It probably won’t surprise you regular PH readers that the person responsible for introducing me to the wonder of the Travel Channel series, “Man vs. Food,” is none other than our own Mike Farley. As near as I can tell, the guy lives, breathes, eats, and sleeps food-related television, which is why I always defer to him when the opportunity arises to screen a new series that falls into this particular wheelhouse of his or to interview someone who’s part of such a show. Indeed, he’s already had a nice conversation with Adam Richman, host of “Man vs. Food,” about the show’s first season. But, now, the show is gearing up for its second season, which is why Mr. Richman was in attendance at the TCA tour.
First off, the guy earned my immediate respect when Joel Keller of TV Squad noted that Richman tends to do better in the challenges with hot
foods than the ones which are quantity-based, then asked him how he does it, wondering if perhaps he lines his mouth in wax.
Richman immediately grinned and said, “I saw that ‘Simpsons’ episode!”
NICE.
In actual response to the question, however, he explained, “I actually work with a chef of Indonesian descent, and he was actually the one who sort of opened my eyes to spicy food. Basically, he said, ‘You need to train your palate to taste the pepper, not just the heat, because some peppers have a more sweet or fruity taste, some are more vegetable.’ And that’s honestly what I do. I also happen to really enjoy spicy food just as a taste, so I really enjoy the taste of what I’m eating and I’m sort of able to take the sting out of it and really just enjoy the flavor of it, whereas with quantity challenges, it’s delicious food, there’s just quite a lot of it.”
