Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run [Hardcover]

Alton Brown (Author), Jean-Claude Dhien (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alton Brown is the writer, director, and host of the Food Network show Good Eats, which won a 2007 Peabody Award, and is the resident food historian, scientist, and color commentator of the network’s Iron Chef America series. In 2004, his book I’m Just Here For the Food won the James Beard Award for Best Cookbook in the Reference category. A regular contributor to Bon Appétit and Men’s Journal magazines, Brown lives in the southern United States with his wife and daughter.

Jean-Claude Dhien was trained as a chef in Europe and now works as a photographer. He accompanied Alton Brown on his first Feasting on Asphalt series in 2006.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang; First edition. edition (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584796812
• ISBN-13: 978-1584796817
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #381,433 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alton Brown is the writer, director, and host of the Food Network show Good Eats, which won a 2007 Peabody Award, and is the resident food historian, scientist, and color commentator of the network's Iron Chef America series. In 2004, his book I'm Just Here For the Food won the James Beard Award for Best Cookbook in the Reference category. A regular contributor to Bon Appétit and Men's Journal magazines, Brown lives in the southern United States with his wife and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good eats along the Mississippi, April 18, 2008

By 

Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run (Hardcover)

If you watch Food Channel (FC) a lot, you know who Alton Brown is. He has a quirky little show. I must confess, he is not my favorite of those cooking on FC. But he does have an engaging personality.

This book, though, is a little treasure, as far as I'm concerned. The opening foldout map shows the nature of his mini-Odyssey along the Mississippi River, sampling diners and restaurants as he (and his crew) cycle from the Delta to Lake Itasca. I'm an Illinois farm boy, so it was cool to see some of the towns from my home state on his map--Cairo, Alton, Quincy, Nauvoo, and Moline. And other places familiar to me from the Iowa side--Burlington, Muscatine, Clinton, Dubuque.

The book begins with a nice little introduction on Brown's romance with "asphalt." Then, from state to state as the crew moves from Louisiana to Minnesota, eateries that they stop at are featured, and some recipes provided. Kind of a cool concept here.

Some examples of eateries and recipes:

New Orleans, Louisiana: Crawfish Bowl at Big Fisherman Seafood

Greenville, Mississippi: Breakfast ribs at Jim's Cafe

Memphis, Tennessee: Memphis-style turkey legs at Melanie's Soul Food

Illinois and Iowa: Loose meat sandwich (Maid-Rite--In my home town,
we had a Maid-Rite while I was in high school--Yummy!). Ground beef,
onion, prepared mustard, water, Worcestershire Sauce, kosher salt).
Despite my cholesterol level, I'm tempted to try this!

Crosby, Minnesota: Parsley Bread from The (very quirky) Nordic Inn.

There is a final description of Lake Itasca, where the Mississippi River begins.

As one might expect from watching Brown's show, this is an idiosyncratic work. But it is a lot of fun and there are some neat recipes in here. But the Odyssey may be even more interesting than the recipes. Good eats? Good reading!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!!!, March 24, 2008

By 

S. A. Sotillo "Maverick82681" (G-ville, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run (Hardcover)

I have been a Good Eats fan for 5+ years and eagerly await the newest AB Book (I own all, even a Food Network Kitchen's book). This book is my favorite! It is part motorcycle diary and part cook book... all with Alton's signature wit and commentary. Makes for a GREAT read (and how often do you say that abt a cook book?!), GET THIS BOOK! (No joke, when I went to buy this book, the person in front of AND behind me was purchasing AB Books! :o)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful Journey, March 17, 2010

By 

Longwolf "Pete Lopez" (St. Gabriel, LA, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run (Hardcover)

I encountered this book when I visited my oldest son in Atlanta. He had given it to his wife for Christmas and I picked it up to thumb through and could not put it down.

We are from Louisiana where the journey begins and immediately felt comfortably familiar with the landscape and people. Alton Brown explores the snaking journey of the Mississippi as I would love to explore it. He and his crew seek out the great original sources of comfort food at its finest. The diners, restaurants, shops, roadside stands, etc that are explored are surviving examples of what road food used to be.

There are no chains, restaurant guides, snide critics, filters, walls, etc, just great food prapared by real folks and enjoyed by a true gentleman. The cooks, owners, patrons are interviewed respectfully without sarcasm or judgement.

I loved it, learned to love Alton even more, and would recommend this great book to anyone with a soul and open mind. It is well worth reading, the recipes are clear and simple, and the whole journey is a sirens song.