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Iron Chef Australia to take on MasterChef

IT'S official: Channel 7 is reviving the '90s Iron Chef format with Aussie chefs Neil Perry, Guy Grossi and Guillaume Brahimi as the new-age ironmen of the kitchen.

Production starts in Melbourne in September, although overseas attempts at recreating the cult-hit show's format have failed dismally.

Aussie iron chefs Perry, Grossi and Brahimi would compete against aspiring professional cooks in a battle against the clock to produce the best menu, as judged by the most discerning food critics in the country, a Seven spokesman said yesterday.

"The Iron Chef battle is not for amateurs or the faint-hearted – it is a cooking competition of Olympic proportions," he said.

"The kitchen stadium is where the battle will take place, and viewers will have front-row seats to the pressure cooker environment that is a commercial kitchen. Whose cuisine will reign supreme?"

The challenger must create four unique dishes in one hour in competition against one of the three iron chefs.

The original Iron Chef was made in Japan and ran from 1993 to 1999, with occasional specials made up until 2002. It became a cult hit with SBS viewers in Australia when dubbed into English.

Original Japanese iron chef Hiroyuki Sakai appeared in a recent episode of MasterChef Australia.

Seven may face an uphill battle, with the concept failing when launched in the UK earlier this year. Iron Chef UK was to run five days a week at 5pm, but was yanked mid-season in May after only 15 episodes had aired as ratings plummeted.

A poorly received American version, Iron Chef USA, hosted by William Shatner, ran for only two episodes in late 2001.

Seven is also budgeting on rating success with the launch of its big gun The X Factor later this month.

Meanwhile, the network said yesterday it had received more than 100,000 visits in the first week from potential contestants to the casting website for its Australian version of The Amazing Race. Applications close September 6.

Also in the works at Seven is the reality series Four Weddings, based on the UK version currently screening on LifeStyle You, and an Australian version of the Canadian series Conviction Kitchen which is to be shot in Brisbane.

The show documents the launch of a restaurant staffed by rehabilitated ex-crims. Website TV Tonight said Seven and the Queensland Department of Corrections were working on a deal with "about 18 prisoners who are about to be released back into the community".