Originally posted Thursday, August 22, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Atlanta's Alton Brown, over 14 seasons, created a one-of-a-kind food show "Good Eats" in his own local studio from 1999 until 2011, devising cool ways to illustrate food and cooking in all its glory, be it peas, scallops or knife skills.
He used props, sketches, odd camera angles and well-crafted verbal descriptives that were both wacky and professorial at the same time.
In 2011, he said he needed a break and was happy with the legacy he left behind at the time.
"I feel after 250," Brown said to me at the time, "I can walk away from that library of work and feel good about it and know it's had an effect to some degree on somebody besides me and those who worked on it. And it will hold its own for awhile. We wanted to make sure they were dense, juicy and succulent and last a long time."
Indeed, the Cooking Channel continues to run the repeats regularly.
>>RELATED: My 2007 profile of Alton Brown and his show 'Good Eats'
But after hosting shows such as “Iron Chef America” and “Cutthroat Kitchen,” he got the hunger again to go back onto his kitchen set. He first revised a few older episodes with “Good Eats: Reloaded” and has now created brand new ones.
The first episode returns Sunday at 10 p.m. on Food Network but you can view it early here. A second new episode will air at 10:30 p.m.
Brown, now 57, first tackles a now mostly forgotten classic: chicken parmigiana.
He’s lost most of his hair and his beard has grayed, but he has retained his sardonic sense of humor. The primary kitchen set is revived with many of the same props such as the iconic painting of the chicken wearing a bowler hat, which he saved from the original set.
In this episode, as part of a history lesson, he goes to where the origins of the dish came from: Manhattan. There are lessons about what is the best type of mortar and pestle to use, how to differentiate fake vs. genuine San Marzano tomatoes and finally, how to make Brown’s favorite version of chicken parm itself - with salt and vinegar chips as part of the breading!
TV PREVIEW
“Good Eats,” debuting Sunday, August 25, 2019 at 10 p.m. on the Food Network
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