TruTV’s ‘Fast Foodies’ celebrates an underappreciated culinary artform
In an era when we’re all trying to eat healthy, there is still a place for fast food.
Be it a burger, pizza, fried chicken or some other quickie comestible, there’s no doubt they scratch an itch no matter how much they may make the cholesterol or blood sugar level climb. And “Fast Foodies” celebrates that.
Premiering Thursday, Feb. 4, on truTV, the lighthearted half-hour series sees three awardwinning chefs – Kristen Kish, Jeremy Ford and Justin Sutherland – competing to see who can recreate and then remix fast food dishes that will best satisfy the palate of a celebrity guest, be it Joel McHale, Andy Richter, Fortune Feimster or James Van Der Beek. The winner takes home the Chompionshop Trophy while the losing chefs are at the wrong end of a gag-inducing prank.
In the opener, the chefs are tasked with recreating the world-renowned Chicago-style hot dog – basically an all-beef frank garnished with chopped white onions, pickled sport peppers, sliced tomatoes and other toppings – then use many of those same ingredients to make a totally new concoction that calls to mind the original. It was a fun exercise in imagination for the chefs, especially Sutherland, who gravitates toward the Chicago dog’s unpretentious nature.
“It’s a hot dog and a salad. It’s the whole sport peppers and for me it’s the celery salt ...,” Sutherland, a Minneapolis restaurateur and one-time competitor on “Iron Chef America,” explains. “I mean, just allbeef Vienna dogs. You know, they’re usually steamed or boiled. They don’t get too fancy with grilling them or any of that. And I like that they don’t toast the bun. It’s kind of that steamed bun that’s still soft. It’s the total package. I mean, you have to have all of those ingredients for the perfect Chicago dog and I think that’s why it’s perfect, is because they always all hit those notes and they don’t try too hard to be awesome. They just are.”
That episode also brought forth another challenge in the form of guest star McHale, whose formidable improv chops kept the chefs on their toes – and in stitches.
“It was kind of hard to get a word in edgewise,” Sutherland recalls. “One time, Kristen was just like, ‘Joel, this is our show! This is not the Joel McHale show!’ ... But once we got into our rhythm, it was great. I mean, he is the ultimate a... in the nicest sense of the word. I mean, just always has the sarcastic quip to come back with. Absolutely hilarious and it was a blast.”