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Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run
written by Alton Brown
Studio : Stewart, Tabori & Chang
by Stewart, Tabori & Chang
Publisher : Stewart, Tabori & Chang
Released : 2008-04-01
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9781584796817
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 14 reviews)
List Price : $27.50
Our Price : $8.50
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Product Description |
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He’s on the road again. This time, Alton Brown and his motorcycle-mounted crew are off on a thousand-mile, south-to-north journey that follows America’s first “superhighway”—the Mississippi. Starting at the great river’s delta on the Gulf of Mexico and ending up near its headwaters in Minnesota, Alton and buddies travel the heartland’s byways to scout out the very best of roadside food—and to get to know the people who spend their lives preparing and serving it.
A companion to the six-part Food Network series airing in fall 2007, Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run is a travel diary, photo journal, and, of course, cookbook. Alton’s itinerary includes big-city eateries and small-town chat ’n’ chews, as well as markets, inns, ice cream parlors, museums, barbecue joints—and even an alligator farm.
Louisiana-style Grilled Alligator Tail (served simply, with lemon and butter) is one of the book’s forty original road-food recipes. Others include Pecan-Coconut Pie from an Arkansan roadside restaurant; BBQ Pork Ribs in Mississippi that Brown eats over pancakes; Vegetable Borscht from St. Paul’s Russian Tea House; and Fried Catfish from a riverside burg in Illinois. When it comes to America’s foodways and folkways, there’s no better tour guide than Alton Brown. |
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More engaging on TV |
Unlike Michael Palin, where the books that are companions to his television travels are little treasures that stand on their own, Alto Brown's FEASTING ON ASPHALT: THE RIVER RUN is a bit of a disappointment. Brown, a witty and intelligent host, writes in a style that mirrors his narrative; folksy and smart with many interesting comments. The problem is that they don't really add detail to the already comprehensive series. Padded with photos by fellow "feaster," Jean Claude Dhlen, which while cute, are not exactly artfully composed and recipes that are often approximations of "secret family recipes," a concept I find ridiculous.(What are people afraid will happen to them if the world knew the truth about their doughnuts, fried chicken etc.) FEASTING ON ASPHALT: THE RIVER RUN is a cute scrapbook of the series, but if you're a fan just get the DVD's. |
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Great Story, Great Recipes |
If you love Alton Brown you'll love this book. It is full of his insight, humor and wit. I watched Feasting on Asphalt and I enjoyed reading this book because it went more in-depth than the show did. I didn't find myself bored reading about things I had seen on the show, because I got to read it from Alton's perspective. Alton is a very adept story teller and I found myself absorbed in the book. Although I can't really classify any of the recipes as being particularly healthy I do love the recipes for Mulate's Homemade Bread Pudding and Nana Deane's Pecan Coconut Pie, among others.
If you are looking strictly for a recipe book than this is not your book, but if you are looking for a book that has great recipes in it and has stories that are entertaining that accompany the recipe, or you just like Alton Brown, than this is a great book. |
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Delish! |
Okay, I have to admit something. I've got a ridiculous crush on Alton Brown and his show "Good Eats" on the Food Network. That being said, there's clearly no way I can be completely unbiased when it comes to reviewing his book, but I'm not the kind of person to sit down and read a cookbook as though it were a novel regardless of how much I love the author.
Feasting on Asphalt is a compilation of AB's backroad journey up the Mississippi River (hence the subtitle, "The River Run"). I haven't watched the show, but the book is a pretty great reflection on the silliness and conversational style that Alton Brown usually employs in his "Good Eats" show, so I'm guessing the show is similar. The book itself reads like a scrapbook/travel diary, punctuated by funny little moments with the people he meets and the delish food they make that he samples. The recipes are either from the people themselves, or they're adaptations according to what Alton Brown thought the original dish had, and they're pretty much all good, greasy, crispy, fried Southern food (not a diet book, clearly).
One thing I've kind of had a problem with in his books and sometimes in his show is the implausibility of actually MAKING some of the dishes. But that's kind of something you see in any cookbook right? (What normal person who doesn't cook for a living is going have all these things on hand... like an actual vanilla bean?) So I forgive him.
Anyway, most cookbooks don't really give you a history or background on the food you eat, much less the ingredients you use to make it. Feasting on Asphalt has history, good food, and wit. What else can you ask for? |
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What fun! |
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I just received this book for my birthday and haven't been able to put it down. His writing style is purely conversational, and most of what is in the book has been dictated into his ipod during the trip. There are some laugh-out-loud lines. If you are at all an Alton fan, this book is a must have. It's also one of those books that you do not have to read from the beginning. I read the chapter from Alton, Illinois first, then the last chapter after which I started at the beginning. It's a great book for people with a short attention span too. |
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Nice companion book |
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this is basically a nice companion book to Alton's second roadtrip. A little short on recipes--like all good cooks these folks jealously guard their secrets!. the series is an "A+", this book is more of a "B". |
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