<-- Previous EpisodeNext Episode -->
Good Eats: Whithering Bites
Alton revisits the topic of dehydration with a new kind of food: fruit. For those concerned with selecting fresh fruits and only in season, dehydration can allow them to enjoy the flavor of those fruits for a far longer period. And dehydrating fruit at home can avoid certain commercial preservatives such as sulfur, that can be hazardous to those with asthma. Alton shows how easy it is to dry fruit cut into small pieces or large ones, using a version of the Blowhard 5000 (it debuted in a previous episode) to make Dried Fruit. Then he uses that dried fruit to make Trail Mix, Sweet Fruit Compote, Savory Fruit Compote and finally Individual Fruit Compote Pies.
| 4/10 (2 Votes cast) |
Episode Info
|
Episode number: 11x6 Production Number: EA1107 Airdate: Monday August 06th, 2007 Writer: Alton Brown
|
Recap
Seasonality, Alton explains, is the new battle cry of the foodie. By this he means the concept that planet and palette both benefit from serving locally grown foods, and only in season. This is an adjustment for Americans used to a steady supply of everything, all the time. Most of us lack the canning skills of our grandparents, and our freezers are jammed so full of pizza and popsicles there’s no room for serious puttin’ up. During the harvest months so much fruit flows that we cannot eat it all, leaving bacteria, yeast and molds to reduce it to a gooey puddle. Then when the fruity flow ebbs, we pay high prices for fruits grown in distant places – fruits that might not taste like anything at all save for the chemicals growers spray on them. But, Alton continues, there is an alternative. One might reduce an entire season’s worth of fruit to a small package. He’s talking, of course, about home-dried fruit. Sure, one might buy dried fruit, but that offers a far smaller variety and there are those chemicals again. Whereas drying fruit at home is easy and... Good Eats!..Read the full recap
Episode Notes
Cards
- Raisins are the most popular form of dried fruit, not to mention the oldest.
- Drying times [for fruit dehydration] will vary depending on the temperature and humidity in your neck of the woods.
- One of the first vegetable dehydrators was developed by French inventors Mason and Challet, in 1795.
- Several days of freezing after conditioning will kill any insect eggs hiding in organic fruit.
- While many desirable nutrients are concentrated during the drying process, sugar is concentrated too. So, munch accordingly.
- Go to foodnetwork.com to find the recipe for Individual Fruit Compote Pies.
Locations: Whole Foods Market (Atlanta, Georgia)
After the production company credit, there is a three second outtake of the “bear” from the hiking trail scene.
Episode Quotes
Alton: Before we know it, those food fiends bacteria, yeast and mold (oh, my!) barge in, reducing our cornucopia to an ewwy, gooey, furry, stinky little puddle. Then, when the fruity flow ebbs to a trickle in winter, we’ve no choice but to turn to high priced fruits grown in distant lands.
Alton: With a little bit of know how, some sound science and a wee little smidgen of hardware, you can comfortably contain an entire season of fruity goodness into a package that you can use later, at your whim. That’s right, dried fruit.
Alton: Not only is it easy to make, home dried fruit opens up a world of... (Good Eats theme plays)
Alton: Getting this (holds up a whole fruit) down to this (holds up a dried equivalent) is not simply a matter of aqua absentia. Don’t believe me? Ask a mummy!
Alton: You could also dip the fruit in any number of sulfur based solutions, and that is what is done to most commercially dried fruit. The problem is that a lot of folks, especially asthmatics, are prone to sulfur and sulfite allergies, which can be sudden and severe. So, that leaves us with a question: what might we have in the pantry that bacteria don’t like, that contains antioxidants and that can interrupt enzymatic acid?
Alton: The problem with oven drying fruit is that ideally we’re looking for, say, 115 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Most ovens can’t cruise below about 170º.
Alton: Now that we have it, what do we do with it? Well, dried fruit is called for in thousands of different recipes in both dry and cooked form. I have a favorite recipe in both categories and they’re both ridiculously simple.
Doctor: Since their nutrients are concentrated, each handful of dried fruit delivers a basketful of nutrients, minerals and plenty of vitamins, not to mention phytochemicals such as chlorogenic and neochlorogenic acids which help slow the progression of heart disease.
Cultural References
The episode title is a play in Wuthering Heights, the title of an 1847 novel penned (under a pseudonym) by Emily Brontë. It tells the story of a destructive, unrequited love and is regarded by some as the best of the Brontë sisters’ novels. Withering, of course, comes from the concept of drying fruit, which gives it a withered appearance; plants that receive insufficient water usually wither.
The jackal-headed costume Alton dons for the scene inside the “mummy’s tomb” is a representation of the Egyptian god Anubis, god of funerals and mummification (Seth, the serpent god, presided over the dead).
Episode References
Alton mentions drying meat and herbs. He dried meat (producing jerky) in Urban Preservation II, a ninth season outing.
Analysis
Although Alton has previously explored the idea of dried food, and even created the Blowhard 5000, he shows here how to adapt it for drying fruit, which requires a somewhat different approach. He also shows how to dry larger pieces of fruit that the Blowhard arrangement cannot handle.
Breaking Bad Season 5 Part 2 to Air Summer 2013
Last week, we reported that Breaking Bad's fifth season would start up on July 15,..
An Unlikely Pairing in the American Idol Finale Tonight
After tens of thousands of Idol hopefuls auditioned and competed, America has..
Full 2011-2012 TV Ratings Report, Find Out Which Shows Landed Where
Deadline.com has released the full TV rankings for the most recent TV..
Info Center | Contact | Advertise | TOS |
Privacy | Copyright | RSS | Banners | Writers Wanted