Chewing the Fat: Alton Brown on Race, Class, and Food
About six months ago we decided that it would be fun to produce more original video segments for Serious Eats. When I made a list of interesting people I wanted to interview on camera for a series called Chewing the Fat, Alton Brown was at the top of the list. Why? Because whenever I have watched him on the Food Network or chatted with him (ever so briefly) when I was an Iron Chef judge, I have always found Alton to be interesting, provocative, smart, and funny. We were thrilled when Alton agreed to do it. Who did we get to shoot, direct, and edit the Alton videos? None other than Hamburger America director and author George Motz.
This week's Chewing the Fat finds Alton discussing race, class, and food. In fact, as Alton himself notes, it's impossible to take a motorcycle eating trip down the length of the Mississippi River without discussing these issues. Ms.Clara Brantely, the extraordinary African-American woman Alton is conversing with, is the cook at Jim's Cafe in Greenville, Mississippi.
The Feasting on Asphalt DVDs are available at Foodnetwork.com and the book is available at Amazon.
Related
Chewing the Fat: Alton Brown on Donuts
View other entries from Serious Eats Original Videos.
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18 Comments:
I love Alton and I am totally jealous of that trip!!!
Keep the videos coming!
creativejordan at 9:33AM on 11/06/08
I love, love, love Alton but I don't know if I agree that food is "first and foremost" about race and class. Think about Pink's in LA or our cheesesteakeries here in Philly--some food transcends all that stuff. But race and class issues do overlap with food issues, of course, and I enjoy SE videos and hearing what Alton has to say about anything.
Joy Manning at 9:39AM on 11/06/08
Gimme more!
Laurel E at 9:42AM on 11/06/08
That's great from Alton.
And I totally agree with him. It's not universal, of course, but most of the food we eat has a very specific cultural identity, tied up in issues of race, religion, and ethnicity while simultaneously being sharply dividing between rich and poor. You can't talk about Per Se without talking about who can afford to eat there; you can't talk about Mario Batali without talking about the cultural differences between Italians and Americans, and you can't talk to these women cooking in the Delta without being aware of what their food means in terms of race.
silvermike at 10:01AM on 11/06/08
I'm loving your Alton segments and I hope they continue. From live speaking engagements, to the "Feasting On..." series, to videocasts, Alton seems to get to the heart of the matter. Rather then hemming and hawing, he'll just address the 800 pound gorilla in the room. I respect that.
Can it get awkward?
Sure. Sometimes.
(I'm not necessarily speaking of your videos.)
When you ask "Why?" to get to the bottom of something, when you really want conversation about topics that others shy away from, is can get awkward.
But, when Alton speaks his mind, he does it with a vulnerability I admire.
Why this guy doesn't have a talk-show about "current issues in food" I'll never understand. Until that happens, I'll be content with sitting back and enjoying your Chewing the Fat segments with Alton Brown.
DanaMc
DanaMc at 10:15AM on 11/06/08
Joy,
I figure that even if the food transcends race and class (which many of the great dishes do) it certainly stems from it. I mean, look at French and Italian peasant foods. You pay through the nose to eat a plate of osso bucco! Most braised foods exist because of the need to tenderize a piece of meat that is virtually inedible when cooked fast over high heat. Same with coq au vin - you ate the rooster when it was too old for anything else. No nobleman would ever eat that back in the day.
So, yes. I feel that you are correct that many foods become more than what they started, but we should never forget where they came from.
Just my opinion, of course.
jpolk at 10:25AM on 11/06/08
Alton is definitely one of my favorite food personalities. Keep his videos coming! Food and race can be separated but the cultures which our food come from are inseparable from the foods we eat.
Yorick at 11:50AM on 11/06/08
love it-more alton please! i could listen to him for hours!
gastronomeg at 12:02PM on 11/06/08
I loved that little old lady,
"If I like it, you're gonna like it!"
More Alton, please! He's the best. :o)
juliebugsmama at 1:25PM on 11/06/08
Is that really his desktop wallpaper!!!??? LOL Alton is also one of my faves :D
hungrychristel at 3:02PM on 11/06/08
AB is the best! Good Eats is my fave rave food show ~ a delightfully entertaining & ever informative mash-up of Mr. Wizard, Pee-Wee's Playhouse & MacGyver
petitesoeur at 5:50PM on 11/06/08
Love it. I love hearing anything AB has to say about food.
buffy at 8:01PM on 11/06/08
The brevity and lack of more complete thoughts on the matter are something of a letdown. This is a wonderful topic and Mr. Brown is clearly thoughtful about it. A minute-long video just doesn't do it, him or us justice.
Having exclusive/original content like this is excellent and really ads something to the site. If you're going to address such an import and interesting issue, though, it would be great to really go ahead and get into it.
ccbweb at 11:50AM on 11/07/08
@ccbweb, I agree with you. When I was reviewing this clip to write the intro I was surprised at how short it was. We will definitely keep your comment in mind in shooting future videos.
Ed Levine at 11:53AM on 11/07/08
@DanaMc
I'm not totally sure live TV is his thing (I still remember his awkward Letterman and Emeril appearances, tho they were both a while back), but if he'd be willing,I agree that FN needs to stop giving Guy Fieri so much bloody airtime and give AB a talk show about current issues in the food world, and how that impacts/reflects the wider culture. I can just see him chatting about these kinds of issues with Eric Schlosser or Alice Waters, can't you?
OKLibrarian at 3:37PM on 11/07/08
I respect him, Bourdain, Tyler Florence and yeah, Paula Deen for acknowledging the African contributions to American cuisine. So many foodies and chefs try to downplay or ignore it. It speaks volumes when white chefs come out and say, "oh yeah, they contributed too". No problem with it at all. And Alton doesn't have to feel guilty about his awesome road hog either.
BITTER at 11:46PM on 11/07/08
As an AfAm woman trying to bring some of her friends and family away from the "slave food" mentality, I definitelythink that race and class (which are often interlinked) is the most dominant factor in food selection.
But that doesn't mean that we can't all learn from each other and grow in our food expertise. If you don't know how to cook a good pot of grits, you are not a good cook. No matter how many other fancy schmancy dishes you can make!
Soul Cookbook at 2:04PM on 11/10/08
AB's persona on the show--two parts science professor, one part smart alec--is a lot of fun to watch, but it's far more interesting to listen to him talk candidly here about food issues that interest him.
And he's right. Although I dip into a lot of recipes from multiple cultures, when I cook comfort food you can tell immediately that my ancestors were Dutch and Swedish immigrants. I instinctively reach for spices my great-grandma would have approved, and I can't lay out a cold cut tray without trying to compose it a bit, thanks to my grandfather.
Soozcat at 2:03PM on 05/27/09