H-Town on TV
Hairy Bikers' spicy Houston episode is here: Goes whole hog with West AlabamaIce House love
The Hairy Bikers
Hairy Bikers during their filming at West Alabama.Photo by Caroline Gallay
We wrote back in August about our Hairy Bikers sighting at West Alabama Ice House. Now, everyone can watch the Houston episode at 8 p.m. Friday.
The History Channel crew had been in town filming scenes for an episode dedicated to hot chile peppers. Houston's James Wreck and the crew of his local food program, Eat More Heat, brought the out-of-towners to Montrose institute West Alabama Icehouse to try some chiles — including two of the four hottest peppers on the planet, the ghost pepper and the Trinidad Scorpion.
Also featured from the Houston area are the Kearley Seeds & Pepper Co., Spring's Atkinson Farm and Gator Pit of Texas, a maker of custom barbecue pits, grills and smokers.
"When you're out, you're smelling the roads," Allen said. "If you're in the swamp you can feel the swamp air; if you're by the coast you can feel the salt on your skin. Things that, if you don't ride, you could never imagine."
Hairy Bikers has been airing in the United Kingdom for four seasons, but just premiered stateside this month. American (and Texan) hosts Bill Allen and Paul Patranella — a revered Bryan, Texas bike shop owner and a Le Cordon Bleu grad and former personal chef for George W. Bush, respectively — take their hogs on the road to explore regional cooking cultures.
We caught up with the duo — who are both from Bryan and have been friends for decades — on their way to the airport to chat about how they got the gig and what viewers can expect from the rest of the season.
Allen was working on a shoot at his bike shop when he was first pitched the Hairy Bikers American iteration. Producers were looking for a guy who knew his way around a kitchen, and Allen said he had just the guy — his best friend and classically trained chef, Paul Patranella. One thing the biker dudes didn't have, Allen says, were head shots, but that was soon remedied.
The show has taken its hosts across the country, where they say they aim to "get down to the brass tacks" of local culture. They couldn't narrow down their craziest experience, but gave us a few examples of some of the most memorable: Pig eared sandwiches in Jackson, Miss., hunting gators with crossbows in Florida and going after nutria in the swamps of Louisiana.
Although they sometimes employ more traditional modes of transportation to get from state to state, Allen says once they're within state borders they insist on taking the bikes — even, sometimes, to the chagrin of the crew. "You can't capture it driving in your car in a contained area. When you're out, you're smelling the roads. If you're in the swamp you can feel the swamp air; if you're by the coast you can feel the salt on your skin. Things that, if you don't ride, you could never imagine."
Watch the guys ride into Houston in "On Fire" at 8 p.m. Friday on The History Channel.
