Yes I am one of the many geeky Iron Chef fans. I loved the original and I love the American version as well. It only hit me tonight though, the may things I had learned from a mere tv show that ca be applied to my own, non-culinary pursuits.

Have a plan

They may not know what the specific ingredient is going to be but they obviously have a plan going in.The secret ingredient is revealed and they go straight to work. The plans have to have some flexibility to account for the unexpected, but you never see anyone asking what they should be doing.

Work now, play later

When they go to work, they are all work. There is very little goofing around until the bell rings and it’s all over. Which doesn’t mean it’s joyless, these are people doing what they love best. There’s plenty of celebrating after but the work is their first priority

Stop and look at what you’ve got

You see them tasting things constantly, checking the seasoning and the doneness. Recently I was creating artwork for a project and was very unhappy with it. I had the luxury of time so I went to something else and came back later. To my surprise, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had thought.

Get opinions

Countless times I’ve seen sous chefs ask the head chef to taste something. Sometimes you don’t have the time or simply can’t step far away enough from what you are working on to evaluate it objectively.

It’s in the details

Every teacher I’ve had in art school has told me this numerous times. But nothing has gotten it through to me like watching an ingredient that was little more than a decoration be delicately cooked in wine and carefully placed just so with instruments that looked like tweezers.

Don’t be afraid to start over

Something else you see often is chefs unhappy with the way a dish is working just throwing out everything and starting from scratch. Despite the time constraints they’re under, they won’t turn in something less than their best work.

I’m sure there are many more lessons to be gotten from watching masters apply their art. I’d love to hear things others have picked up on.