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Good Eats: Egg Files V: Quantum Foam
As a kid, Alton always had a thing for bubbles – from watching Lawrence Welk to washing his father’s car for free to, heck, even taking a bath every night. So when he reached the culinary world, he naturally looked for bubbles there. And he found them: champagne, whipped cream, mousse. Eventually, he moved on to the “quantum foam” of the food world – the soufflé. A dish that inspires both fear and hunger, the soufflé has a certain... reputation. But Alton says soufflés are not the monsters people think they are. To prove it, he’ll build a world class Cheese Soufflé, a task that requires just a handful of ingredients, a few skills, and dash of confidence.
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Episode Info
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Episode number: 6x5 Production Number: EA1F05 Airdate: Wednesday August 07th, 2002 Writer: Alton Brown
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Recap
Alton’s fingers play over the buttons of a remote, guiding a balloon around, as he extols his love for bubbles. From Lawrence Welk to washing his father’s car for free to taking a bath every day, young Alton couldn’t get enough of bubbles. In the culinary world his fascination led him to champagne, whipped cream, mousse, and the “quantum foam” of food – the soufflé. The soufflé, he continues, inspires as much fear as it does hunger. But soufflés are not the monsters people thing, and Alton plans to prove it. With a handful of ingredients, a few skills and a dash of confidence, anyone can build a cheese soufflé. (But just as Alton comments about confidence, his remote balloon crashes into a small dinosaur skeleton and knocks it to the floor!) No matter, Alton finishes – he’ll get his bubbles under control and get everyone into some... Good Eats!..Read the full recap
Episode Notes
Cards
- When greasing a soufflé dish, never use margarine, shortening, or for that matter, grease.
- “Love and eggs are best when they are served fresh.” – Russian proverb
- “The egg is to cuisine what the article is to speech.” – anonymous
- 16th century European cooks often whipped egg whites with birch twigs.
- The only thing that will make a soufflé fall is if it knows you’re afraid of it.” – James Beard
- Always be sure that the bricks or tiles you add to your oven are lead-free and glaze-free.
Episode Quotes
Alton: I admit. I got it bad for bubbles. When I was a kid, I used to beg to watch Lawrence Welk. I washed Dad’s car for free; I bathed every night. Later, I discovered culinary bubbles – champagne, whipped cream, light frothy mousses – these were but a few of my favorite things.
Alton: Fortunately, soufflés are not the monsters their mythology makes them out to be.
Alton: Truth is, soufflés aren’t conflicted at all. They are in perfect, zen-like balance. See, the lightness comes from protein-laden egg whites whipped into a bubbly battalion, while on the other hand the richness comes from a yolk-enforced base or sauce. Now, briging these two things together is an act of simple culinary matchmaking.
Alton: (examining windows on which he has drawn chemical formulae) I gotta find a new maid!
Alton: Cream of tartar, an acidic salt derived from wine grapes. Never leave foam without it.
Alton: Now, if we had kept going, the proteins would have eventually squeezed out their moisture and they would have collapsed in a useless, watery heap. This (holding up a bowl) is no longer viable foam fodder. Luckily eggs are cheap.
Alton: (repeated line) And that’s bad for a soufflé
Episode Goofs
When Alton’s remote control balloon hits the minature Tyrannosaurus skeleton, it bumps it to the front, which should knock it backwards. However, the skeleton falls forwards.
Cultural References
This episode, like the others in the “Egg Files” series, gets its title from popular Chris Carter television series The X-Files.
Alton mentions some sources of bubbles and calls them a few of his favorite things. That line comes from My Favorite Things, a well-known song from the 1965 film The Sound of Music, itself based on a 1959 musical that told the story of the von Trapp family in Nazi Germany and afterwards. The most popular lyrical version of the song is the one sung by Julie Andrew; Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass recorded a jazz instrumental version in 1968 that became a jazz standard and very popular as well.
Alton uses acidic cream of tartar to retard the rate at which egg proteins polymerize into a foam. His quip, “never leave foam without it” is a pun on an American Express advertising campaign that ran from 1975 to 1987. Designed by advertising giant David Ogilvy and featuring Karl Malden and many other stars, the “Never leave home without it.” campaign remains well-remembered decades later.
Episode References
Tender and Flaky appear in this episode. These two puppets function much like shoulder devils to illustrate the culinary conflict between crafting a tender confection and a flaky confection. They have previously appeared in pastry episodes such as Crust Never Sleeps.
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