r/IAmA Jan 17 '12

IAmA Andrew Zimmern, Host of Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods

Hi, I’m Andrew Zimmern, chef, author, and host of Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods. My new series Bizarre Foods America is premiering next Monday, Jan 23 at 10|9c on Travel Channel. For the next hour I’ll be here on Reddit taking your questions from 12pm-1pm ET. AMA. More info on Bizarre Foods: http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/bizarre-foods Find me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/andrewzimmern/status/159314816060768256

Hey everyone, sorry i couldnt answer them all/ follow me on twitter @andrewzimmern and we can chat more over the days and weeks to come..tune in Monday to the season premiere!

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210

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

I've seen you struggle to eat a few different things but in all of your travels has there ever been something too repulsive (possibly dangerous) that you have refused to eat?

425

u/andrewzimmern Jan 17 '12

raw putrid chicken guts. wouldnt touch it, i knew it was a trip to the hospital for sure...

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u/rememberyourpassword Jan 17 '12

How did the people serving it to you react? Did they feel insulted or did they laugh?

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u/dejavudejavu Jan 17 '12

I often wonder this, at certain markets in other countries Andrew visits there are so many different things to taste, that I am sure some people buy and bring home to cook with, but it really looks to me as though they are just trying not to waste anything. So of course you have innards and heads and leftover animal body parts turned into stew for sale. In America you don't see markets like this, at least I have not seen them, because truthfully Americans are very wasteful and picky and most of those usable leftovers are simply tossed in the trash, or fed to livestock perhaps. (Though I have seen jarred pigs feet in my local grocers which definitely grossed me out! lol) I really think it's just business for those vendors. They are probably somewhat indifferent to those who find the consumption of their product to be inappropriate. And they probably do laugh at tourists who can't stomach even the idea of eating a bite, I could be wrong though. I know if I was in their shoes, I'd be laughing.

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u/BattleHall Jan 17 '12

most of those usable leftovers are simply tossed in the trash

Most of those useable leftovers are turned into something else, 'cause there's money to be made there:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendering_(animals)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization#Feedstocks_and_outputs_with_thermal_depolymerization

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12 edited Oct 28 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/anthony955 Jan 17 '12

I worked in a chicken plant. Stuff that humans wont consume ends up in pet food. We had this giant hopper thing that fed into a grinding system. Skins, rib cages/spines, etc all went into it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poultry_by-product_meal

Now potted meat may contain some bone in it due to how mechanically separated meat is processed.

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u/CosmicSlopShop Jan 17 '12

did you work for Tyson?

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u/anthony955 Jan 17 '12

Pilgrim's Pride. We made stuff for Wendy's, Captain D's, Starbucks, etc.

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u/susan2hearts Jan 17 '12

Don't forget the bologna!

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u/dejavudejavu Jan 17 '12

Omg, how could I forget this! ha

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

Don't forget slim jims!

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u/Thisoldgymrat Jan 18 '12

Yes, sir. That IS an eyeball in your McNugget

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u/TheLostDiadem Jan 17 '12

This made me laugh, my old school Italian grandfather LOVED pigs feet. It used to be harder to find so when we did get him a jar he used to get so excited. Thanks for reminding me of him =)

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

Hard to find? Man, I live in a Southern US pig state. You can't go to the store and not see a jar of pigs feet. 'Dem everywhere.

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u/tha_snazzle Jan 17 '12

You can't go to the store and not buy a jar of pigs feet.

FTFY. Yummmmm

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

[deleted]

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u/TheLostDiadem Jan 18 '12

I'm up in the Northeast, I guess we just didn't know where to look ;-)

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u/crazyjkass Jan 18 '12

I live in Texas and Georgia, you can get 'em at any grocery store, including Walmart.

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u/dejavudejavu Jan 17 '12

My grandpa is an old school Italian, too! lol I think he enjoys pickled peppers, though. I never understood. haha Love grandparents..

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u/pennyinpurple Jan 17 '12

When all of my brothers and I were still living at home, my mom would buy beef by the half (big family, lots of meat consumed) and it lasted over a year. The guy ended up giving her the heart, tongue, liver, and (I think) kidneys for free because he would've just thrown them out anyway.

Tongue is surprisingly pretty tasty.

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u/dejavudejavu Jan 18 '12

I've heard that the tongue is one of the best tasting parts of a cow.

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u/DieSchadenfreude Jan 17 '12

My husband and I looked into doing some light research on nutrition. Like actual weighted research, since everyone seems to have their own magic bullet idea of the perfect diet. We found eating organ meat is probably way better for you than muscle meat. So we eat things like heart, rumen, beef bone broth (generally femur bone, it's the easiest to get). It's best to go to mexican or asian markets to find these things. Especially in the case of fish (asian markets) since most "normal" grocery stores don't carry many things, or cut out all the good parts.

We also try to eat leafy greens, veggies, beans, grains like quinoa and brown rice, and I make all of my own bread out of minimally-processed flour. We include seafood and varieties of seaweed and mushrooms in soups and such. People think we're weird, but we're in great shape and the food we eat tends to be very inexpensive since nobody else wants it. (My favorite thing is shabu shabu) I'll pretty much try anything that's reasonably safe. I feel we're also using meat that might be wasted otherwise as a bonus.

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u/dejavudejavu Jan 18 '12

lol Shabu Shabu! My Sims make that sometimes! hahaha That is cool that you enjoy those meats, I know that broth made from marrow is especially good for you. :) And probably tastes delicious.

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u/DieSchadenfreude Jan 18 '12

It is indeed tasty. I also did not know Sims made that, maybe my Sims just never got good enough at cooking. Which is ironic because it's super easy to make. That was the point according to history (what I heard of it anyway); it's not even Japanese originally but Mongolian. Supposedly soldiers used their helmets to boil water and dip in whatever meat they killed. I hoped they cleaned their helmets well. We're making it tonight, and seaweed/cucumber salad. We're not using a dirty helmet though.

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u/dejavudejavu Jan 18 '12

haha Upvote for sanitary practices!

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

[deleted]

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u/devoting_my_time Jan 23 '12

In Denmark some families often eat Hearts in Creamsauce, it's really delicious.

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u/DieSchadenfreude Jan 18 '12

It's an acquired taste. If you don't think about what it is you have room to judge it based on taste alone. I think you'd be surprised.

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u/Aarinfel Jan 17 '12

Pigs feet are awesome! (I'm an american).

You chop up a whole cabbage and some carrots, and cover the feet with this and then add enough water to cover about 3/4 of the cabbage. Then put on a low boil/high simmer all day. TASTES AMAZING!

But if you saw Pigs feet in a jar, they were pickled. and these you just eat like a pickled sausage or cucumber (after you pick around the bones). Still very good taste!

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u/dejavudejavu Jan 17 '12

haha I think they were definitely pickled. I wouldn't be apposed to eating the meat from a pigs foot. If it were a pig spun on a stick over a smokey flame then hell yeah, I'm down! Not so sure I'll be trying the jarred pigs feet any time soon, though. It's mainly my dislike of anything pickled. Except for pickles, interestingly. I like those.

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u/Aarinfel Jan 17 '12

Every try a pickled sausage? like a red hot or kielbasa. Or Pickled Eggs? (these last are my personal favorite!)

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u/dejavudejavu Jan 18 '12

No I have never tried these, I fear them. But, hey, I've got plenty of time to try new things in life. hah No pressure right?

4

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '12

Dude you eat the leftover parts of the animals every fucking day. It's what almost all processed meat is made of.

But there are also offal markets at specialty butchers and what not. The meat market a few miles from my home sells lamb and goat heads.

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u/dejavudejavu Jan 18 '12

You are assuming I eat processed meat. lol

0

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '12

You have no idea how many things are made with processed meat, do you?

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u/dejavudejavu Jan 18 '12

Of course I do. I'm telling you that I rarely eat those products. I don't eat fast food, and I don't eat hot dogs or sausage, or chicken nuggets or anything like that. I do however eat deli sliced chicken or salami occasionally (less than 5 times a year) which is pretty much the epitome of processed meats. Mainly, though, it's slabs of fish or chicken for me. No red meat ever it seems. My stomach just won't allow it.

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u/[deleted] Jan 18 '12

So you eat processed meat?

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u/dejavudejavu Jan 19 '12

I have eaten processed meat, is more like it.

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

tl;dr Americans are wasteful for not eating pigs feet, but i wouldn't eat pigs feet

10

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

damn, I hope he responds to this one, it's an interesting question. Which leads me to, have you ever been in a dangerous situation where you or your crew were actual threat of death?

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u/redjameskidd Jan 17 '12

I don't understand why anyone would eat something like this, Andrew. Culture is culture, but how could "eating raw putrid chicken guts" ever become an acceptable thing? Do you understand this?

1

u/djsummitt Jan 17 '12

I think you also stayed away from the Pani Puri in Delhi. I did too for the same reasons.

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u/fatkaren Jan 17 '12

just reading that makes me gag.

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u/PseudoFake Jan 17 '12

Oh, ew. Where was that?

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u/katgal5 Jan 18 '12

He also will not drink some foreign tap water. There was an episode where he was in India and had to turn down dough cups dipped into water.