Saturday, July 19, 2008

Alton Brown vs. David Letterman

This clips shows a real television rarity; David Letterman actually lets a guest chef complete their presentation. As I've mentioned in a previous post, Letterman is much more interested in using the chef as a comic prop, than getting any kind of useful information.

Unfortunately, Alton's array of tricks, while interesting and entertaining, weren't exactly things the average home cook will be able to use. Branding a steak? Black pepper power drill? Frosting a cake on a record player? Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable segment with two of my personal favorite TV personalities. Enjoy.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL - those were great tips! I love his ingenuity. Very clever! Some worth trying, I think.

Suzanne said...

Hi Chef John,

My husband and I are HUGE AB and Letterman fans, so this clip made us both pretty happy :) I missed this particular episode. Thanks for posting it!

Unknown said...

Alton Brown really rushes through his presentation. Letterman is such a goof!

Anonymous said...

I wish I still had a record player...how fun frosting would be then.

PrimeBrit said...

From what I understand, Alton Brown is not a Chef, he is just super interested in food and the science of it. Of course, you may correct me if I am wrong!

Chef John said...

If your definition means like the Chef of a pro kitchen, then no. But if you apply my believe that being a Chef is a state of mind then yes. BTW, we're all Chefs sometimes.

Anonymous said...

I fear my husband seeing that powered pepper mill!

Lettermen has always seemed very awkward and non-skilled, but his age is starting to show here and there, making things that much worse. Never again allow that man near anything moving!

Anonymous said...

hehe this was funny, tho i wouldnt use them in a kitchen :P

Btw the thing with the cheese.. its common in france you know

Anonymous said...

Alton Brown had a really interesting presentation. Letterman, however, just came off as an asshole.

I still think the best food presentation on late night TV was Martha Stewart on Conan O'Brien doing her St. Patrick's Day menu this past March. It was a howler.

Thanks for posting this, Chef. I'm going to start looking up some stuff from Alton Brown thanks to this.

ghanima said...

Food geeks are hot.

Chef John said...

:::blushing::: thank you!

Anonymous said...

Alton Brown did go to a culinary school, not sure which one but I do remember it was a big life changing event for him. Wife, kids, packed up bags and started a new life.