‘Epic Meal Time’ co-hosts fry up a language debate for not speaking French

The stars of extreme cooking online video show "Epic Meal Time" won over Jay Leno last month with their recipe for a shepherd's pie concoction, with a stuffing that included Kraft Dinner, pastrami and prosciutto served in the shape of a car.

Reviews were less enthusiastic, however, when Montreal natives Harley Morenstein and Sterling Toth appeared earlier this month on the Radio-Canada talk show "Tout le monde en parle."

The co-hosts of "Epic Meal Time" took questions from host Guy A. Lepage in French but, while wearing earpieces during the exchange, they responded exclusively in English.

The interview didn't go over well with all of the million-plus listeners, some of whom expressed their outrage via Twitter, while others suggested the natives of Montreal's anglo-centric West Island wanted to project their viral video personas in their primary tongue.

Debate over the appearance has spread from Montreal media blogger Steve Faguy, to U.S.-based community weblog Metafilter, although the closest thing to a consensus is Morenstein and Toth could have at least mustered a "merci."

It's not like the pair were unacquainted with the cultural landscape: the breakthrough "Epic Meal Time" touted a mega-greasy sandwich called the "Angry French Canadian."

"They're not exactly promoting Quebec as the healthiest place in the world to eat," wrote Faguy, "but they're not hiding where they come from either. If it wasn't for the language thing, you'd think they were the most proud Quebecers you'd ever seen.

"Except that in Quebec, everything is a language thing."

The controversy is notable because "Epic Meal Time" has been of the first domestic success stories in the age of custom-made YouTube videos, which transcend the politics of Canadian content and reach an international audience on their own merits instead.

"Epic Meal Time" failed to comment on the controversy and pressed on with its longest recipe video yet: "Maximum Mac & Cheese" that garnered more than two million views in one week.

Watch the contentious segment from "Tout le monde et parle" below: