TORONTO — Fans of Iron Chef America finally found out Wednesday the result of the challenge between chefs Susur Lee and Bobby Flay as the pair duked it out on the Food Network show.

It was a tie. In the Kitchen Stadium, Lee, owner of the restaurants Susur and Lee in Toronto and author of Susur: A Culinary Life, and Flay took to their battle stations when the show was taped in New York in January. Once armed with knowledge of the "secret ingredient," the two began their race against the clock to prepare dishes to win over the panel of judges.

Flay, a native of New York, began his culinary ascent in 1993 and gained recognition for his innovative creations using indigenous American Southwestern and Mediterranean ingredients. He is a co-owner of Bolo, which continues to be voted the top Spanish restaurant in New York City by the Zagat Survey.

When Mark Dacascos, the event's chairman, revealed that the two were to feature Canadian bacon in their dishes, Flay and Susur rushed to create a four-star meal using the ingredient in under 60 minutes.

Keven Brauch, host of Fine Living's Thirsty Traveler on Food Network Canada, exposed the goings-on in each kitchen as he reported from the action-packed floor. Good Eats host Alton Brown offered play-by-play analyses and personal insights as the tension between the opponents rose.

Lee actually created six dishes using the bacon instead of the requisite five. But in the end, judges declared a tie.

It is the second time Flay has shared top honours in the competition and the third time there has been a tie on Iron Chef America.

Lee's call to Kitchen Stadium is only the second invitation extended to a Canadian chef. In the last season of Iron Chef America, Canadian chef Rob Feenie of Vancouver battled chef Masaharu Morimoto and won.