Alton Brown

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

Loved this book! I'm a big fan of Alton Brown but have never seen "Good Eats" (I know, how is that even possible?). I wanted to read the book before buying a signed copy at Barnes & Noble (since I wasn't able to attend a local signing, unfortunately).

And, the book absolutely lives up to--and indeed, exceeds--my expectations. I loved everything about it. It illustrates why I love Alton Brown and why I am totally going to go binge "Good Eats" now. :D The (dry) humor. The recipes. The show more entertainment. All the things I would want to learn were already provided for me. HE READ MY MIND.

Brilliant book. :D Much squeeing. Now pardon me ... I have a signed book to order. :) show less

The same brand of humor that made Alton Brown’s Good Eats cooking show entertaining to watch is what makes these essays entertaining to read, but I don't think you'd need to know a thing about him or his show in order to enjoy his book. He's funny, profound, and very quotable. Here are two of my favorite quotes from the book:

The magic of how simple ingredients can, when deftly combined, become more than the sum of their parts, constantly amazes me.

Cooking should be a living thing, an show more action, yes, but also a reflection of life and its constant dance of deliciously mysterious variables. 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