Serious Eats
The History Channel's New Show 'Food Tech' with Bobby Bognar
"Food Tech is strikingly similar to Food Network's Unwrapped."
[Photograph: The History Channel]
Bravo, the Travel Channel, and TLC have all upped their food-focused content of late, and now the History Channel is getting into the mix. Its newest series, Food Tech, premieres this Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET.
Hosted by "food industry veteran" Bobby Bognar—his bio says he's a former line cook currently employed by BAMCO, a catering service for corporations, colleges, etc.—Food Tech aims to "deconstruct America's favorite meals."
We got our hands on some press screeners and previewed the first couple of episodes: "Cheeseburger & Fries" and "Chinese Take-Out." After the jump, see if tuning in is worth your time [NO MAJOR SPOILERS].
Food Tech is strikingly similar to Food Network's Unwrapped in concept, except its scope is more general: popular American meals rather than specific branded foods like Tootsie Pops and Slurpees.
Bognar hits up one of many food factory stops, sporting the requisite headwear and ready to taste anything. [Photograph: The History Channel]
In each episode, Bognar goes to several different mega-factories around the country, donning an attractive hairnet or hardhat when appropriate, to show how commercial food is produced from start to finish.
It bears little resemblance to the documentaries that have come out in recent years to expose how terrible mass-produced food is; like my favorite former Double Dare host on Unwrapped, Bognar doesn't express concerns. He's just a goofy dude who loves to eat.
At a massive feed lot in Illinois, he enthusiastically points out the weight-gain hormones that go into cow feed; when he gets to the cheese factory, he explains that "chemical assistance" is needed for perfectly melty cheese.
Sure, many burger aficionados agree that good ol' processed American cheese is tops. I guess I just expected something slightly more hard-hitting from the History Channel. Random quips show that Bognar's with the times—"This french fry oil has no trans-fats, so that's good, it's healthier!"—but Food Tech does not aim to be at all political.
There are some interesting tidbits—like a brief interview with former New York Times reporter Jenny 8. Lee, author of the Fortune Cookie Chronicles, at a fortune cookie factory—but the hour-long episodes start to drag.
Some entertaining moments involve watching Bognar try absolutely everything as he covers the process behind processed foods.
He could rival Andrew Zimmern for culinary bravery, tasting everything from tomato pomace in a ketchup factory (used for animal feed) to the oyster concentrate that flavors Chinese oyster sauce. I consider myself a pretty adventurous eater, but my stomach churned a little as he sampled a spoonful of the fermented solids strained out of soy sauce.
Bognar looks sublimely happy when, after what seems like weeks of factory-hopping around the country, he finally gets to dig into that cheeseburger and fries. After seeing how it was made, the finished product didn't make me all that hungry.
Food Tech kicks off tomorrow, Thursday night (January 21) with the cheeseburger episode, then moves onto Chinese food and American-style Mexican. If cutting back on these not-exactly-healthy meals is part of your New Year's resolution, watching this series might actually help.
Check it out on Thursdays on the History Channel.