The health conscious Michelle Obama is all set to enter the domain of kitchens as she takes on the cameo role of a host for cookery show Iron Chef America at the White House in January.
On the episode, which will open the show’s new season on January 3 on the Food Network, two pairs of chefs will compete: Cristeta Comerford, the White House executive chef, and Bobby Flay go up against the combined forces of Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse.
British cook, Nigella Lawson, actor Jane Seymour and American Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin will sit in the judges’ panel for the competition. In a collision of politics, cooking and popular culture, Michelle Obama will reveal the secret ingredient that the chefs must use in their televised cook-off: anything that grows in the White House garden.
She will also talk about her crusade to reduce childhood obesity through better school lunches, community gardens, farmers’ markets and exercise, which around the White House has the working title ‘Healthy Kids Initiative.’
The first lady’s cameo on Iron Chef is the latest example of her willingness to get her message across to the public in ways few of her predecessors would have considered.
From digging, planting and harvesting the garden with elementary school children, to completing 142 revolutions with a hula hoop before cameras at last month’s kickoff for the Healthy Kids project, the first lady has been making her point.
Camille Johnston, Michelle Obama’s communications director, sought out Iron Chef as a way to reach people who might otherwise know nothing about the first lady’s efforts. Each episode of Iron Chef America is seen by 1.5 million viewers, and its core audience is 25- to 54-year-olds, publicists for the show said.
Chef Batali has thrown himself completely into the project. “What’s exciting for us is this is the first time I can remember the White House taking an active interest in doing something about diet and health,” he said. “They understand this kind of PR.” He continued, “If we don’t do something about how kids eat soon, it will be simply the largest problem facing this country.”
The chefs reunited in New York to tape the competition in the studio known as the Kitchen Stadium. The show picked up Obama’s theme, with Brown frequently reminding the audience that the vegetables were fresh and local. They were also organic. To round out the vegetables, the chefs were given a pantry of dairy products and animal proteins, including a baby pig. Words like remoulade, ice cream, dirty rice and stuffed turkey roulade were thrown around as the chefs prepared to lay their offerings before the judge.
While filming the episode, Michelle spoke to chefs about the importance of making vegetables an essential part of children’s diet. She said inviting primary school kids help her with the vegetables at the White House garden had been a great occasion for children to learn.
“It’s important for these kids to have a hands-on experience,” the Telegraph quoted Michelle, as saying. However she quickly added, “It’s going be a very long way to help change the way this country thinks about food.”
