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With "Good Eats" Alton Brown has taken cooking shows to a whole new level. I've been watching cooking shows since the early 1960s when Julia Child started it all on the educational channel. Then I moved on to the "Galloping Gourmet." Since then there's been no stopping me. I've watched hundreds of episodes of cooking shows, attending cooking school, and worked as a chef for years. "Good Eats" from the Food Network is as good as it gets.

Before training to be a chef at the New England Culinary Institute Alton Brown was a director and producer of films. Once he had established himself in the food industry it was only natural that he would combine these two interests. The result is a entertaining show that is not satisfied with presenting recipes in the traditional cook in the middle of the TV set with only one or two cameras.

Brown presents information in a clear, easy to understand style that will help cooks of all levels. He pays particular to they physical part of cooking and debunks many of the myths that accompany cooking lore. He does this by creating giant sized props that will explain everything from what a emulsion is to why thawing food in cold water is faster than hot. He consults a "food anthropologist" to explain where food products came from and how they were used.

He also spends a good deal of time showing the techniques of how to do something and telling why one should or shouldn't use that technique.

Best of all, Brown has a perverted sense of humor that comes out in his productions. At times he uses puppets, he has a cabinet camera, a refrigerator camera, and an oven came to give unusual, but useful views of the cooking process. He tops this off by producing episodes that make liberal use of puns. A few of may favorites are: "Give Peas a Chance," "Sprung a Leek," "My Big Fat Greek Sandwich," "The Icing Man Cometh," "Squid Pro Quo," and "Crepe Expectations."

Alton Brown does not yell like Emeril (a good thing) nor will be ever by as beautiful as Giada De Laurentis (probably a good thing since he's male) but his show is among the best and is worth watching. Episodes appear throughout the day and night on the Food Network. If you watch and follow Alton's advice you will definitely cook "Good Eats."

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