Good Eats

Mixing humor, common sense, science and food is a winning recipe for Alton Brown's "Good Eats" series. I'm always amused by his quirky way of approaching food topics, and I walk away from every episode a little bit smarter - never a bad thing! The shows are set up more like a cross between a sitcom and an episode of Sesame Street, if you can imagine that, which is appealing to anyone who thinks the average cooking show is a little bit "stale". A great show for beginner cooks, since everything is explained thoroughly and logically, so you don't just learn what ingredients go into a dish; you also learn why the ingredients work together and what they contribute to the recipe. This show is definitely one of my favorites; I highly recommend it to everyone.

I avoid the Food Network like the plague. Whether it's the melodramatics of Iron Chef or especially the vastly overrated Emeril, I just can't get into the shows. I don't even like Rachael Ray and her obsession with "EVOO" (extra virgin olive oil). All of these shows have a fatal flaw to me. They're into hoity-toity foods with fancy ingredients that I'll never buy. I had to turn Emeril off after five minutes because he was so annoying. Don't get me started on Unwrapped. While that show can be informative at times, host Marc Summers probably doesn't know the first thing about his show's topics. His only connection to food is that he's a greasy ham. Good Eats, however, is a horse of a whole different color.

I was hooked from the day I happened upon an episode of Good Eats. Until then, I hadn't really watched any cooking shows since The Galloping Gourmet and The French Chef back in the 1970s. Creator and host Alton Brown looks like he really enjoys cooking, like Graham Kerr and Julia Child did, rather than just showing off in the kitchen. He doesn't try to get you to buy overpriced cookware or utensils, simply whatever works best for whichever purpose, whether it's the cheapest kitchen shears or something that's not even normally found in any kitchen. For instance, he once described how to build a smoker from a cardboard box and some odds and ends. His recipes are often basic and rather than trying to combine ingredients in a way never before seen (the way other cooks do), he may, for instance, just spend a show telling you how to make perfect pan-fried chicken (my introduction to the show). He's more interested in how something will taste than in the aesthetics of the dish. He doesn't instruct you to do something simply because that's how he was taught to do it. AB tells you the actual science behind each decision, much like Harold McGee's book "On Food and Cooking," explaining it in layman's terms but never talking down to the audience. Better yet, when he's wrong, he'll admit it on a later show, mocking himself in the process. (Maybe I'll get on his case for saying 2% milk is whole milk that's had 98% of its fat removed.) AB often gives guidelines instead of immutable lists, as for the types of ingredients in a marinade, so you can choose your own ingredients instead of just following his recipe.

Unlike other cooking shows, Good Eats actually has a varied cast of supporting characters. No, not like Emeril's live band. These people usually have pertinent information to impart. There is often a food anthropologist or a food science consultant. Cameo appearances by real life butchers, food vendors and sales associates at various stores and supermarkets. Occasionally actors playing food ingredients, government officials and agents, French chefs, even fake Brown family members, who are sometimes there to support the story. (Yes, unlike other cooking shows, each episode is usually couched in a story and is not just a visual recipe.) And, of course, the irascible "W," the kitchenware salesperson who verbally fences with AB while telling him the essentials of choosing the cookware or utensil he needs that day.

The show is also not stuck in a studio kitchen with a live audience. That tends to become quite boring with the same, old camera angles and self-congratulatory applause and is the hallmark of a show that doesn't want to spend any money. Good Eats often ventures outside to various locales. Even when he's in his kitchen set, AB will use unusual methods to show the viewer information, from writing on pull-down screens, charts and windows to playing with toys to point of view shots from inside the oven.

Alton himself - forever clad in loud, untucked shirts - brings an everyman's charm to the show. He's the kind of guy you might want over not only for a casual dinner party (cooking and eating it), but someone you wouldn't mind sitting around and shooting the non-cooking-related breeze with. He's willing to indulge in self-deprecating humor and look like a fool but still have fun in the process. I wouldn't be surprised if he was once a class clown. That's a big difference from the stone-faced stiff named Emeril, whose only gimmicky trademark is "Bam! Kick it up a notch!" No wonder Emeril's "sitcom," if you want to call it that, bombed quickly.

If you love cooking, learning, eating or just being entertained, Good Eats is the show for you. With apologies to Alka Seltzer, "Try it, you'll like it!"

I've been watching Good Eats for several years now, and I believe it to be the most informative and easy to watch of all those available. (I find myself without any patience for Emeril Legasse's childish, self-serving antics, and if I never hear "Bam" again, it'll be too soon.)

Alton Brown manages to impart more information in half an hour than most other shows can get to in an hour. The secret to this show is the focus on individual aspects of cooking and the science behind them. While some of the episodes use contrived devices (such as ___location shots with goofy characters), Brown uses humor to explain the physics behind cooking's rules, as well as to dispel many of the myths perpetrated by the culinary snobs in the chef/restaurant world. For instance, Brown demystifies the simple souffle in one episode while setting up the base information needed to move on to more complex souffles.

I have been quite accomplished in the kitchen for many years, and have not been intimidated by any dish for quite some time. Many years ago I came across a copy of the textbook for the Culinary Institute of America and read it cover to cover. While highly informative, the book doesn't bother to explain in anywhere near Brown's detail as to why certain things are necessary, unnecessary, optional, or just plain silly. As much as I thought I knew already, Brown never fails to add to my repertoire and my understanding with his simple explanations of the physics behind cooking, and the processes that are behind the techniques.

Good Eats is my favorite cooking show, ever. It's also one of my favorite science programs.

AB's curiosity about nearly all things is catching, and that makes for the best kind of teaching.

Is ANY topic safe from this man's parody? I certainly hope not.

In "Give Peas a Chance", broadcast last night, he gives a recipe for a vegetarian burger-substitute. I'm a lifelong confirmed omnivore, but I've sampled many an amazing vegetarian dish, including some well-known commercial burger substitutes, and I'm probably going to have to give these pseudo-burgers a try soon.

Even simple, straightforward tips like using Kosher salt are explained (in "Eat This Rock", an hour-long episode) not just pontificated. And that one tiny detail has made a seasoning mini-revolution in my own kitchen.

Keep having fun, AB!

A couple of months ago, I was trying to get back into the habit of cooking, and a friend recommended that I try watching two shows on the "Food Network" to keep up my motivation and interest. The first recommendation was Rachel Ray's "30 Minute Meals". The second was Alton Brown's "Good Eats". "You'll like Alton Brown", said my friend. "He's smarter than hell AND he's a born wise-*ss, just like you."

And this was indeed the case. I like Ray's show (she has a knack for accessible recipes and a very appealing screen presence), but Brown is simply fun to watch. Brown focuses on common, ordinary dishes that no one seems to respect anymore: eggplant, meatballs, ice cream, peas, pilaf, yellow cake, yogurt, etc. And he shows the viewer how to prepare them right, so instead of dull, flavorless, uninspired filler, you get..."GOOD EATS".

An aside: Part of my problem with the "Food Network" is that large portions of its programming (subvertly) and advertisements (overtly) are essentially public relations releases for processed and convenience foods manufacturers on one hand, and overpriced exotica on the other. The viewer is continually encouraged to explore expensive, exotic "fine" cuisine and taste sensations...while at the same time told not to bother actually putting any effort into the everyday items he/she actually eats on a daily basis...just rip open the package, stick it in the microwave, and "pretend" that it is real food. But Brown is one of the few cooking show writers who maintains a skeptical, even cynical attitude towards the "common wisdom" of the Food Network "world view". The viewer gets a real sense of being taken aside and given the inside scoop on how things REALLY work...and how to get the best out of every day meals with just a little bit of extra effort and a layman's understanding of the finer properties and subtleties of the "stuff" he's preparing. This is a very empowering and encouraging approach to learning how both to cook, and how to get the most bang for the cooking buck.

The other thing that distinguishes "Good Eats" is the combination off- hand humor and careful production work that keeps things from being overly pedantic or boring. Every show has a 'story' that incorporates the food, and the show is always visually interesting. The camera hops all over the place (half of the shots seem to be from inside the oven range,looking out from the food's POV). And the show's writers inject ___location shots, pop culture lampoons, and variety show skits and performances into each episode. The viewer can be assured that even if he/she doesn't really care about the dish Alton is discussing at the moment, within a few seconds there will a snotty 'insider' remark, or a self-deprecating joke, or a "walk-on" by a food anthropologist, or a pratfall, or SOMETHING to keep things light and amusing. The show seems casual and loose, but it's really incredibly tight and slick. That's a good trick to pull off, and Brown and his crew make it seem easy and effortless.

So, "Good Eats" is a good show, one I will try to catch whenever it's on and I am at home. Accessible, informative, entertaining, and even somewhat subversive in its message against the mindless consumerism of the typical "fine living" show...I am very pleased to have discovered it, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in real food in a real life. (And "30 Minute Meals" is a close second.)