Alton Brown

I used to watch Good Eats I feel like almost twenty years ago but not regularly, so I wasn't sure what to expect here as I mostly remember Brown digging into the science of random food stuffs. But this was genuinely hilarious and covered all sorts of topics, and I appreciated that it was a memoir but truly broken down into experiences all around food.

Anyone with more than a passing interest in cooking will likely enjoy this book. It's one of the few cookbooks designed to be read, not just thumbed through. It's really not even a cookbook. There are 90 recipes, but those are there primarily to illustrate his point about the science of cooking and to use as practice for specific techniques. The design is appealing and more like a magazine with clever illustrations and interesting asides. Who knew that Kingsford Charcoal was started by an show more executive at Ford Motor Company who went camping with Henry Ford and who also had lots of scrap chipwood left over at the plant? I certainly didn't. Intriguing anecdotes like these that are paired with very helpful discussions about the science of cooking make this a fantastic read for anyone who hasn't gone to culinary school. Highly recommended. show less

I love Alton Brown, and I love baking - no idea why I had never read this. When I got it for my grandson who is trying to bake semi-professionally, I glanced through it and immediately ordered another for myself.
This is not a cookbook as we know it. This is the science of baking, written in a conversational tone, with real Alton Brown asides, just as though he were standing next to you in the kitchen. As he says, if you are looking for a book of recipes, this isn't it (although he does show more include the basics). But if you want to learn how to bake, and why attention to detail is so important, you couldn't do better than to start here. show less

In Food for Thought, television host and food educator Alton Brown offers more than three dozen short essays, all told in the erudite and acerbic manner that viewers have come to expect from his work on such shows as Good Eats, Cutthroat Kitchen, and Iron Chef America. The pieces can be loosely collected into various categories, including memoir (e.g., meals that informed his career development, cooking for family and friends, his television work, growing up as an overweight child), show more instructional (e.g., how he cooks chicken and turkey, how he mixes his daily martinis, how to follow recipe instructions), rants (e.g., Martha Stewart’s divisive cult of perfectionism, his aversion to “elevated” dishes, his aversion to multi-use kitchen tools), those somewhat related to the food industry (e.g., five questions he is often asked, famous food scenes in movies, the role that food plays in our lives), and those totally unrelated to the food industry (e.g., what it means to be a teacher, DNA testing to establish ancestry, fashion versus style when dressing oneself). There was no obvious connection to how these essays were ordered in the book, so they are best read as a series of one-off ruminations on whatever happened to be on the author’s mind at the time.

I have always enjoyed Brown’s appearances on the myriad shows he has hosted, as well as the times I have seen him speak at some of his personal appearances. I find his takes on food science and the production of high-quality meals to be enlightening and quite engaging. That said, the group of articles in this volume were of a far more uneven quality than his on-screen work; the skill set that makes him so effective on television did not always translate to the page. While some of these essays were strong and moving—particular standouts include his reflections on cooking biscuits as a way of connecting with his grandmother, the common threads that food provides to everyone, and his development as a show host—many others were largely forgettable. As this was not an actual memoir, I found most of the author’s reminiscences about vignettes from his past (e.g., trying to win over a date with his cooking prowess, feeding laxative-laced s’mores to his aunt) to be indulgences that distracted from what could have been a more substantial message. Further, I was confused, but not entertained, by the two “screenplays” included in the book, which came across as a little more mean-spirited than likely was intended. So, while I am satisfied with having read Food for Thought, it is a book that I could only recommend to someone who was already an Alton Brown fan. show less