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An Evening of Culinary Mayhem with the Surreal Gourmet
Blog Article | Published at cookculture.com (February, 2011)
On Friday the 11th, 50 lucky fans gathered at Cook Culture for a kitchen party led by one of our most exciting Meet the Chef hosts so far: Bob Blumer. Bob, creator and host of the popular Food Network television shows Surreal Gourmet and Glutton for Punishment, was in Victoria last week to promote his newest book, Glutton for Pleasure, and we were lucky enough to spend the day with him.
In person, Bob is everything that fans imagine, and more. He's engaging, witty and knowledgeable. Most importantly, Bob is sincere in his love of food. "The only difference between you and I is that I have a better publicist," he said after a brief introduction. "I'm just a regular foodie like you."
Bob led the class through a few of his signature recipes including steak au poivre, salmon cupcakes and chocolate wontons. Each demonstration was accompanied by behind-the-scenes stories and tasty samples to pass around. It was easy to imagine what it would be like to hang out in Bob's kitchen.
The salmon cupcakes were a crowd favourite. This throwback to the Surreal Gourmet era involves baking a salmon "cake" in a cupcake liner and topping it with a generous piping of dill mashed potato "icing." There's something thrilling about biting into a dish that looks as though it should taste completely different.
The self-professed glutton for pleasure confessed that his trip was two-fold. Of course, he was at Cook Culture to promote his latest book, but he was also in town to tour Victoria Gin's distillery (he's a shareholder in the company), and see the process of making the Island's first gin from start to finish.
Of course, no evening with Bob would be complete without a culinary throw-down or two. Early in the night, Bob challenged an audience member to his famous "Man vs. Can" challenge, in which the participant was asked to heat a can of spaghetti quicker than Bob could make a fresh spaghetti with chilli flakes, shallots, garlic and fresh tomato sauce. While it was a close battle, Bob came in first, proving that healthy food doesn't have to take a ton of time or effort.
"Fresh ingredients do the hard work for you," he said.
The final event of the evening, known as the glutton triathlon, pitted three members of the audience, relay-style, against Bob. The challenge? Eat 50(ish) individual grains of rice with chopsticks, peel five onions, and crack twenty four eggs with one hand. Anyone who's watched Glutton for Punishment on the Food Network knows that Bob has a competitive spirit. In a victorious flourish, Bob chomped on his final peeled onion while he watched his opponents finished.
If you missed out, drop by Cook Culture and pick up your copy of Glutton for Pleasure, which includes Bob's best stories and recipes from his days as the Surreal Gourmet to the present.
Copyright © 2010 Writing Victoria & Candice Schultz
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