Travel Channel’s Andrew Zimmern on his life of bugs & beasts
Most food-themed travel shows shouldn’t be watched unless you have a meal in front of you to satiate your inevitable hunger. But that’s not the case with the Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern.” Now in its second season, the Tuesday night program showcases the grinning chef-critic’s adventures in culinary treasures most Westerners would pass up for fear of throwing up.
Bull penis soup in Bolivia? Sure. Deep-fried chicken gizzard in Minnesota? Why not? The Morocco episode from Season 1 actually made me turn off the TV. In it, Zimmern sits at a table in the local market, ready to peel back the steamed skin and dig into the fresh sheep face on the butcher paper. The all-penis menu at Beijing’s Guo-li-zhuang might have elicited the biggest reaction from audience, but when asked about it, Zimmern just smiles and says, “That’s not even in my top five.”
So speaking of foods that would make most of us gag, what are some of the worst things he’s eaten in the name of television? “Gag-worthy for me is not necessarily what’s gag-worthy for everyone else,” he says. “The things that actually make me gag most are the putrefied foods. These are things like the hakarl in Iceland, the stinkheads in Alaska, the stinky tofu in Taiwan, the calea in Morocco. All of these are completely different, but they all are literally rotted.”
Zimmern often describes the street food as “gamey” or “gelatinous,” which some might take as a warning. But he says it’s when he smiles and exclaims, “Wow! That’s interesting” that you know he’s really trying to keep his game face on.
The food featured in the Chilean episode, which aired Tuesday night and re-airs through this week, might 
have reached a new level of oddness. In it, the crew found a sea creature called a piure (pictured) and that Zimmern claims “was possibly the most visually horrifying thing I’ve seen.” The giant sponge reminded him of the Horta, the giant pulsing rock in the original “Star Trek” TV series, but “it was delicious.” Luckily, the episode also led him to some tasty, less-offensive-looking bull scrota in an onion-tomato-and-wine broth made by the Mapuche Indians.
This is all part of what Zimmern says his goal is for the show: “We show people that the world is a different place and make them realize that something that’s different isn’t something to be scared of,” adding, “I believe in the power of food as a communicating agent.”
He argues that the show also gives people a chance to see how the other half lives and that non-Western nations aren’t as lacking as they might seem. “People always remember that I eat the bugs,” he says. “They forget that in the next scene, I’m in the best restaurant in town. There just might be a handful of restaurants in Bolivia who might compete as international restaurants that could compete on anyone’s list, whereas in Los Angeles there are a hundred.”
That can be a weighty task on both the brain and the stomach. So where does this New York boy-turned-Twin Cities transplant go when he needs a rest? “I’d think I’d rather be sitting in a fala in Lanamanu Beach in Samoa than just about the best place in the world.” Just hope it’s near an open market in case he gets hungry. …
The next episode of “Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern” showcases Guangzhour, China, and airs April 15 at 10 p.m. Do you think you can match Andrew’s palette? Learn how to submit your own videos to the Travel Channel’s website here. Newbie adventure gourmands and those planning their next food vendor field trip can check out Los Angeles Times’ guide to Street Food Worldwide.
– Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
[Photos: Travel Channel]
7 Comments on “Travel Channel’s Andrew Zimmern on his life of bugs & beasts”
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April 10th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Actually, the most repulsive animal flesh I saw recently was the WallOfMeat at Safeway, rows of
tumorously red mounds of factory-abused meat, set out to entice
the grazing, corpulent shoppers.
April 10th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I love him and his show! He’s absolutely right, when I watch the show I feel like I’m traveling right along with him. Not all the foods we eat here in the US would be attractive to other nations/cultures. I’m fortunate to have a multi-cultural background so even some of the food I’ve eaten grosses out my friends :o)
Keep up good eats!
April 27th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Wow. This is really cool. I know a number of people here (US) who are skeptical of trying “unusual” foods. I have eaten a variety of said foods myself, ranging from bat to sea urchin (and yes, I have had bull testicles), and most of the time, they are actually quite good. Well…sea urchin kinda reminded me of eating a rubber-band, but the rest weren’t so bad. You just need to take a chance once in a while.
April 27th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Veganista you are a complete and toal idiot. The human body is designed to eat meat and people like you just try to defy nature for no good reason.
April 28th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I agree with Veganista. I quit eating meat a year ago, and it is truly a life changing decision. No longer do I feel bloated or heavy or in poor health. It started out as a bet with a friend to only do it for 30 days… but the benefits and the better health I experienced, is beyond measure. If subby “carnivore” believes we are born to eat meat, then why is that one of the main determining factors for colon cancer? (a diet high in meat, low in veggies & fiber is toxic!) Now when I walk by the “meat” aisle, I too, see rows of tumorously red mounds of factory-abused meat, set out to entice the grazing, corpulent shoppers.
If the animals were raised without strict confinement, not fed pumped full of chemicals, antibiotics and hormones and slaughtered humanely, it would be a different story. MEAT=SEVERE CRUELTY.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I just want to make one correction regarding the food from Morocco calea which is the word “khlih” it means dry meat like beef jerky. Old days before refrigerator was invented people in Morocco used to dry meat and keep it in a specially design storage bin from clay with olive oil and spices “NOT A ROTTEN MEAT” Mr. Zimmern didn’t get the recipe right or wanted to make the show more interesting.
February 4th, 2009 at 7:50 am
i think Ali is wrong. Zimmern probably DIDNT get the recipe wrong, they just gave him rotten meat because they dont like americans.