Good Eats: All Hallows Eats

All-Hallows Eve (Hallowe'en to most of us) has come again, and Alton is pondering what sort of treats to give to the wee goblins and ghoulies. Nothing store-bought, that's for sure. Instead, Alton retrieves a Brown family heirloom, an ancient book of recipes from members of the Brown clan far and wide. In it, he discovers how to make Candy Corn, how to brew up some Atomic Apples (which are caramel apples with a Brown family twist), and Popcorn Balls. All of it depends on the science of candy syrups.

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7/10 (2 Votes cast)

Episode Info

Episode number: 14x10
Production Number: EA1410H
Airdate: Thursday October 28th, 2010

Director: Alton Brown
Writer: Alton Brown

Uncredited

Alton Brown
As "Federal Agent" #1

Recurring

Main Cast

Alton Brown
As Himself

Recap

The Brown family does not give out store-bought treats for All-Hallows Eve. No, each year when the black cats starts to hiss and the goblins... gobble, they break out the ancient codex of All-Hallow's Eve treats and get to cooking. Alton thumbs the pages of the well-used tome, recalling gummy worms (made by an uncle who used actual worms), fire-ant brittle, and dozens of other treats. If it has landed in a plastic pumpkin, it is in Alton's book, every recipe magically mischievous... Good Eats!..

Read the full recap

Episode Notes

Cards

Over 85% of US homes hand out candy on All-Hallows Eve.
October 30th is National Candy Corn Day.
William Kolb, a New Jersey candy make, produced his first batch of candied apples in 1908.
Samhain was a sacred festival held by Celtic cultures to celebrate summer's end.

In keeping with the Hallowe'en theme, the scene end cards (where Alton offers relevant factoids) are presented in a horror movie font.

The episode title, All-Hallows Eats, is a play on words; the original reference is All-Hallows' Even, which became Hallows Even and then Hallowe'en.

Music

Artist	Song Title	Played When
Johann Sebastian Bach	Toccata in D minor	A few bars before the first commercial break

Episode Quotes

Alton: Halloween has always been a Brown family holiday. I'm proud to say that no member of my family has ever handed out a store-bought candy to a trick-or-treater.

Alton: It is a sure-fire form of magically mischievous... Good Eats!

Alton: Allow them to dry, eh, hour... hour and a half, then bag, tag, and toss into the sacks of grateful ghouls and goblins everywhere.

Alton: Unless you happen to be an anaconda, it's pretty tough to eat a candy apple made with modern red apples. We just grow them big and red in this country.

Alton: It's time to get nasty. Dark, sticky nasty with cousin Axel's popcorn balls, with (of course) the patented Brown family trick deep inside!

Cultural References

Alton mentions the phrase, “as much fun to make as it is to eat” when describing his candy corn. This is a marketing phrase that goes back to the introduction of a popcorn product called “Jiffy Pop” which is still made (as of 2011). Jiffy Pop comes pre-packaged in a kind of foil pan, all one does is put it over heat, which causes the corn to pop and the pan to expand into a big ball.

Once again, the Federal “men in black” appear to explain how the Food and Drug Administration regulates food colorings (and when it does not). These dark-suited, dark glasses wearing agents were certainly inspired by the comic book (and later movie) Men In Black, about similarly dressed agents who dealt with aliens visiting Earth.

Episode References

Another Show: Alton notes that the candy batter he turns into candy corn has other uses, but says that's another show. With his election to cease regular production of Good Eats, this show will likely never appear.

The recipe for Perfect Popcorn first appeared in the tenth season episode “Pop Culture”.

This episode follows a similar them to the seventh season episode “Tricks for Treats”.

Other Episode Crew