Bob Blumer is a Canadian television personality. He was the creator and host of the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

shows '' The Surreal Gourmet'', ''Glutton for Punishment'', and the host of ''

World's Weirdest Restaurants ''World's Weirdest Restaurants'' is a Canadian reality television series produced by Paperny Entertainment that airs on Food Network Canada. The series follows host Bob Blumer as he travels the world searching for weird and unusual restaurants. ...

''. He is also the author and illustrator of seven cookbooks, including the most recent Flavorbomb: A Rogue Guide to Making Everything Taste Better. Blumer was born and raised in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, but now resides in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Bob serves as an Ambassador to Second Harvest in Toronto spreading the word about food rescue and hunger relief. He is also an ambassador for Love Food Hate Waste, a National Canadian zero-waste initiative. He currently works as a spokesperson, does appearances, develops food-related content, and played a character loosely based on himself in the 2022 movie The Way to the Heart.

Biography

Blumer was born in

Before cooking

In 1981, Blumer graduated from the HBA program at the

Richard Ivey School of Business Ivey Business School is the main business school of Western University, located in London, Ontario, Canada. It offers full-time undergraduate and graduate programs in London, Ontario and maintains a Toronto facility for its EMBA program and two ...

at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

. From 1984 to 1993 he was business manager for Canadian singer-songwriter

Jane Siberry Jane Siberry ( ; ; born 12 October 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, known for such hits as "Mimi on the Beach", "I Muse Aloud", "One More Colour" and "Calling All Angels (Jane Siberry song), Calling All Angels". She performed the theme so ...

As a 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'' * ''Surreal Gourmet Bites:Showstoppers and Conversation Starters * ''Off The Eaten Path: Inspired Recipes for Adventurous Cooks'' * ''Pizza on the Grill'' (co-written with Elizabeth Karmel) * ''Glutton For Pleasure: Signature Recipes, Epic Stories, and Surreal Etiquette'' * ''Flavorbomb: A Rogue Guide to Making Everything Taste Better''

As an Artist

In addition to creating his signature surreal food presentations and illustrating his own cookbooks, Blumer’s illustrations and objets d’art can be found in many places: • In 2012, he designed and fabricated the Surreal Gourmet Suite at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto • In 2016, he was commissioned to create a series of interactive food stations for the iconic Canadian photographer Ed Burtynsky. • In 2020, he re-designed all of the public spaces and fabricated many pieces of sculpture for Shelter Hotel in Los Angeles. Blumer’s artwork has also been commissioned by Emeril Lagasse, The Benziger Family Winery, the Hollywood Farmers Market, The 2019 Bonavista Biennale, and the Jessop Winery Art Gallery in Napa Valley, CA.

Guinness World Records

As part of an episode of ''Glutton for Punishment'' shot during the 2008

Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, fair, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year a ...

, Blumer set a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

on July 10, 2008, by flipping 559

pancake A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat type of batter bread like cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based Batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a ...

s in one hour. This record has since been broken in 2009 by Steve Hamilton, who flipped a record 956. Due to Blumer's success in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, the fifth and final season of ''Glutton for Punishment'' featured attempts to break six other world records. He broke all six records he attempted. On June 12, 2010, Blumer broke the Guinness World Record for making the largest bowl of

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

at the 26th Tomato Fest in

Jacksonville, Texas Jacksonville is a city located in Cherokee County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,997 at the 2020 U.S. census. It is the principal city of the Jacksonville micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Cherokee County. Ja ...

. 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. On July 4, 2010, Bob Blumer broke the Guinness World Record for most

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

s made in an hour at the 14th Annual Corso Italia Festival in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario. He made 168 pizzas in 60 minutes, complete with tomato sauce and cheese. On August 30, 2010, Blumer broke the Guinness World Record for removing individual grains of rice from a bowl with

chopsticks Chopsticks are shaped pairs of equal-length sticks that have been used as kitchen and eating utensils in most of East Asia for over three millennia. They are held in the dominant hand, secured by fingers, and wielded as extensions of the han ...

. He picked up 134 grains of rice in 3 minutes in Taiwan. This record still stands. On July 10, 2010, Bob Blumer broke his seventh record 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, United States. This record still stands. http://community.foodnetwork.ca/blogs/hostsinterviews/archive/2011/02/14/glutton-for-punishment-bob-blumer-on-the-onion-episode.aspx

References

External links

*
The Surreal Gourmet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blumer, Bob American food writers Anglophone Quebec people Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian television chefs Living people University of Western Ontario alumni Writers from Los Angeles Writers from Montreal Year of birth missing (living people) Chefs from Montreal