stories : Q&A
Crushing Bones with Alton Brown
The host of Good Eats divulges his next big career moves
Alton Brown not only represents the food geek in all of us, he revels in it. He’s best known for Good Eats, his long-running Food Network show that blends cooking, science, history, and punny prop comedy to demystify ingredients, techniques, and gear. He also announces the detailed play-by-play on Iron Chef America. With his Feasting on Asphalt miniseries he leads a motorcycle-mounted film crew on cinematic, cross-country tours of American road food; he’s currently shooting his third Feasting. CHOW caught up with Brown during his recent visit to Chicago.
I’ve heard that the next Feasting on Asphalt is not going to be on asphalt at all, but that it’s now Feasting on Waves. Where are you going and how?
We’re going to be down in the Caribbean on catamarans and scuba diving, too. I’m fascinated by the convergence of cultures there. It really can be considered the birthplace of American cuisine.
Your new book, Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run, looks like it was actually your personal journal of the road trip from the TV show. How much of it was really things you collected on the road?
It really was my journal. I was hoping to scan a lot of the notes I’d taken, but they were just too worn or faded to be legible. Instead they just created a font out of my handwriting and used that instead.
Are you serious about Feasting in Air and Space?
It is my sincere hope to do a Feasting in Air and Space. I’m currently working on getting my pilot’s license. I could have had it by now, but I’m busy doing all this other stuff. And we have Good Eats fans in NASA, so I do believe this is a distinct possibility. The [Food] Network just loves it when I talk about doing stuff like this.
Congratulations on re-signing with Food Network for three more years. What’s going on with Good Eats?
I’m just happy to be employed. I don’t take anything for granted. We just finished shooting some episodes in February. Then we’ll go back to shoot more later this year.
Are you going to be involved in the new Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine game for Wii and Nintendo DS?
Yes! I’m going in to record for it in July. I’ll be playing myself.
I’ve also read that you’re planning on addressing some of the big food issues. How are you going to do that?
One of the things I’ll be doing is hosting the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s sustainable seafood event [Cooking for Solutions] in May. It’s a challenge to address food issues and make it entertaining, but I’m looking forward to it. As my daughter [Zoey, eight years old] gets older it’s increasingly important to me to illuminate issues.
What’s your go-to meal?
The food I cook at home is very, very simple. I bought my wife a panini press. Don’t ask me which one. I just went in and asked for the most expensive one. Hey, it was a gift for my wife! I think it’s a Krups. So now we take Cornish hens and butterfly them. We lay them out flat and cook them in the panini press. It’s really fast, and there’s something very gratifying about crushing those bones. So now when we need a fast meal at home, it’s: “Quick, somebody get me some Cornish hens!”
In homage to James Lipton’s questionnaire on Inside the Actors Studio, what’s your favorite curse word?
“Oh bother.” I’m from the South.
Louisa Chu is a chef and food writer who’s cooked her way through the world’s hottest kitchens, from El Bulli to Alinea. And yeah, that’s her taking Anthony Bourdain on the Paris meat market tour in No Reservations on the Travel Channel. Louisa can currently be seen in Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie on PBS—and always found on her own food blog, Movable Feast.
Photo-illustration by Sean McCabe
My only complaint is that this interview is so short. Give us more Alton--the best thing (and sometimes the only good thing) about the Food Network!
I had hoped someone would have asked him about the mistakes he makes on his show now and again ( for example: the whole beer episode just was not the best method for making drinkable beer, and he was flat ot wrong in places)
Also, how does he lose all the wieght he must pick up on "Feastin on Asphault", one of my favortie FN shows!
I agree with the above! Give us a longer interview!
Does he do all his research? I assume he actually just has a team of writers and researchers who follow his lead for "Good Eats" ideas and information. But who knows?
How did he get into riding on two wheels? What's his favorite biker joint?
Also, can I do the butterflied chicken thing on a griddle with a cast iron pan on top, like I do my panini?
Finally, why does he use beans to blind bake pie crusts? You can't really eat them after, they get an odd flavor from toasting in the oven, thus the beans are unitaskers. If he used rice, as mentioned on Chow,com, he could both toast the rice (which is good for rice, bad for beans) and then enjoy it when he cooks it later, since many recipes call for toasted rice! (all this info from Chow.com!)
I'm from the south, originally, and I never heard anyone say "O Bother" in Atlanta or Marietta.
I'm from the deep south and have only heard "oh bother" on Winnie the Pooh. But i absolutely love Alton Brown.
Diana, we have a bag of old kidney beans we use to blind bake pie crusts. Been using the same bag of beans for years, FWIW.
Thanks all for the interview.
Yeah, but do the beans MULTITASK, as Alton prefers? I mean, you use those beans just for one thing, blind baking-a unitasker (AB fans know unitaskers are evil!)
With rice, as mentioned on Chow.com, you can blind bake with the grains and then eat them. Unlike beans, which get funky when used for blind baking, rice aquires a nice toastiness and falvor enchancement from the process. Or, I guess, you could take it to a wedding and throw it, or put it in your salt/sugar shaker the break up clumps.
Rice is not a unitasker, so I surprised AB doesn't use it to blind bake.
it's not like you're going to want rice pilaf every time you make pie crust.
also, since rice eventually breaks up itself and either clogs the holes in a salt or sugar shaker or little pieces of raw rice come out -as mentioned in the popcorn good eats episode- it's better not to go that route.
oooh, popcorn is a good idea. You can save the toasted rice and cook it later, you know.
come to think of it, I would try popcorn as a blind baking thing, but that would be disasterous. Fun, and loud and messy, probably smokey once the exploding kernels hit the element/flame.
I'm a HUGE fan of the panini press, but instead of Krups, mine says George Foreman on it. :)
for the person asking about AB's research, they did a behind the scenes show for Good Eats and it was pretty cool to see the work that goes into creating the show. Everything from planning recipes to making giant food props.
I love Feasting on Asphalt and I'm glad to hear it's returning. In an interview following the last season, Alton hinted that it might be the last one. I always imagined those guys have a pretty good time on those roadtrips (and perhaps lots of heartburn).
I didn't get on the Alton band wagon until very recently and now I'm completely obessesed with Good Food. Glad to hear they've made some new ones but I've got like 30 on my DVR to get through too.
Uh...dudes, I think Alton's main problem with uni-taskers is when people buy those fancy $40+ uni-taskers. What's a bag o'beans? Like $1? I think we're gettin' a little nit-picky.
Pete
Oooo...I wish Feasting on Waves was right now...I'm going to the Caribbean in three weeks. I'd love his rec's.
His shows are fun to watch due to Alton's hand in designing and directing many of the episodes. Food Network hosted a special "Good Eats" that showed a behind the scenes look, the designing of those special props (gigantic food, cameras in the oven, fridge, etc.) also the use of various acquaintance's (his dentist, FN staff, etc.) in Eats episodes. My wife did not like watching his programs, at first. Now she admits they are growing on her and will watch 'em with me.
-BnF
He's really a great communicator of food-science (and sanity).
My 11 yo grand daughter watches Alton Brown with me every chance she gets.
We talk about how he does things differently and why.
She is a very good cook and, I hope, will become a great chef one day.
Keep up the good work AB.
Being from the South myself, I don't think Alton meant Oh, Brother was his favorite curse word. I think he said that cause he didn't want what he would say in print.
my heart STOPPED when I learned there's gonna be an Iron Chef game on the Wii!!!!!!!!!!!
ps- I wish upon a star that someday there might be a Tamale Good Eats.
Hey Candy, that's something we can write and ask AB to do cause I love tamales sooooo much! Thanks for the great idea!!
The beans are multitaskers until they get used. If you've got beans in the house they can be used to cook and eat or used as pie weights, etc. Thus, no extra room and one less thing in the kitchen. Once they're used, they can be tossed, composted or whatever.
I love Alton Brown. It's funny though, he really had to grow on me. I couldn't stand his show at first, now I love it! Food Network rocks!
Please NASA! Let Alton Brown teach us how to prepare and eat food in space!
Alton Brown IS very cool. But he does sometimes disseminate misinformation. On the "cocktail" episode, he shows how to make a mint julep, and employs a muddler. But he uses the wrong end of the muddler. The flat end is the working end, not the handle.