Why Alton Brown Is Against Food Trends

Good Eats has finished its long and illustrious television run, but Alton Brown still tops our list of culinary crushes. My parents had Julia Child and The Frugal Gourmet on television to teach them how to cook; my generation had AB. Recently he's spoken up against food trends, including fancy food terms like Slow Food and molecular gastronomy, and for a very good reason. Any guesses as to why he's directed that famous scowl towards food trends?

Alton Brown has invested a lot of time and talent into cooking — not just to make a buck or because he had a TV show, but because he genuinely cares about us learning how to cook properly. He wants to help us figure out the science behind what's happening in the kitchen, to make us better understand the whys and hows of what happens in the kitchen. But you all knew that — it's why we love him so.

At his blog he recently talked about the food movements that rise up, and the popularity and celebrity status that come with new food techniques or labels. Specifically he looks at molecular gastronomy and Slow Food, both terms we're familiar with around these parts (though they are radically different from each other).

Alton believes that the popularity and labeling of such things creates cooks who are less interested in the more "basic" skills of cooking. That even though someone has altered the physical state of an ingredient and turned cheese into powder or smoked something that isn't normally smoked, that this new breed of chef who is label-driven is more interested in the cool tricks and less concerned with the proper cooking of an egg.

What do you have to say? Do you think these exotic movements are creating a group of people who are overlooking the basics? Or is Alton just feeling cranky? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

• Read More: Upon The Matter Of Molecular Gastronomy from Alton Brown

(Image: Food Network)

Comments (37)

What I most worry about with 'slow food' is that the trend will become over-saturated and will see a backlash. In some ways it's already happened: many people see those who care about where their food comes from, who try to eat locally, or who make their food from scratch as snobby, elitist, or self-congratulatory. There are certainly people who are part of that 'movement' who are these things, but there are plenty who aren't. It is frustrating, however, if you mention something you made from scratch or grew, (casually in natural conversation, not in a braggy way), and someone rolls their eyes and huffs about the pretentiousness of it. If people are met with negativity for their efforts, they may become less inclined to continue them.

I tend to love food trends, especially some of the new ones, like eating locally grown seasonal food. I hope that one trend will linger on for a long time.

I wonder about the so-called "cooking basics". I don't think there such a thing. For my grand-mother, bechamel and aspics were among the basics she learned from her mother. I've never ever made a bechamel, and hate its tendancy to overpower every flavor in a dish. Nobody has cooked aspics these last 20 years. Back in the 19th century, cooks took entire birds back home and knew how to deal with them. We don't do that anymore, it doesn't make any sense. Basics are what people need to cook today, and are reinvented constantly.

It may be a holistic approach, but I guess I like to learn skills I'll use and enjoy. I love slow cooking, I love steaming veggies, I love raw in every form, and I am skilled at preparing what I love. My siblings eat at restaurants the things they like and that I don't cook. As long as our dietary needs are fulfilled and we enjoy eating at home, I don't care if I can't make mayonnaise.

I think he's onto something. It's analogous to how I feel when I hear that someone is "going on a diet"--instead of a life change, it's treated as a trip that you'll eventually return from...and the pitfalls of that, of course, are inevitable. Moderation, good sense, and basic skills do not belong to any particular way of cooking or eating.

Alton Brown is the only Food Network star that I respect; he is level-headed and doesn't try to be popular. He's like everyone's favorite high-school teacher; naturally cool because he's logical and has great teaching skills.

I say whatever gets you interested in the food on your plate is a good thing. Whether it's figuring out how to sous vide rabbit or how to scramble an egg or how to turn cheese into dust.

I love AB, but seriously - if someone wants to figure out what methylcellulose does to their food and then falls in love with cooking because of that, who cares?

If Alton says it, It must be true!

As always, Alton's comments have some truth and some crankypants in them. Ultimately, I think he's poking fun a bit at these trends only because it is tiring to see people get wrapped up in them, only to find them abandoning the movement for the next great thing. At the same time, there are improvements in the cooking world being made all the time, and a lot of those things make cooking/life easier or more fun. I say, whatever gets you in your own kitchen is a good thing. I think the basics are important...with education comes the power to grow. But it is fun to learn new, weird things that inspire us or pique an interest in something new. Can't hurt, I figure.

To be honest, I think that some who disagree with the sentiment may simply be reading it differently that perhaps Alton is intending for it, as it seems to me to be a very difficult-to-argue-against statement. The way I read it, I put emphasis on the word trends. Trends have a very transient existence in and of themselves but can have incredibly lasting impacts, but there is a difference between a trend-follower and a trend-explorer. I think he recognizes, especially with his research into historical trends that influence the way we cook any given recipe now, that any given trend could lead to a number of contributions to the greater body of cooking as a whole, I think he has no problem with trends in cooking. But I find it hard to disagree with the idea that being totally caught up in the zeitgeist within any devotion to the exclusion/(intentional) ignorance of all other contributions and concepts available leads to a lasting one-trick pony at best and a short-term interest at worst. Then again, that's just my reading of it...maybe he was just looking to stir up some trouble after all :P

I love Alton Brown and have learned so just from watching his shows! But I think the world needs all kinds of people, and some of us need food trends to keep us interested. I am also in favor of learning your basics first, and he is good at doing that in a funny and interesting way.

He's such a crank. I used to love AB. That is until he started tweeting, then not tweeting, the tweeting again. He's crotchety and I can't tell if he really means what he said about food trends or if he's just being his usual testy self.

@ foodefafa: you hit the nail on the head, unfortunately I see that happening quite a lot already. Because I make things from scratch my inlaws sort of embarass me about it. Some of them are genuinely impressed, but the praise seems out of place, I honestly don't think scratch pie crust is so special. Others give me that stink eye, and make sarcastic comments like "did you pick the apples/milk the cow too?" That kind of crap really gets to me, because it's so strangely self-defeating. It's like some of them PREFER their food made by a large company in another state 2 weeks before it lands on their plate.

I sort of want to say back "well how do you think your grandmother made pie??"

I agree with trends like cupcakes or macaroons or any cookbook/website/"movement" that encourages one specific type of food. In cases like that, sure you may know how to make cupcakes, but can you do much else (I know many who can't). But I disagree with the idea that the slow-food movement, or the locavore movement, or any other "movement" that seeks to connect people with their food system and understand the who/what/when/where and why of what they're eating will lead people away from basic cooking skills. I think it's just the opposite. If butternut squash is in season in your area, and you don't know how to cook it, you learn. If you're trying to move away from processed foods, you'll skip over that frozen pizza and learn how to make one at home, instead. And if you really get into it, you may decide to start raising your own chickens and growing your own garden. I think the slow-food movement, especially, is all about encouraging people to do for themselves and learn how to cook, not the other way around. As many people have already said, I think there definitely is a backlash against people who care about where their food came from and how it was made (I have my fair share in my own family), but if you really care about slow-food or eating locally or being self sufficient in general, who cares. Let them turn their noses up at my pie because I made my crust instead of buying it (they always do!). Someone will try it, someone will like it, and, eventually, that same person who turned their nose up at your cooking will decide that it isn't pretentious poison - it's just good cooking. And if they don't, then fine - more for me!

Agreeing with him or not, I was just like @arminda. I adored all things AB til I started following him on twitter and heard how he treated his fans and then how he lashed out at anyone who didn't agree/like him (he even went so far a few days as to point out how many people unfollowed him because all he did was complain and telling them very not nicely what he thought of that. Next day, it would be calling out specific people who mentioned him on twitter, saying they disagreed with him or didn't like something he did and publically talked trash about people he didn't even know. Ego much?)

I think the man can cook and I used to love watching Good Eats, but now I take everything he says with a grain of salt. Cause the whole Good Eats persona is clearly (sadly) just a well done act. :(

I ate locally grown seasonal food before it was cool. When i was a child. And I even had my own area in my mom's garden. I was soooo fortunate.

Even then there was a backlash from my friends, who believed my family couldn't afford to buy corn, or squash or strawberries, or eggs (we had chickens for a bit!!!!)... I'm 28 now, and have no space or coveted green thumb to grow a garden. And a large chunk of cash goes for fruits and veggies every week, grown as close to my home as possible.

ON TRENDS: If it takes a trend to make people want better food, so be it... but i will always try to help my friends learn to cook an egg. Something I probably learned from my mom, and perfected by watching Alton. So... Cheers, Alton! I raise my perfectly fried egg to you, and hope you'll continue to reach the audiences WORTH reaching.

I love that so many people have opinions, and here is mine.; the "Local" movement isn't a trend at all. It is more of a revisiting or reversion to a way of life prior to massive agricultural production endevours. Foolish as they seem now, history will let us now there value soon, if they had any. My grandmother and her sisters would retrieve the vast majority of items that they needed from the folks around them and in their nieghborhood. Occasionally grabbing an item or two from the forrest around her. Quit a harvest if you know what's up out there. Be careful though. Anyway, when you understand the purpose of it all, it no longer matters what others consider to be pretentious or long that snout is that they look down upon you from. Eat the way YOU want to, love the way YOU want to and most of all LIVE THE WAY YOU WANT TO. Just don't hurt anyone. Pissing them off is quite all right though. Investigating trends is fun, if there were no trends the music industry would sound horrible. Molecular gastronomy, for instance, is very cool stuff but will never replace the way that we nourish ourselves, nor will any other trend for that matter. We are the only animal that eats for a purpose beyond staying alive. We eat for enjoyment. Enjoyment of experiencing a skilled craftmens work at the stove, the enjoyment of good company at the table, the enjoyment of remembering these moments that root themselves in us. We may be fascinated by the hot ticket item but will always return to what comforts us the most and that is, for me, the most comforting. Understanding the basics and why they are basic lets us know where we came from and where we are going. The lessons of history impact directly our sense of what is really sustainable and deminishes the importance of trends. Aspic, real aspic after all is one of the most nourishing items to ever be produced. It is right up there with Quinoa. A properly composed Bechemel or Morney can bring one to absolut marvel. Moderation, good sense and a well rounded understanding of basic skills belong to ALL that is human. The basics are beautiful in simplicity and the foundation upon which all things stand. eternal. So that is Devilboys opinion. Salute to all.

I think, in general, people gravitate towards hype. That's just how we are as human beings. I can see where he's coming from. I think people definitely need to know and understand the basics. It's building a house on sand. You've got to have a good foundation to build on. That's not to say there isn't merit in some of these "food movements" we hype up. In the end, we need to care about what we eat. Period.

I rail against his grape juice commercial. Call it square.

Good Eats has gone to syndication heaven?!?! *tear*

That was my favorite Food Network show.

I take your meaning about AB being cranky but I wonder if the arc of his life isn't that of a private person having a very public personae to make a living, desperately trying to get back to being a private person again. The maddening thing about social networking is that it is at once intimate and impersonal- like hooking your brain up to a fire hose and letting her rip...

I see slow food as a movement to assure our food security - and to try to minimize fossil fuel use. What you do with those slow foods could include molecular gastronomy.

Like arminda and jmorri26, I was very disappointed once I began following AB on twitter. He is a world class crank. I admire what he's done with Good Eats, but I too must take him with a grain of salt. There is no one correct way to do things, and I think his stance on this is just another example of the. Some things are taken too far, sure, trends included. But it a big world. You can happily live your trend, and I can easily ignore it. No big deal. AB needs a chill pill.

The way I would take the comment (however it was meant) is that food trends are just like clothes trends: some do provide us with great new things or get people interested, but most of them just give us bizarre things that may not be the best tasting/best looking. Knowing how to cook ANY food to its best potential is the key to a life-long satisfying relationship with food.

I don't follow food trends. I like to experiment and use my imagination. I get inspiration from pleasing my family and trying to keep them healthy.

@Loora, to me he wasn't talking about basics like basic dishes. He's talking about basic skills, like how to properly roast a chicken. How to roast a turkey for Thanksgiving. How to cook a steak. Really simple things like how to shuck corn, pick grapes, butterfly a chicken, remove the tract from a shrimp, etc. Things that we don't always do anymore because there are pre-done options, but should learn how to do.

I started taking AB with a grain of salt the day I made one of his Good Eats recipes (done HIS way), and discovered that I preferred my mom's technique. I think he's too much of a hard ass about techniques. Food is personal, and although it is "correct" to eat scrambled eggs cooked softly, I can't stand them that way. So I'm coming down on the side of saying he's got a point, but the man also tends to be a pedant.

I'm with him. I know all too many people who bitch about how much they hate cooking when their idea of "cooking" is opening a can of something and heating it on the stove vs. the microwave yet are totally impressed by shows featuring flavored foam and other bs. Basics first.

I bet Alton Brown would have complained about the electric mixer. "Combining flour with eggs by hand and beating them for a half-hour is essential to the cooking experience." "These new 'oven' things make people lose their appreciation for managing cooking temperature with air and kindling. Proper chimney control is a cooking basic!" "Hunting with weapons destroys the essence of food and breeds cooks with no respect for the essentials!"

I think AB needs to eat more and tweet less. He's way too cranky, intolerant and self-important these days.

(And, he's too gaunt. He's not a happy camper.)

I didn't think "slow food" and "locavore movement" were actually "trends"-- but how it was done until about 60 years ago.

I agree, i wouldn't call "slow food" a trend. And these are the trends i don't mind.

I used to like AB, but he's gotten really annoying (i.e., bitter, cranky, haughty) over the years. What's a little more eye-roll inducing is that his recipes aren't so great to begin with, so i don't see why people like him so much.

Didn't Alton quit Twitter again in a huff recently? Between that and his "fanifesto", I don't care much for him or his opinions.

The most annoying thing about food trends are the names. "Locavore"? Seriously? It sounds like it was coined by the same people who combine celebrity couples' names.

I have always looked to AB for simple, dependable food explanations and recipes, but not for creativity. Food trends, like all trends, are inevitable. They are created out of innovation and sometimes necessity. There is a lot of good coming out of the Slow Food Trend. And there is a lot of interesting things being done with molecular gastronomy. As a lover of all things food and cooking, I don't think that jumping on the food trend bandwagon is a bad thing... but I also don't think that the basics should be forgotten.

I could live happily ever after without seeing another red velvet cupcake or sad hummus recipe...

I can understand why he looks down on trends. I've bought locally for YEARS, always going to the farmers markets and making things from scratch. I am not a food snob, or pretentious, I just love to cook and learned from generations of women who also loved to cook. Now all the sudden celebrities latch on to this "Slow Food" like its a new idea.... guess what, it's not! As for Molecular Gastronomy; Chemistry, math, biology... hasn't cooking and baking ALWAYS been a science?

If food 'trends' can encourage people who would otherwise not be interested in cooking or how their food is produced to cook and care about the quality of ingredients or animal welfare, then they are no bad thing.

Ah, I love AB. I see Slow food as less of a trend and more a return to embracing real food and being conscientious about what you're eating and where it comes from. Limiting all the processed crap found at the grocery store, and avoiding weird chemical additives and artificial coloring and flavors.

My family has always grown their own veggies and there is a huge difference between something fresh from the vine or dirt, compared to something that sat on a truck for a week and was harvested underripe so it doesn't rot before you get it (there is no comparison between artificially 'ripened' grocery store tomatoes and ripe garden tomatoes).

This Texas drought was murder though, I had to rip up my garden because it was taking too much water just to keep them alive, not even producing. My evergreen herbs have managed to survive with weekly watering at least.

A lot of our local farmers have suffered greatly and many ranchers have had to liquidate their herds completely because they couldn't feed them. It's very sad.

@Loora - If you've ever made macaroni and cheese, you've made a bechamel.

No snark intended, but Brown's criticism is pretty plain and understandable--his problem isn't slow food or foam-lovers per se, but snobs who look down on a lovely grilled cheese because it's too common for them, the cheese came from the grocery store and nothing was 'deconstructed'. The trend didn't interest them in cooking, the trend is ALL that interests them in cooking.

(I think Brown also suffers terribly from Sarcasm Doesn't Work on the Internet. His writing doesn't sound terribly different from his television persona to me, but without visual and audible cues, I can see how it reads more crotchety.)

Gotta agree with AB. I definitely see it as more of an issue with the people rushing after such trends and not the ideas behind them. I garden, can and buy from the neighboring farms. But I don't go out of my way to do so just to say I eat local.

And I am tired of snotty people giving me crap at work because we don't carry an complete line of organic, gluten free, local, whatever items. Buying such things doesn't make you a better, happier person.