Bob Blumer

Bob Blumer is the host of Food Network's The Surreal Gourmet, Glutton for Punishment, and World's Weirdest Restaurants. He is also a cook book author and illustrator. Blumer was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, but now calls Los Angeles, California his home.^[1] Bob serves as an Ambassador to Second Harvest in Toronto spreading the word about food rescue and hunger relief.

Before cooking

In 1981, Blumer graduated from the HBA program at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.^[2] From 1984 to 1993 he was business manager for Canadian singer-songwriter Jane Siberry. Although his official website states he is a chef, Blumer has never worked as a chef in a professionally recognized setting.

Writer

Books written by Blumer include:

• The Surreal Gourmet: Real Food for Pretend Chefs
• The Surreal Gourmet Entertains: High-fun, Low-Stress Dinner Parties for 6 – 12
• Off The Eaten Path: Inspired Recipes for Adventurous Cooks
• Glutton For Pleasure: Signature Recipes, Epic Stories, and Surreal Etiquette

World record attempts

As part of an episode of Glutton for Punishment shot during the 2008 Calgary Stampede, Blumer set a Guinness World Record on July 10, 2008 by flipping 559 pancakes in one hour.^[3] This record has since been broken in 2009 by Steve Hamilton, who flipped a record 956.^[4]

Due to Blumer's success in Calgary, the next season of Glutton for Punishment featured attempts to break other world records. On June 12, 2010, Blumer broke the Guinness World Record for making the largest bowl of salsa at the 26th Tomato Fest in Jacksonville, Texas. Blumer and a crew of Jacksonville volunteers made a bowl weighing in at 2,672 pounds. The feat was filmed for Season 5 of his show Glutton for Punishment, which recorded Blumer's attempts to break six world's records.^[5]

On July 4, 2010, Bob Blumer broke the Guinness World Record for most pizzas made in an hour at the 14th Annual Corso Italia Festival in Toronto, Ontario. He made 168 pizzas in 60 minutes, complete with tomato sauce and cheese.^[6][7]

On August 30, 2010, Blumer broke the Guinness World Record for removing individual grains of rice from a bowl with chopsticks. He picked up 134 grains of rice in 3 minutes in Taiwan.^[8]

On July 10, 2010, Bob Blumer broke his sixth and final record of the record-breaking season, by setting the fastest time for peeling 50 pounds of onions. Blumer set the record in 2 minutes 39 seconds at the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival in Walla Walla, Washington, USA. ^{[9] [10]}

References

External links

• Official website
• The Surreal Gourmet