Evel Knievel could successfully jump over 16 cars, but he never cleared a 50-gallon vat of ramen. That distinguished achievement went to some guy on a dirt bike nicknamed Tim "Mud Dog" this past weekend.
First, an important detail: "We did cover the soup with Saran wrap before he jumped over it with the bike. A lot of people have been really asking us about that," says Ed Cornell, the guy who sells gourmet ice cream sandwiches from a motorcycle. The feat was a collaboration between Cornell and bartender/self-proclaimed "conceptual food artist" Justin Zamieroski as part of a DIY music festival over the weekend called In It Together Fest. The idea was essentially to create the weirdest art/food project they could think of. "As long as it's fun and funny, we'll do it," says Cornell. The duo's previous projects have included an eight-foot pizza.
The jump took place at Bridge Spot, a skatepark underneath a bridge at 2nd and H streets SE, but it involved a full day of preparations. After all, why jump over instant ramen when you can make the soup completely from scratch? Cornell and Zamieroski used pressure cookers to create a concentrated stock with scallions, onions, garlic, soy bean paste, and more, which they added to the larger tub of stock. (Zamieroski is a vegetarian, so the ramen contained no meat.) They ordered fresh noodles from Sun Noodles, then sous-vided about 100 eggs. After the biker—"an anonymous hero"—cleared the ramen as some other guy played "The Star Spangled Banner" on an electric guitar in the background, everyone dug in.
"It is pretty random," Cornell admits.