Fun with Food

There is a segment of the population that really likes good food. In that segment, there is a subset who likes to know how to prepare good food. Within that subset, there's a group of people who like to know the science behind how the elements work together to make good food happen.

Alton Brown was made for this group.

I would call these people sci-foodies -- they are like science fiction geeks who love food and get into all the details of it. It's like being one of those trekkies who can rattle off any obscure detail about Star Trek you could ever think to ask -- like how many tribbles were used in the Trouble with Tribbles episode -- except the obscure details are about food. (For the record, I am not a trekkie and, no, I don't know the answer.)

Anyway, me and a bunch of other sci-foodies got to meet Alton Brown last Sunday as he gave a short talk and a book signing for Feasting on Asphalt - the River Run. He had some interesting things to say about sustainable agriculture, organics, and much more. He fielded lots of questions from the audience also.

One of his stops in the Feasting on Asphalt series last year was here in St. Louis. He visited numerous donut shops and as a result, I think St. Louis is known as the donut capitol of the country now! So I thought he might like to know about the Tour de Donut, which is a 32-mile bicycle race that takes place every July in Staunton, IL. He seemed really interested to learn about it and wrote it down on a note so he could remember it.

For every donut you eat, you can take five minutes off your time. Some people have consumed enough donuts to arrive at a negative adjusted time -- quite a feat when you consider that you have to scarf down tons of donuts then ride your bike in warm and muggy July weather. I did the race for the first time last year, but I opted out of the donut part!

It was delightful meeting Alton and who knows, maybe we'll see him at the Tour de Donut this year.