Alton Brown

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Alton Brown

Born July 30, 1962 (1962-07-30) (age 45)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Cooking style American, Southern
Education University of Georgia
New England Culinary Institute
Television show(s)

Alton Brown (born July 30, 1962 in Los Angeles, California, United States) is an American food personality, cinematographer, author, and actor. He is the creator and host of the Food Network television show Good Eats, the miniseries Feasting on Asphalt and the main commentator on Iron Chef America. Brown is also the author of several cooking how-to books and a regular contributor to Bon Appétit and Men’s Journal magazines.

He brings a knowledge and enthusiasm for the science of cooking and food, and a humorous approach to his shows. Bon Appétit magazine named him "Cooking Teacher of the Year" in 2004.

Brown pronounces his given name "Al-ton" (instead of "All-ton").

Contents

[edit] Early career

Brown received a degree in drama from the University of Georgia. He first worked in cinematography and film production, and was the director of photography on the music video for R.E.M.'s "The One I Love." He also worked as a steadicam operator on the Spike Lee film School Daze.

At some point, he noticed that he was very dissatisfied with the quality of cooking shows then airing on American television, so he set out to produce his own show. Not possessing the requisite knowledge, he enrolled in the New England Culinary Institute, from which he graduated in 1997.[1] Brown states that he had been a poor science student in high school and college, so he began to study the subject as he took cooking training and felt the need to understand the underlying processes of cooking.

[edit] Good Eats

Main article: Good Eats

The pilot for Good Eats first aired on the Chicago, Illinois, PBS member station WTTW-TV in July 1998. Food Network picked up the show in July 1999, and continues (as of 2008) to air new episodes. Brown seems to take particular delight in making tongue-in-cheek references to pop culture, such as when he lectured an actor dressed as cartoon character Wimpy during an episode on hamburgers. (For trademark reasons, the surname was changed to "Whimpy.") He has made numerous references to Fight Club in reference to the cooking processes of lye, such as an episode in which he discussed the process of curing olives. Episode titles themselves include references, such as "Mission: Poachable," "It's a Wonderful Cake," and "My Big Fat Greek Sandwich." A Good Eats episode takes about three days to produce, according to the special episode "Behind the Eats."

Many of the Good Eats episodes feature Brown building makeshift cooking devices in order to point out that many of the devices sold at conventional "cooking" stores are simply fancified hardware store items that are sold at grossly inflated prices, and not much more effective than his "homemade" gizmos. For example, in the episode "Flat Is Beautiful," Brown uses a flat un-glazed quarry stone purchased at a hardware store as a substitute for a much more expensive pizza stone sold at a cooking specialty store. In an episode on barbecue, he made a barbecue smoker out of an electric hot plate, a pie pan, a flower pot (with basin), and a thermometer. He also used a similarly designed smoker in an episode entitled "Where There's Smoke There's Fish" to prepare a salmon. In an episode devoted to coleslaw called "Salad Daze II - The Long Arm of the Slaw," Brown makes a more convenient shredding device by attaching a cheese grater to a folded cardboard pizza box. In a contribution to Wired Magazine he described converting a paper shredder to function as a pasta machine. He has many times stated "You must think like MacGyver!" He has also expressed a penchant for items that are "multi-taskers" as opposed to "uni-taskers." For instance, in the episode "Choux Shine," he suggests that casual cooks should avoid purchasing a piping bag for applying a batter and instead use a plastic bag with a corner cut out. Brown repeatedly states that the only uni-tasker in his kitchen is a fire extinguisher.

There are a few exceptions: in his book, Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen, he says that he also has a green bean cutter for his pet iguana. In the episode on mixed drinks, he uses a strainer, the only other use of which he can come up with is to make very small servings of pasta. In the episode "Olive Me", he reluctantly endorses the use of an olive pitter. He stated that he also uses the olive pitter for cherries, so it isn't strictly a uni-tasker. In the episode "Cubing Around," season 10, episode 4, he uses a "uni-tasking" meat perforator.

Upon return from commercial breaks, Brown can sometimes be seen relaxing with Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.

Good Eats was awarded a 2006 Peabody Award.[2]

[edit] Iron Chef America

Main article: Iron Chef America

In 2004, Brown appeared on Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters, the second attempt to adapt the Japanese cooking show Iron Chef to American television (a previous adaptation featured William Shatner and was produced for, and aired on, UPN; it was not well received). Brown served as the expert commentator, a modified version of the role played by Dr. Yukio Hattori in the original show. The show was extended with ten new episodes, advertised as both "New Battles" and "Season 2," which started July 10, 2005, and is still on-air as of 2008.

As the expert commentator, Brown is usually heard throughout the episode explaining to the audience what the competing chefs are doing, able to identify most cooking techniques and explain them long before anyone watching can. Occasionally, the camera will cut away from Kitchen Stadium to show Brown as he provides background information about the secret ingredient, such as the different sizes and types of shrimp or clams, different cuts of meat, or, in the case of battle honey (Cora vs. Faulkner) the areas of a bee used in its production, as shown on his tattoo.

Brown also co-hosted a spin-off of the program entitled The Next Iron Chef which aired on Food Network in October 2007.

[edit] Feasting on Asphalt

Main article: Feasting on Asphalt

Brown's third series, Feasting on Asphalt, explores the history of eating on the move. In a quest for tasty edibles on the go, Brown and his crew crossed the United States via motorcycle ("As far as I’m concerned, there’s no better way to experience the road than from the back of a bike," says Brown) in a four-part miniseries about the history of road food. Brown sampled food all along his travel route, often sleeping under the stars between meals. In his traditional style, he included the usual "history of food" segments documenting famous road trips (from the Odyssey to the Crusades, to Lewis and Clark, and Jack Kerouac) and interviews with many of the foodies he met en route.

Brown suffered a motorcycle crash outside of Las Vegas. His only injury was a broken clavicle. This injury was caught on camera and was shown in episode 4. Brown wrote on his website that "it was a low charisma event. No flames, no smoke... just a lot of dust and discomfort..." It was caused by hitting a loose patch of gravel.

Brown begins his trip in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, travels on to the historic town of Washington, Georgia, then winds his way through South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and then to the California coast. The series premiered on Food Network on July 29, 2006. The mini-series was picked up for a second run, entitled Feasting on Asphalt 2: The River Run, in 2007. This time 6 episodes were filmed during April and May 2007. The episodes traced the length of the Mississippi River through Brown's travels. The second run of episodes began airing on Food Network on August 4, 2007.

[edit] Personal life

Brown lives in Marietta, Georgia with his wife DeAnna, his daughter Zoey (born in 1999), a basset hound mix named Matilda, and an iguana named Spike, although he claims to have disposed of a nasty lizard in a Good Eats episode.[3] A few members of his extended family have appeared in Good Eats (such as his late grandmother, Ma Mae, his mother, and daughter, Zoey, who is known on the show as "Alton's Spawn"), but most of his "family" portrayed on the series is made up of actors and the show's production crew.[4][5][6][7] DeAnna Brown is the co-executive producer of Good Eats, but has never appeared on an episode. Brown also portrays his frequently arrested evil twin brother "B.A." On the DVD release of the episode "American Pickle," Brown notes that many viewers ask him what his brother does for a living, suggesting that they are unaware that B.A. is simply the result of clever editing.

Brown loves Apple  — he also loves the fruit, apple, according to his interview in Macworld magazine.[8][9][10] Additionally, Brown frequently features Apple-branded computers on Good Eats, although the Apple logo is usually masked.[11]

Brown is a born-again Christian and a member of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia.[12]

He is a connoisseur of cheese and vinegar and is also a motorcycling enthusiast,[13] even basing an entire limited-run series around a motorcycle adventure (the aforementioned Feasting on Asphalt). He owns a 2005 BMW R1100RT which he bought used from a local BMW dealer.[14]

Brown was a contributor to the 2005 cookbook Food Network Favorites: Recipes from Our All-Star Chefs. He selected the nonprofit world hunger organization Heifer International to receive a portion of the royalties.

Brown is also a budding aviator completing his first solo on June 25, 2007 towards his private pilot certificate.[15]

On November 11, 2007, Alton Brown was the guest programmer on Turner Classic Movies as part of their guest programmer month. The films he selected were What's Up, Tiger Lily?, Closely Watched Trains, Point Blank, and Blowup.

Brown has at least two tattoos, a honeybee on his left shoulder as shown on Iron Chef America, and a crossed knife and fork with the inscription "Eat to Live" he got during the filming of Feasting on Asphalt.

[edit] Books

On May 5, 2003, his first book, I'm Just Here for the Food, won a James Beard Foundation Book Award in the Reference category. In 2006, he released a special edition of the book entitled I'm Just Here for the Food: The Director's Cut (released as I'm Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0), from publisher Stewart, Tabori & Chang (publisher of all of Brown's books). According to Brown's official site, this revised edition features ten new recipes, 20 pages of additional material, a jacket that folds out to a poster, and several removable refrigerator magnets. In 2004, Brown released, I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking.

[edit] General Electric

Brown has done commercial work for General Electric products,[16] including five "informercials" touting the benefits of GE refrigerators, washers and dryers, water purifiers, Trivection ovens, and dishwashers.[17] The infomercials are produced in the Good Eats style, employing the use of unusual camera angles, informational text, props, visual aids, scientific explanations, and the same method of delivery. These informercials are distributed to wholesale distributors of appliances/plumbing devices.

Brown has also aided GE in developing a new type of oven. He was initially called by GE to help their engineers learn more about the effects of heat on food;[18] that grew into an active cooperation to develop GE's Trivection oven.[19]

[edit] Alton's Angles

Alton's Angles is a series of Shun Cutlery designed by Brown, and bearing his image. Brown liked the shape of the Shun Vegetable Knife, but had difficulty using it as his knuckles kept hitting the cutting board. Alton's Angles add a 10° angle to the handle of the knife, lifting the knuckles away from the cutting board, and making the knife easier to grasp.[20] Alton's Angles can sometimes be seen on Good Eats.

[edit] Appearances

Alton's voice can be heard on episode 117 of SpongeBob SquarePants (First Aired on June 6th, 2008), voicing for a character named "Nicholas Withers".

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Profile: Alton Brown (2005). Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
  2. ^ Complete List of 2006 Peabody Award Winners (2007). Retrieved on 15 March 2008.
  3. ^ Alton Brown Bio - Alton Brown Biography - Alton Brown Stories
  4. ^ Good Eats Cast Pictures - Good Eats Cast and Crew
  5. ^ "Good Eats" (1999) - Full cast and crew
  6. ^ The Family Tree
  7. ^ MutantNation, Alton Brown
  8. ^ Macworld | Add Apples for Flavor
  9. ^ Alton Brown
  10. ^ MutantNation, Alton Brown
  11. ^ Macworld | Add Apples for Flavor
  12. ^ Parker, Virginia. Atlanta Magazine. Alton Brown Steaks His Claim. April 2007. Article not posted on magazine website, reprinted
  13. ^ Chef Alton Brown of Good Eats
  14. ^ AltonBrown.com
  15. ^ AltonBrown.com
  16. ^ AltonBrown.com
  17. ^ GE Innovations with Alton Brown: video, multimedia
  18. ^ Featured at Brian's Belly: Alton Brown
  19. ^ Chef Alton Brown of Good Eats
  20. ^ Shun Cutlery. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.

[edit] External links

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