For those who have not tuned in to their videos -- or are sensitive to having their arteries clogged -- "Epic Meal Time" creates some of the most extreme recipes that promotes the cause of cholesterol and its after effects. "This is not a cooking show. It's a celebration of food shows, and what we mix together tastes way better," said Harley Morenstein, the heavily-bearded manic leader and spokesman for the group. Some of their heart attack-inducing creations included a massive egg sandwich made up of 84 individual egg sandwiches wrapped up in a huge doughy blanket, and a lasagna stuffed with hamburgers and covered in vats of tomato sauce.
Morenstein, along with his Epic Meal Time henchmen Dave, Tyler!, Mookie, Prince Atari and Muscles Glasses, staged a media call at the Improv Montreal venue to promote their upcoming live show on July 27 at the Metropolis Club during the Just For Laughs festival. For this occasion, the guys created an original dish made of poutine, BBQ chicken, hamburgers (complete with buns), Tim Hortons donuts and of course, bacon, the omnipresent Epic Meal Time staple (in fact, the moment I entered the room where the media call took place, I was immediately assaulted with the smell of cooked bacon strips, which permeated the air). After the vicious mix of cheese, fries, ground beef, poultry, pork and deep fried sugary donuts was slammed into an Epic Meal Time creation, the rather eager media present (who used their eagerness to hide their junk food death wish) decided to step right up to the stage to sample a morsel of this example of culinary extremism. I was one of those brave individuals and tried the sandwich made of hamburger, bacon and surrounded by two chocolate donuts (in fact, I was one bite away from a massive coronary and a diabetic coma). It tasted rather good, but was rather messy (I spent the next 10 minutes -- and several sheets of paper towels -- cleaning all that greasy, messy residue from my hands and fingers). And above all, it was certainly fun to take that flirtation into the Epic Meal Time danger zone (take a look at the photo above of me chowing down on this way out creation).
And how successful is "Epic Meal Time"? Their videos are seen by millions across North America, the UK and Australia; their line of Epic Meal Time merchandise is wildly popular and they hope to do an eventual DVD/Bluray release of some of their best videos. Not bad for a group of friends from Montreal's West Island suburbs who liked to hang out together and originally wanted to do a series of workout videos (an idea that quickly went out the window the moment food became involved).
And what do they plan to create for their audience at their live show on July 27? Morenstein told me it's a closely guarded secret, but I can guarantee that bacon is going to be a key ingredient.
After personally going through the Epic Meal Time experience, I went home to indulge in some boiled white rice and fresh fruit. It did my conscience (not to mention my heart and blood glucose levels) some good.
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