimate Beverage Challenge, established in 2009, conducts an annual spirit competition, Ultimate Spirits Challenge. The entries for this competition are submitted on a global basis.
