The chickpea (Cicer arietinum) (also ceci bean, garbanzo bean, chana, sanagalu Indian pea, Bengal gram) is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its seeds are high in protein and it is one of the earliest cultivated vegetables; 7,500-year-old remains have been found in the Middle East.

The name "chickpea" traces back through the French chiche to cicer, Latin for ‘chickpea’ (from which the Roman cognomen Cicero was taken). The Oxford English Dictionary lists a 1548 citation that reads, "Cicer may be named in English Cich, or ciche pease, after the Frenche tonge." The dictionary cites "Chick-pea" in the mid-18th century; the original word in English taken directly from French was chich, found in print in English in 1388 and became obsolete in the 18th century.^{[citation needed]}

The word garbanzo came to English as "calavance" in the 17th century, from Old Spanish (perhaps influenced by Old Spanish garroba or algarroba), though it came to refer to a variety of other beans (cf. Calavance). The Portuguese (?) arvanço has suggested to some that the origin of the word garbanzo is in the Greek erebinthos. But the Oxford English Dictionary notes that some scholars doubt this; it also mentions a possible origination in the word garbantzu, from Basque — a non-Indo-European tongue — in which it is a compound of garau, seed + antzu, dry.

Alton Crawford Brown (born July 30, 1962) is an American television personality, celebrity chef, author, actor, and cinematographer. He is the creator and host of the Food Network television show Good Eats, the mini-series Feasting on Asphalt and Feasting on Waves, and host and main commentator on Iron Chef America. Brown is also the author of several books on cookery.

He brings a knowledge and enthusiasm for the science of cooking and food and a humorous approach to his shows. Bon Appétit magazine named him "Cooking Teacher of the Year" in 2004. He was named "Best Food Guru" by Atlanta magazine in 2005. In 2011, he won the James Beard Award for Best TV Food Personality.

Brown was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. He was in the Boy Scouts. He received a degree in drama from the University of Georgia. He began his career in cinematography and film production.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was the cinematographer for several music videos, including The One I Love by R.E.M..