2007

S3.E1 ∙ Guinness Book of Records

Sun, Mar 29, 2009

Who can resist a stack of flapjacks dripping with gooey syrup and melted butter? At the Calgary Stampede in Alberta, Canada - one of the biggest Rodeo events in North America - they serve over 200,000 pancakes to legions of hungry party people in cowboy hats. Bob's challenge is to break the Guinness World Record for the most pancakes made in an hour! Each pancake must be equal in diameter and thickness, and those with burnt edges don't count. If Bob can pull it off, he'll earn a Guinness World Record title, plus the honor of being the fastest breakfast cook in the Wild West.

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S3.E2 ∙ One-Man Band

Sun, Apr 05, 2009

Bob has one week to train with Daniel Rose, chef/owner of a one-man 16-seat restaurant in Paris. In a typical French restaurant, a "brigade de cuisine" is classically headed by the executive chef and under him a number of others. Daniel's operation is a one-man brigade: He runs the entire restaurant solo, from shopping for all the ingredients, prep, cooking, serving the customers and cleaning up. At the end of the week Bob will take over, running the kitchen and restaurant solo for one day. Can he uphold the restaurant's reputation on a night when all the top restaurant critics in Paris sit down to dine?

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S3.E3 ∙ Lobster Banding

Sun, Apr 12, 2009

In Pictou, a picturesque seaside town in Nova Scotia, lobster is king. Every year, locals celebrate the end of the lobster season at the Pictou County Lobster Carnival. Bob's challenge is to win the Lobster Banding Contest, a race to stretch elastic bands around the pinching claws of irate, live lobsters without losing a finger. It's the daily grind for Bob's competitors, seasoned lobster fishermen who band crustaceans by the crate. They're willing to take Bob out to sea to learn about lobster catching, banding and even cracking, but they won't give up all their tricks - just watch your fingers, Bob!

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S3.E4 ∙ World Pizza Cup

Sun, Apr 19, 2009

The city of Naples is the spiritual home of pizza. So it's only fitting that it should host the annual World Pizza Cup, the largest celebration of pizza in the world, where pizza making and pizza dough tossing have become competitive sports. Bob is about to take on Pizzaiolos (pizza-makers) who come from all over the world to compete for the coveted title of World's Best Pizza-Tosser - an acrobatic show of dough tossing bravado. Bob has less than a week to learn all the dough handling moves and come up with his own routine to wow a panel of Neapolitan judges who are determined to keep the winning title in their home town.

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S3.E5 ∙ Morel Mushrooms

Sun, Apr 26, 2009

Dirty, sweaty and bug-ridden - Bob hikes into a remote swath of burnt forest in northern British Columbia in search of morels - one of the most valuable and sought after mushrooms in the world. Morel pickers are a wild and rugged breed. They live in the bush, covered in soot from head to toe, fiercely guarding their picking spots. It's always a competition to see who can make it out of the woods with the heaviest load, yielding the highest cash return. Can this city slicker take on some of BC's fastest, strongest pickers, all while surviving in the wilderness amongst black bears and burrowing ticks?

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S3.E6 ∙ Deep Fried Competition

Sun, May 03, 2009

Concessionaires at the L.A. County Fair have been getting creative with their deep fried foods, serving everything up from deep fried frog legs to deep fried cupcakes. Bob checks his calorie counter at the gate to enter in the Fair's Deep Fry Contest - where fair goers judge each vendor's entry on originality, taste and appearance. Bob learns that deep frying is no easy feat - finding the right batter, the right combination of salty and sweet, and the right oil temperature to avoid a melted mess takes hours of trial and error. He hops in his vegetable oil fueled car to test out his deep fried experiments on his neighbors in L.A., with a pit stop to explore the art of tempura at a Japanese restaurant along the way. Will Bob's fried creation hold up on contest day, or will he be up to his elbows in grease?

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S3.E7 ∙ Sea Urchins

Sun, May 10, 2009

Bob is about to meet his match - a little red invertebrate, covered in sharp spikes! The sea urchin looks like an underwater porcupine, but inside is a treasure of delicious roe. The Japanese call it Uni, and it is a delicacy in seafood restaurants all over the world. Bob's challenge is to win a race against the salty dog crew of Vancouver Island's Kuroshio Urchin Harvesting Boat. They are a competitive bunch, determined to beat out a city slicker in a frenzied urchin harvesting race. Bob's training will be rigorous. He will have to get a crash course in scuba diving, then learn how to harvest sea urchins by carefully raking them into a bag on the ocean floor without getting "spined", tangled in kelp beds or hugged by an octopus. Can Bob rake in enough of this spiky delicacy to join the Kuroshio's elite crew, or will he be forced to walk the plank?

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S3.E8 ∙ Hot Sauce Judging

Sun, May 17, 2009

In one of Glutton for Punishment's most talked about episodes, Bob survived the Hatch chili-pepper eating competition - and even came in second. Bob's pain and perseverance really touched a nerve, or several. Ever in search of a bigger chili pepper high, Bob will train to become one of the official judges at the famed Austin Hot Sauce Festival. His ultimate task is daunting: he'll have to taste over 400 different hot sauce entries in just a couple of hours! In order to hold his own amongst the judges and save face in front of over 15,000 attendees, Bob will need to develop his tasting palate to detect subtle differences in aroma, heat and flavor, while faced with the sheer volume of volcanic spices. Will he survive this fiery challenge or go up in flames?

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S3.E9 ∙ Pie Baking

Sun, May 24, 2009

Bob loves pie... but despite his love of the culinary arts, he's just never had the patience to tackle cooking's more finicky cousin. In fact, he has never baked a pie in his life! This week, his challenge will be to take a deep breath, raise his rolling pin high, and perfect the art of baking home made apple pie. He'll be competing against veteran grannies in the Shelburne Orchard's Annual Apple Pie Baking contest in Vermont. Bob will have to join the apple harvest for a couple of backbreaking day - all the better to become one with his material. His reward? Fresh air, all the crisp, organic Vermont apples he can eat and no more store bought pie.

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S3.E10 ∙ Pasta Cook

Sun, May 31, 2009

Friday night in Chicago's busiest Italian restaurant is a steaming dish of insanity! In Mia Francesca's tiny kitchen, a line of cooks stand shoulder to shoulder - screaming out orders, grinding out hundreds of plates of pasta, trying not to get burned on red-hot sauce pans - all to satisfy a dining room full of hungry pasta-lovers. Bob's challenge is to survive on the line on a busy Friday night. He'll have to be a master of coordination as he works closely with the other chefs - some of whom have been on the line for decades. When Friday night hits, will Bob be able to conquer vats of boiling pasta, or will the other chefs have to serve him up on a plate?

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S3.E11 ∙ Grape Stomp

Sun, Jun 07, 2009

At the Sonoma County Harvest Fair, locals gather to enjoy local wines, visit with old friends, and stomp out the competition in the World Grape Stomp. Teams of stompers and swabbies (the stomper squishes the juice out of the grapes with their feet; swabbies push the juice through the wine barrel spigot with their hands) have five furious minutes to fill up their jugs. Bob's challenge is to stomp and squish his way to glory! First he'll have to find a champion swabbie to be his partner, then master his stomping technique. Of course his training wouldn't be complete without a tour of Sonoma's world-class vineyards. Will Bob be able to crush the competition, or will he have to eat his sour grapes?

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S3.E12 ∙ Coffee Picking

Sun, Jun 14, 2009

Grown on volcanic rock, taking five years to mature, Kona Coffee is considered by many to be the best coffee in the world. On the rugged slopes of Kona, Hawaii, picking the perfect coffee cherry is a serious art. Bob will have to work for his cup, by entering Kona's annual Coffee Picking Contest. Bob has just three frenzied minutes to pick against master pickers who can find ripe cherries with their eyes closed. Bob will pick, mill and roast thousands of pounds of beans on a coffee farm to train for the contest. It's a grind, but hopefully the caffeine buzz will keep him going.

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S3.E13 ∙ Navy Head Cook

Sun, Jun 21, 2009

A consummate individualist, Bob has always chafed under anyone else's authority. But this week it's "yes sir, no sir" as Bob enlists in the Navy. Bob is challenged to work in the galley of a Navy frigate - a moving kitchen where half the battle is just staying on your feet. His ultimate mission? To get good grub on deck for a ship-full of hungry crew, an elite cadre of officers, and one tough Captain - all in the midst of a training operation at sea. Seasickness is nothing compared with a military mob that's armed and ravenous!

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