Iron Chef House Party: DIY Tips and Videos

Whenever we visit our friends Michelle and Alec in Los Angeles, they take us to a party. A few weeks ago, it was a doozy: A 36th birthday party for their friend Preeti, a woman who had overcome a tough year of health challenges.

“The Facebook invite says they’re doing Iron Chef,” Michelle enthusiastically announced. I’d heard of people organizing Iron Chef parties but had never been to one.

Knowing Michelle’s friends – congenial but competitive social justice advocates, lawyers, doctors, and teachers, we were in for quite an evening. I brought my Flipcam along. The results are in the four video segments below. All guests granted us permission to include them in these videos.

My husband Rory shot about 70 video clips and I edited the footage. We hope you’ll be entertained and inspired to host your own Iron Chef house party.

Laying Down the Rules
Preeti’s two sisters, Manju and Sona (in white and red dresses, respectively), and their husbands, Shai and Kapil (in black and yellow shirts, respectively), organized the party. When we arrived at Manju and Shai’s home, there were snacks, wine, beer, and a table full of pantry items. At the forefront were three bowls of spinach, mushrooms, and eggplant – the secret ingredients.

These party hosts knew to fuel their guests up before letting them loose. After we had nibbled and sipped, Sona got down to business. She crafted the rules to accommodate the 4-burner home kitchen and various rooms in the house. Get some how-to tips from watching Sona in action:

Get Busy!
People broke up into teams and quickly got to work, hovering around the ingredients table and then prepping at their stations. There were a limited number of cutting boards, knives, mixing bowls, and basic equipment for all to share. After all, it was a home kitchen set-up so the teams had to improvise.

The rivalry kicked up as the hour ticked by. None of the footage and dialogue was pre-planned. I kid you not.

Guest Reactions
Channeling Alton Brown and the Chairman, Rory peppered the teams and ‘audience observers’ with questions. The cooks were sweating as tension mounted at the stove. People really got into it.

Final Presentations and Judgement
After 1 hour and 15 minutes, the four teams turned out a ton of food that covered a broad range of cuisines. I realized that the Iron Chef party concept is a nifty way to have a potluck that people cook at your home. Ask your friends to contribute their sweat equity. You set out the ingredients.

As you’ll see, the teams laid it on thick when they presented their dishes to the crowd. However, there could only be one winner . . .

Driving to the party, none of us knew what to expect from an Iron Chef party. But as we sped along the 10 freeway towards home, we couldn’t stop talking about what a great time we’d had.

Happy Birthday, Preeti!
We look forward to many others.

Have any comments, tips or questions about hosting your own Iron Chef party? Jot them down below.