Love the show. Actually, it reminds me of Rosengarten’s Taste, in that they both take a single subject and discuss it at length. I like Good Eats better because Alton Brown is funnier and more charismatic IMHO, and is less ‘refined’ than Rosengarten. Makes for a more fun and interesting show.
I also love Sarah Moulton’s show. She just strikes me as being this truly down to earth person. Where Martha would say “you must use the finest ingredients”, Sarah would say “you can use dried basil if that’s all you have, but the fresh stuff is just wonderful in this” I also think she’s adorable, cute as a button.
I love the way he gives scientific explanations, and cuts through all the voodoo / tradition / superstition. When he gives a tip, he gives me a reason to do it that way, unlike other tv chefs who just expect you to swallow everything they say because they are dispensing Arcane Cooking Wisdom.
The Naked Chef guy is cute enough, but if I had an hour with him and I could do anything I wanted, I’d ravage him in that cute little kitchen of his, whereas if I had an hour with Alton, I’d gaze dreamily into his eyes while he explained the physics of pressure cookers.
I have been a lurker for ages and ages, but a cooking show thread is too irresistable not to post to! Most of the t.v. I watch is on the Food Network. I will scribble down recipie after recipie, thinking, “This one I really AM going to actually make!” Of course, I never do. I ADORE Jamie Oliver, what a sweetie. Same goes for Tyler Florence - what a flirt! But I can’t blieve no one has mentioned my personal hero, Molto Mario! Mario Batali could go head to head with Alton any day, the man is a freakin’ genius. He gives a lot of the history and culture of the reigon he’s cooking from, and also explains the science side of things. He has truly educated me. (Plus, I love the little M.M. things he does with his fingers at the end of the show I always do it right back to him ) Anyway, nice to meet you, everyone!
I enjoy the shows that are half travel and half cooking, like Ming’s Quest and Mario Eats Italy, but not Molto Mario so much. I dunno, I guess it doesn’t really peak my interest, although he sometimes has cool recipes that get my attention.
Ahem. Ladies, I’ve never cooked out of anyone’s panties, but I’m sure willing to give it my best shot.
Alton Brown’s show on chocolate chip cookie baking was especially informative to me. Straightforward explanations about how to get cookies to come out differently by slightly altering ingredients or how they are combined.
The pizza recipe looked interesting, but still seems a bit too labor intensive for me.
A friend and I combined on the duck recipe and it was great, although you don’t want to eat it every day.
Come to think of it, the cookie show probably was the one that made me a regular viewer. Fascinating to think that the way a recipe turns out depends not on luck, but on exactly which ingredients you use, and how much, and how you add them, and so on. In that sense, “Good Eats” demystifies cooking by putting you solidly in control of the result.
As opposed to, say, Emeril, where you just BAM something until it works out. But Emeril’s recipes usually have a lot of room for error. I mean, how can you screw up potatoes drenched in cheese & butter?
) Anyway, nice to meet you, everyone!