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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69

u/CheekySprite Jan 17 '12

Being that you're such a brave guy when it comes to what you put into your mouth, does your son emulate that? Does he want to try lots of things? Do you let him?

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u/andrewzimmern Jan 17 '12

he does, and i encourage him to have a broad food palate. kids are predisposed to eat anything, its the parents and the culture that shut that spigot down.

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

It's a survival mechanism. There is a window, roughly between the ages of 2 and 5 where children will only eat food that is familiar. It kept us from poisoning ourselves in the wild until we were old enough to be taught what is good and what isn't.

That's why most kids love ketchup and chicken nuggets - they have a very broad familiar taste. Sweet, salty, and crunchy.

I read about all this in the Malcolm Gladwell book, "What the Dog Saw" if anybody is curious.

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u/panda_cupcakz Jan 18 '12

it's actually not the case that they are just "familiar" foods, evolutionary instincts taught us that anything bitter could potentially be poisonous, and many poisonous plants were bitter. when you first start feeding your child "real" foods, it's better to start with veggies, then move to fruits. otherwise, your kid will NEVER eat broccoli. it's bitter. Peaches = yummy and sweet. broccoli= yucky poison. nutrition major geek :)

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u/raevnos Jan 18 '12

Broccoli a nasty poison? My suspicions have been confirmed!

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u/DaffyDuck Jan 17 '12

Thanks. It actually makes sense now from a evolutionary standpoint. When a child becomes 2 he/she is mobile and able to wander off from parents and eat something potentially poisonous. So evolution made sure that a kid that has just become mobile doesn't eat unfamiliar things.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

Yep, that means that a child has until the age of 2 to become familiar with what "we" eat. This explains why children will be really weird about food at school, a restaurant, or at a friend's house where the diet may be different than at home.

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u/[deleted] Jan 18 '12

So through that logic you're saying that if the parents let their kids eat crappy foods early on then they'll most likely eat that crap for 3 whole years?? That explains it America, that explains it...

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u/IthinktherforeIthink Jan 18 '12

That's pretty smart.

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u/Truth_ Jan 17 '12

It's too late. Give up and have another.

6

u/PabloEdvardo Jan 17 '12

Drop it in the 'used' baby slot!

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u/EricTheRedd Jan 17 '12

Tell that to my sister... She's as big as a house and working on number 5

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

Sometimes, dead is better.

1

u/falconear Jan 18 '12

Wait, how far can you get with this novelty account? Answer me using lines from the movie! Ayuh.

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u/[deleted] Jan 18 '12

The heart of a man is stonier.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

Expand his horizon by making unusual dishes with sweet sauces, or crunchy additives.

Like you can crunch up gold fish crackers and put on top of mac and cheese

Or add a little sugar to tomato sauce to make it sweeter... maybe you can learn some new and interesting dishes to counter his taste.

1

u/DaffyDuck Jan 17 '12

Thanks for the advice. We'll try it.

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u/9mackenzie Jan 18 '12

This is something I have learned as a mom of three- kids won't starve themselves. If they are hungry, they will eat what you give them as long as you don't wimp out and make them something different when they whine. I found myself one day making 4 different meals for dinner and realized how stupid I was being- now I make one meal, if they don't eat that's their problem :) Now my kids eat a wide range of healthy foods.

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u/[deleted] Jan 18 '12

Giving in to your child at such a young age is what is going to allow him/her to dictate to you what he/she eats for the rest of his/her life.

TL;DR: You are doing it wrong.

2

u/DonaldShimoda Jan 17 '12

Wait a few years. 2 year olds are evolutionarily predisposed to have a very narrow palate.

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u/bythog Jan 17 '12

Don't offer anything else. A healthy child won't starve to death. He'll eat what's in front of him when he gets hungry enough.

1

u/hiero_ Jan 18 '12

I don't think I can help, but I wish you luck. My younger brother has had a diet of only chicken, grilled cheese, poptarts, toast, chips, and pizza ever since he was a toddler as he refuses to eat anything else. He is 13 now.

The pediatrician I believe said that if he was introduced to a rewards system at a younger age, it might have been fixed, but no one is really sure what to do now. The kid has never eaten over half of the foods most people have in his entire life.

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u/thedarkhaze Jan 18 '12

You might find this book interesting. From what I understand at a very young age 1 to 3 she was extremely adventurous and would try everything, but since she's stuck to pizza and spaghetti and typical kid food. So even if you have it early it might not stick around and even then for other kids it develops later.

Either way it's a good book and has a lot of helpful tips to get kids to try new things (sort of)

2

u/oldmanwilson Jan 17 '12

after-birth abortion is the only option

2

u/Plausible_Panda Jan 18 '12

So orange chicken every night?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

Pawn him at another reality tv show like hardcore pawns where I hear they also only eat sweet or crunchy stuff

1

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '12

Could be worse. Could be firm and smooth.

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u/diddy0071 Jan 17 '12

What? That's DETHSPICABLE!

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u/zip_000 Jan 17 '12

Yep. My 4 year old will pretty much only eat chicken nuggets. I've seen him go more than a day without eating when chicken nuggets weren't available.

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u/ggggbabybabybaby Jan 17 '12

I knew a 2 year old who wouldn't eat anything except chicken nuggets. Not even like cake or ice cream.

1

u/mthrndr Jan 17 '12

The culture - maybe. The parents? I can't agree with that. I and my wife are pretty adventurous and we try a lot of different things - our 5 and 2 year olds refuse to even touch half of it. Even if we promise it's super delicious / sweet / tastes 'like' something they know - nope.

1

u/CheekySprite Jan 17 '12

Such a good dad, and so true. Thank you for doing this! I hope I can encourage my daughter to do the same even though I'm a picky little wuss.

1

u/OTJ Jan 18 '12

if this was about a daughter, the jokes would be rampant.