Books for Cooks 2010

Good Eats 2: The Middle Years

To the amusement of my family, when I was about 4 years old, I used to tell them that when I grew up I was going to be a "chemist chef." Who would have known that years later, I would actually meet a chemist chef: Alton Brown, aka "The MacGyver of the Kitchen." I admit to being a fan of his witty, wacky antics, having followed Good Eats for years as well as enjoying his Feasting on Asphalt adventures. As far as I'm concerned, he is the only Food Network star with real, lasting power and long-term interest.

His latest work in print is a compilation of seasons six through 10 of the successful show. More than a cookbook, it is like an oversized graphic novel or comic book for food geeks, full of goofy behind-the-scenes photographs, trivia, and illustrative line drawings, interspersed with science-of-food information, cooking tips, and recipes. As approachable and light as the book is, it holds loads of useful information, from the characteristics and applications of different types of salt to a primer on basic sauces, to the tongue-in-cheek episode titled "Myth Smashers" in which he dispels a variety of kitchen myths. Open randomly to any page and you'll find something you didn't know before, a useful kitchen tip or a tidbit of trivia to use at the next cocktail party. From a step-by-step guide to making the best pad thai to the secrets of perfect risotto, to a weird homemade contraption for making beef jerky (which Brown calls the Blowhard 3000), everyone can find something interesting in this book's pages. Granted, the huge tome is a little cumbersome for cozy bedtime reading, but it really is a fun and educational volume that will bring smiles to any die-hard Brown fan or anyone curious about how things work – or should work – in the kitchen.