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Good Eats: The Man Food Show
Alton has a special show - he's going to show husbands (or boyfriends) how to prepare the perfect "breakfast in bed" for their lady. But it must be a surprise, so just this once, the ladies must leave the room. And when they do, Alton draws a tall beer from its hiding place in a taller glass of orange juice and tells his (presumably) all male audience the real goal: tasty Corn Dogs and Basket Burgers - real man food with too much fat, too much salt, too much...much! Good thing the ladies aren't here to put a stop to these... Good Eats!
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Episode Info
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Episode number: 7x15 Production Number: EA1G16 Airdate: Wednesday January 28th, 2004 Writer: Alton Brown
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Recap
Alton starts the show with a special message to the ladies. He tells them the episode will teach their men how to prepare a delicious breakfast like the one he has in front of him - in bed. He asks them to leave the room for just this one episode, so they’ll be pleasantly surprised…and when they leave, Alton fishes a beer from inside the tall orange juice glass and explains to the men that breakfast in bed is just a bad idea. It raises expectations. Pretty soon they’ll be expected to share and cuddle, and even take out the trash. But the ruse was good for getting the ladies out of the room so the guys can work on their man food skills. These are the sorts of food the ladies will object to – too much fat, too much salt, too much… much. But these guilty pleasures, every now and again, are just Good Eats...Read the full recap
Episode Notes
Cards
- If you don’t want to buy a deep fryer, use a heavy pot with a fry thermometer.
- The first mini-burgers sold for 5¢ at White Castle in Wichita, Kansas in 1921.
- 1/3 of Americans have consumed ground beef in the last 24 hours.
Just after the production company logo is a couple of seconds showing one of Alton’s man food guests licking the plate on which Alton delivered the corn dogs and gut grenades.
Episode Quotes
Alton: Let me tell you something, fellas... the last thing on Earth you want to go messing around with is breakfast in bed. You want to know why? Because all it does is raise expectations. Pretty soon you’re going to be expected to share... cuddle... and take out the trash! Nope... what we really need to spend time doing it working on our man food skills!
Alton: (holding a corn dog in one hand and a basket burger in the other) I’m here to tell you that these guilty pleasures, besides tasting good, really are... (Good Eats theme plays)
Alton: Personally, I could care less who invented this thing. Could you make ‘em at home? Oh, yeah! With a little know how, and the right technology.
Alton: One of the biggest mistakes that novice fryers make is that they don’t use enough fat, because they assume that more oil means greasier food. However, truth is the inverse is true. You see, the more oil there is, the more residual heat there is, so when you put the cold food into the fryer, the temperature in the frying rebounds, or recovers, quickly. Which is a good thing.
Alton: (returning from a commercial break) Well, hand squeezing orange juice certainly takes some time, and it’s a fair amount of work, but I’m willing to bet your better half’s worth it! Speaking of better halves, I’ll willing to bet a few of ‘em have crept back in the room for a peek. Now, ladies, we made a deal... you gotta scat on out of here, okay? Now, go on... Go back to your book or wherever, give us guys some private time... Bye bye... bye bye... they gone? Good. And now back to our batter...
Alton: As long as the oil stays at around 350º the water inside the corn dog batter will turn into vapor and try to push out. Therefore the forces will be equal and the food will cook until it is golden brown and delicious, but, it will not be greasy. Problem is, two things can go wrong here. If the food is left in the oil too long, there just won’t be enough vapor. Or, if the oil drops in temperature then there won’t be enough heat to generate vapor in the first place. In either case, this is the result: grease marches into the food – greasy eats, not Good Eats.
Alton: (about basket burgers) Call ‘em sliders, call ‘em belly bombs, call ‘em gut grenades. I call ‘em Good Eats.
Alton: (returning from a commercial break, he holds a napkin folded into a swan shape) The all you have to do is pull out these corners to make the feathers. And there you go, the perfect decoration for a breakfast in bed tray.
Female Shopper: That is just adorable! I’ll try that at home!
Alton: Good. Bye-bye! Ulp! Ladies, you’re not supposed to be in the room! How are the guys going to surprise you with these lovely little tips if you’re snooping?!? Go on... bye-bye... they gone? Good! (He shakes out the folded napkin and blows his nose noisily in it.)
Female Shopper: That is just adorable! I’ll try that at home!
Alton: Good. Bye-bye! Ulp! Ladies, you’re not supposed to be in the room! How are the guys going to surprise you with these lovely little tips if you’re snooping?!? Go on... bye-bye... they gone? Good! (He shakes out the folded napkin and blows his nose noisily in it.)
Alton: This is what I’m talking about. We’ve got twenty one inches by twelve an a half inches. And I’d say about a solid inch of aluminum. That means not only do we have the space to cook, but we’ve got enough mass to really soak up and hold some heat. Hey, let’s look under the hood, shall we? Oh, yeah – nice big heating element and a high volume grease tray. That’s important for a guy. And, when things get really, really messy... a snap on backsplash. Come to poppa!
Alton: I think you’re better off picking out a nice chuck steak, and having it ground to order. If the butchers in your market don’t want to bother, then don’t bother with them!
Cultural References
Alton describes the creation of the first corn dog as "a real 2001 monkey touched the monolith moment." In an early scene from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey a black monolith plays a possibly critical role in the evolution of man when it grants nearby primitive hominids an insight that permits them to make the first tools.
Alton: ...I do not like them, Sam I Am...
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, wrote a number of childrens books. One of the best known is Green Eggs and Ham. Alton's line parodies one spoken by a character who does not like green eggs and ham.
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, wrote a number of childrens books. One of the best known is Green Eggs and Ham. Alton's line parodies one spoken by a character who does not like green eggs and ham.
The episode title alludes to The Man Show. Created in 1999 by comics Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla, the show barely survived their departure in 2003, ending a year later. It featured busty women doing salacious dances, lewd jokes, comedy sketches (often with audience members participating). It both celebrated and mocked masculinity and machismo; the best shows struck the right balance. The Man Food Show celebrates traditional foods appealing to men that typically horrify their wives.
Analysis
This episode showcases what Good Eats does so well. Alton offers specific recipes that the viewer may choose to make, along with information on the science of batter and frying that is generally applicable to any recipe involving those concepts. Likewise, in explaining how to select a deep fryer and a griddle, Alton offers several tips generally applicable to the selection of safe appliances whose performance will not disappoint. A well rounded show indeed. Too bad the ladies were invited out of the room!
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