Blumer takes it and serves it

KELLEY KORBIN

Bob Blumer has shucked oysters in Virginia, hurled haggis in Scotland and donned a 40,000-bee beard right here in British Columbia, all of which add spice to his television series, Glutton for Punishment. The self-confessed foodie combines his amazing talent for cooking with his exceptionally competitive nature, as he travels the world, challenging the best of the best in a plethora of wild and wacky epicurean adventures.

In each episode, Blumer (aka the Surreal Gourmet) is given five days to learn a new food-related skill and train for some kind of challenge, where he usually manages to hold his own with the world's best. In the process, viewers are treated to visual and descriptive delights that highlight the region where the challenge is hosted and the specialty food products with which he is working. Viewers can also feast their eyes on Blumer's amazing physical prowess, as he trains for skills that range from running France's Medoc Marathon – where the typical 42-kilometre run is intensified by numerous wine tasting stops along the way – to a watermelon seed spitting contest in Arkansas, where Blumer goes up against a 10-year-old girl who is the current record-holder.

Glutton is produced in Vancouver by Paperny films and was the brainchild of Montreal-born Blumer, who told the Jewish Independent that the show perfectly blends his drive to win and his love of fine food.

"Ever since I was a kid, if there was a competition, I wanted to win it. As for food, I was such a fussy eater as a child that I basically lived off toasted lettuce and tomato sandwiches and Shake N' Bake chicken until I went to college. Now I'm just making up for lost time."

His determination has worked to make the show a hit. Producer Vera Lubimova is constantly amazed by Blumer's passion for learning new tasks.

"Bob has an extreme drive to succeed. He approaches that through everything he does in life. He has a lot of stubbornness combined with a type-A personality and he's not going to settle for mediocre," she said, adding that after 12 hours of shooting, Blumer often trains off camera in his hotel room for hours more.

And the results are apparent, Blumer often lands in the top five of the competitions he enters and, on occasion, even wins. Not too shabby when you consider that he's usually competing against professionals who have spent the greater part of their lives training in their field.

No doubt his sense of humor helps. Blumer asked, "Why overextend oneself when you can live a sedate life eating life-threatening fish, juggling razor-sharp knives, paddling 250-kilogram pumpkins, inhaling insanely hot chilies and chasing speeding wheels of cheese down impossibly steep cliffs?"

To date, one of Blumer's most compromising positions while shooting for the show was, "On my back, under six feet of murky water with my bare hand in the mouth of a pissed-off catfish." And if that image hasn't piqued your curiosity, wait until you see him undertake a week of physical training and the 15,000 calorie/day diet of a Japanese sumo wrestler next season.

The third season of Glutton is currently in production. Seasons one and two are aired regularly on Food Network Canada. For more information, go to www.foodtv.ca.

Kelley Korbin is a freelance writer living in West Vancouver.

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