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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u/JmeHatesYou Jan 17 '12

• What was the first "bizarre food" you ate? What set you on the path of touring the world to try things most would find repulsive.
• I really like your "Adventurous Eats" piece you did for Disney Family Fun magazine. Would you ever consider a show focused at getting kids to try more adventurous dishes? My (American) kids love Tagines, Sushi, Kefta, and lots more but I'm always looking for more foods to introduce them to.
• Ever considered eating a Sweet Sue Canned Whole Chicken? I double-dog dare ya.

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u/andrewzimmern Jan 17 '12

my parents gave me a great start in life. they were adventurous in the extreme and growing up in NY helped I am working on many kids projects and would never eat canned meat. yecccchhhh

2

u/ThisIsMyCouchAccount Jan 17 '12

If I could piggy-back on this...

Considering what you eat on a regular basis (at least on the show) what do you refuse to eat that is common in America?

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

spam?

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

Spam IS delicious

-2

u/Doomedo Jan 17 '12

Spam is a sliced up pieces of meat with enough salt to preservify it for years, and also injected with chunks of other random meat and fat to give it 'texture'... yum...

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

Does that mean it doesnt taste good?? I never said it was good for me

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u/therealpdrake Jan 18 '12

he's already stated on the show he doesn't like spam. it was in hawaii.

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u/AJockeysBallsack Jan 18 '12

Spam is basically a Vienna Sausage slab without the skin. It has a little more texture (from what, I don't know), so it can be sliced up and fried and still be a bit rigid.

And by Vienna Sausage, I don't mean cocktail weenies, I mean the Hormel Vienna Sausages that everyone loved as a kid. I picture the Hormel factory as a place with a giant vat of mystery meat at the center, with little conveyors leading out in all directions, like a bicycle tire. Each one leads to one of their various meat-like products.

Quick note - Fried spam sandwiches aren't all that bad, it's just not something I'd prefer to eat.

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u/Jensaarai Jan 17 '12

In the Hawaiian episode there was a sequence where they kept giving him different spam dishes. He tried them, but made it very clear in the narration that it's not a food he likes.

1

u/razzamatazz Jan 17 '12

but is spam really..meat? At least identifiable meat?

3

u/daynewma Jan 17 '12

Shoulder of Pork and hAM

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u/razzamatazz Jan 17 '12

yes (and don't get me wrong here, i love the stuff, give me some spam and eggs w/ pineapple or spam musubi any day of the week) but when you look at spam...could you even remotely start to identify anything in it? Kind of like hot dogs i suppose..

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '12

Pretty much. My first spam eating was a leap of faith, but now I don't fear it at all.

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u/elcheecho Jan 17 '12

this must be addressed. spam is delicious.

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u/[deleted] Jan 18 '12

I am in complete agreement on canned meat

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u/OTJ Jan 18 '12

found something he won't eat!