Good Eats: Say Cheese

Following an earlier discussion of cheese, Alton has put together footage for a follow-up show. But he has far too much footage – enough for, perhaps, thirty hours of television! Still, he has a few short clips on the subject suitable for presentation, a kind of preview, if one likes, of future events. Or so he says. In this collection of cheesy vignettes, Alton reveals the history of cheese, the varieties available, and offers recipes for Parmesan Crisps, Cheese Soup, and a version of Fromage Fort.

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Episode Info

Episode number: 8x9
Production Number: EA1H09
Airdate: Sunday October 17th, 2004

Director: Alton Brown
Writer: Alton Brown

Uncredited

Alton Brown
As Bedouin / Government Man-in-Black

Recurring

Main Cast

Alton Brown
As Himself

Recap

Alton begins in a video production room. Amidst clutter and sleeping members of the production staff, Alton reveals that he has amassed footage for a sequel of sorts to his earlier paean to cheese, which he hopes to call “Say Cheese”. He has at last finished this masterwork, and has discovered that it is... thirty hours long. There is only one choice: Alton will air the episode in several parts, starting with tonight's collection of short films that will shed light on Alton's favorite food – cheese, which is not only good, it's... Good Eats!..

Read the full recap

Episode Notes

Cards

Two pounds of Parmigiano-Reggiano contains the nutritional equivalent of four gallons of milk.
In 1837 Queen Victoria was presented with a 1,100 pound wheel of cheese for her coronation.
More sheep are milked than any other type of animal in the world.
Cheese and wine produced in the same geographic area tend to pair well.
Fromage Fort, a 'strong cheese' in French, was traditionally made by combining leftover cheese with milk and allowing it to ferment.
Allow the cheese to come to room temperature before making Fromage Fort.
A cheese course can be served as either a prelude to or substitute for dessert.

Locations: Whole Foods, Atlanta, GA. Cook's Warehouse, Atlanta, GA.

Episode Quotes

Alton: Ever since our first cheese episode aired a few years ago, I've been amassing footage for an epic “homage du fromage” that I like to call... Say Cheese!

Alton: (about parmesan cheese) It takes seventeen pounds of milk to make one pound of this stuff.

Alton: When it comes to young, runny cheeses like Brie and Camembert, Europeans have the edge because they use high quality raw milk, which can only be used in this country to make...
G-Man: ...cheeses that have been aged at least sixty days before sale.
Alton: That's because the government figures that after sixty days, any potentially dangerous bacteria...
G-Man: ...will have been eliminated.

Alton: You can always drive up to Canada and score ya some young, raw cheese
G-Man: Just know that when you come back across the border? (Lifts a pair of handcuffs into view.) I'll be waiting for you!
Alton: Oh, bother!

Alton: Make sure that every cheese has its own clean knife. We don't wanna... cross the beams...

Alton: Mmm, would you look at that? Homemade cheese spread. Believe me, this is better than anything you could ever think of buying in a store. If you like a firmer texture just stash it in the refrigerator for a little while. Oh, and in the refrigerator it'll last... well, I don't know how long it lasts because I've never had it last more than about a day.

Cultural References

When Alton realizes he has many hours of footage on the subject of cheese, he decides to split the planned sequel into multiple parts, a la Quentin Tarantino. He's referring here to director Tarantino's homage to the wuxia movies he loves so much, Kill Bill. The film was very long, and Tarantino was loathe to edit it down, so he released it as two films. He was one of the first directors to take this approach but he is not the last.

Alton names a segment of his show, “A Beautiful Rind”. This title parodies the title of the film “A Beautiful Mind” which starred Russell Crowe as troubled mathematical genius John Nash.

Confronted with the possibility of arrest for bringing cheese made with raw milk from Canada into the United States, Alton's terse reply is “Oh, bother.” He's used this reply before – it's from Winnie the Pooh, the central character in a series of children's books.

Alton advises hosts to provide a clean knife for each cheese offering, saying that “You don't want to cross the beams.” This is most likely a reference to the 1984 film Ghostbusters, which starred Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis as a group of men who formed a business for the purpose of removing troublesome ghosts. To do this they used a highly experimental and highly dangerous particle accelerator technology. Ramis' character, Dr. Egon Spengler, advises the Ghost Busters not to cross the streams because “it would be bad.”

Confronted by Lactose Man, who can give people lactose intolerant bellyaches, Alton claims he is not afraid. Lactose Man replies, “You will be. You will be...” using the same intonation that Yoda used in 1980's “The Empire Strikes Back.” The diminuative Jedi master sent apprentice Luke into an area dominated by the dark side of the Force. When Luke claimed he was not afraid, Yoda replied that he would be; fear is a path to the dark side of the Force in the Star Wars mythology.

Episode References

Alton's previous cheese outing, obliquely referenced in the first few minutes, it likely to season two's For Whom The Cheese Melts.

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