Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern

*Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern*
Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern
Genre	Food/Travel
Starring	Andrew Zimmern
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	35
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	Travel Channel
Release	2006 (Pilot) –; Present

Countries visited by Andrew Zimmern on *Bizarre Foods* (up to episode 35, including unaired episodes). Blue dots indicate when a specific city was visited.

Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern is a documentary-styled travel and cuisine program hosted by Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel. The first season debuted on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 9pm ET/PT.

Bizarre Foods focuses on regional cuisine from around the world which is typically perceived by the American masses as being gross, unique, or, of course, bizarre. In each episode, Zimmern focuses on the cuisine of a particular country or region. He typically shows how the food is procured, where it is served, and, usually without hesitation, eats it.

Originally a one-hour documentary titled Bizarre Foods of Asia, repeated showings on the Travel Channel drew consistent, considerable audiences. In late 2006, it was decided to turn the documentary into a weekly, one-hour show with the same premise and with Andrew Zimmern as the host.

Bizarre Foods draws many parallels to Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, which airs Mondays on the Travel Channel immediately after Bizarre Foods. Whereas No Reservations can be seen more as a mix of travel, unique food, and nightlife, Bizarre Foods focuses more on the ethnic foods and culture of the regions and in particular what Americans see as oddities.

Among the many weird foods sampled by Zimmern in the show, some of the most bizarre include haggis, nutria, balut, goose intestines, coconut grubs, callos (blood sausage and tripe casserole), fruit bats, and a still-beating frog heart, among many other dishes.

Zimmern begins and ends every episode with his line "If it looks good, eat it."

Episodes

Season 1

#	Air date	Location	Notes/Featured Bizarre Foods
Pilot	November 1, 2006	Asia	Pilot episode in Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia. Frog sashimi (plus the frog's beating heart), lizard sake, fugu, turtle, Kobe beef, bird's nest soup, frog ovary soup, spirulina, bat, Belacan, durian.
1	February 26, 2007	Philippines	Balut, Okoy (shrimp pancake), yam and cheese-flavor ice cream in a bun, water crickets, soup no. 5 (bull's rectum and testicles soup), coconut grubs, Betute Tugak (stuffed frog), mangrove worms.
2	March 5, 2007	Morocco	Lamb tongue and eye, cow’s heart, stuffed pancreas, cuttlefish, poached calf’s brain, pigeon pie.
3	March 12, 2007	Ecuador	Guinea pig, empanada, cow's stomach, lining, and heart, lemon ants, piranha, coconut grubs, chicha. Andrew participates in a cleansing ritual.
4	March 19, 2007	Spain	Suckling pig, baby eels, pig ears, bull testicles, deep-fried worms, horchata, rooster comb, pine and seaweed gelees.
5	March 26, 2007	Gulf Coast	Nutria, squirrel, Turducken, boudin, opossum, chitterlings, 33 oysters, alligator, grouper throat, flathead mullet, roe.
6	April 2, 2007	United Kingdom	Haggis, pheasant, cockles and whelks, jugged hare, jellied eels, head cheese, ox heart and bone marrow, pie and mash, pigeon.
7	July 9, 2007	Trinidad and Tobago	Iguana, conch, souse, pig's feet, cow heel soup, callaloo, shark sandwich, King mackerel sashimi.
8	July 16, 2007	Mexico	Octopus, grasshopper (chapulines) pizza, armadillo, mosquito eggs, chicken feet, mole and duck enchilada.
9	July 23, 2007	Alaska	Beluga and Bowhead whale muktuk (fermented blubber), spruce tea, Eskimo ice cream, whitefish, fermented fish heads, seal soup, walrus, jellied moose nose, reindeer pizza, ptarmigan. Andrew goes on a sled dog tour.
10	July 30, 2007	Taiwan	Stinky tofu, unborn chicken eggs, cockscomb, chicken uterus, fermented meat, black-bone chicken testicles, fried bees.
11	August 6, 2007	New York City	Special episode with guest Anthony Bourdain. Tongue sandwich, geoduck, live lobster, ceviche, pupusas, worm pretzels, maggot pupae, tarantula pops, teriyaki cockroaches, jellyfish salad, sea cucumber salad, goose intestine, frog congee, salo.
12	August 13, 2007	Vietnam	Cobra parts including beating heart and dried bones, civet dropping coffee, pig's ears, silk worms, scorpions, roasted sparrows, bull penis, horseshoe crab. Andrew also visits a fish sauce factory.
	November 28, 2007	Most Memorable Moments	Season 1 recap with some of its highlights, including lamb's head, guinea pig, roast pigeon, worms, grubs, armadillo, and stinky tofu. Also included were outtakes and unaired scenes.
	February 26, 2008	Best Bites	Season 1 recap with some of its highlights, including Balut, hen's uterus, grubs, conch, ptarmigan, jellied eels, nutria, octopus, and souse. Also included were unaired scenes and a preview of season 2.

Season 2

#	Air date	Location	Notes/Featured Bizarre Foods
15	March 4, 2008	Beijing, China	Cicada, seahorse, sea urchin, donkey rib and tail stew and skin, dried tree lizard, sea cucumber, camel paw, pig stomach, dao jiao, snake penis, fried deer penis, yak penis, whelk over dry ice.
16	March 11, 2008	Iceland	Hákarl, grilled puffin, slátur (a type of blood pudding) skyr, lamb hot dog, geothermal cooking: langoustine.
17	March 18, 2008	St. Petersburg	Vobla, borscht, cow's tongue, kvas, herring blini, salo, pickled lamprey, brown bear meat, caviar, shashlik.
18	March 25, 2008	Minnesota	Pig's foot, lutefisk, reuben on a stick, spaghetti and meatballs on a stick, gator on a stick, teriyaki ostrich on a stick, wild boar's liver, brain, and testicles, venison, sauerkraut pie, deep fried chicken gizzard, goober burger (with peanut butter and mayonnaise), herring roe.
19	April 1, 2008	Bolivia	Lamb kidneys, tripe, bull penis soup, all-organ dish, llama brain and tongue, carpaccio, pickled pig's feet, lamb jerky, chitterlings, mocochinchi (peach juice with cinnamon), llama jerky, chuño, mangosteen, armadillo, feral pig, quinoa, Titicaca Orestias.
20	April 8, 2008	Chile	Abalone, Pacific razor clams, cow udder, braided intestines, blood sausage, lúcuma juice, donkey milk, cow's butt sandwich, barnacles, mussels, seaweed, horse, conger eel, live sea squirt, fresh bull testicle and scrotum stew, lamb's blood pudding.
21	April 15, 2008	Guangzhou, China	Grilled squid, dim sum with chicken feet, stuffed duck's feet, stir-fried milk with shrimp, turtle soup, pigeon, scorpion, suckling pig, jellyfish salad, worm and hairy crab roe omelet, wood ear, frog legs, 60 meter long noodle, stinkhorn, hairy gourd, starfish being used for decoration.
22	April 29, 2008	Delhi, India	Pomfret, lentil, brain curry, mutton liver and kidney stew, tandoori roti, goat and lamb testicles, paneer, boiled banana flower, banana plant stem, fruit sandwich, pani puri, lassi, mutton balls, gushtaba, chapati.

Season 3

#	Air date	Location	Notes/Featured Bizarre Foods
23	September 9, 2008	Phuket, Thailand	Fried grasshoppers, pork liver and beef stomach & intestine soups, coconut balls, stretched squid, stuffed mackerel, wasp larvae, stir-fried stingray, mole crabs, wasabi-, chili-, and tom yum-flavored cashews and cashew apple juice at a cashew factory, red weaver ants, forest lizards, fish stomach sauce, deep-fried fish skin, horseshoe crab, sea whelk.
24	September 16, 2008	Sicily	Cow stomach soup, mystery meat soup, beef spleen sandwich, sardine meatballs, gourmet cow's mouth, Cerda Artichoke festival: fried, roasted, marinated, and frittata artichoke, and artichoke gelato on a bun, chocolate rabbit, cinnamon pudding, bottarga, tuna heart and sperm, cuttlefish eggs and pasta with ink, sea snails.
25	September 23, 2008	Goa	Bora berry, chouricos (spicy pig offal and fat sausage), pickled mackerel, Vindaloo, hilsa fish roe, Bombay Duck, chicken Xacuti, pomfret, prawns, chickpea sandwich, golgappa (chickpea-stuffed pastries), chili fritters, betel nuts, sorpotel, mushroom and lentil curry, potatoes and rice in sour mango sauce cow urine herb drink Andrew visits the Sahakari Spice Farm and tries Ayurveda and yoga.
26	September 30, 2008	Samoa	Samoan apple, se'a (sea cucumber intestines), pork pies, mutton, umu-cooked eel, whole pig cooked in 'umu oven, raw tuna eyeballs and still-beating heart, giant clam, roasted tree grubs, fruit bat roasted on coconut husks.
27	October 7, 2008	Paris	Terrine, head cheese, lardo, pressed duck with duck sauce and marrow, blood sausage, squab, gourmet mustard, truffles, refined cheese, rabbit liver, bacon and eggs ice cream, lamb tongues, sea urchin, snail caviar, escargot. Andrew visited the Rungis market, a mustard shop, Paris's best cheese shop, and a snail farm.
28	October 14, 2008	Los Angeles	Head cheese, slow-cooked piglet in goose fat, pig ears, tongue salad, and eyeballs, scorpions on toast, South American ants on string potatoes, crickets, worms, shot of wheat grass and barley, "rawsagna" with ground sunflower seeds, flax, cherry tomatoes, and dates, hemp-sunburger on flax flatbread, coconut-durian smoothie, soondae, hot dog burrito, cow's tongue sandwich from the taco truck, monkfish with caviar, sea urchin roe, Santa Barbara shrimp saashimi, octopus tirodido, menudo, corn smut, nopal salad, grasshoppers, whole catfish, deep-fried chicken testicles, Peking duck, cockscombs. Andrew went to a vegan supper and a Hispanic family's feast. Featuring special guest chefs Wolfgang Puck, Ben Ford and Ani Phyo and Los Angeles food blogger Eddie Lin [1].
29	October 21, 2008	Halloween Special	This special discussed unfamiliar foods that are considered scary and what made Westerners uneasy about them. Andrew then hosted a Halloween party with Bizarre Foods fans where he served his favorite fares. He discussed drinking blood with food historian and author Linda Civitello, which is based on culture and status. Anthropology director at the University of Minnesota William Beeman explained about fear of bugs and organ meat, saying that people are more likely to eat insects with a side. Chef Patrick Lue Chai, whose restaurant Andrew ate at in LA, cooked fried crickets with potato strings as well as other insects for the party. Appetizers at Andrew's feast were tarantula, waterbugs, grasshoppers, hissing cockroaches, and Thai stir-fried ants and crickts. The entrees were fresh cow's blood, raw goat kidney, chicken feet, and guinea pig.
30	October 28, 2008	Hawaii	Imu-cooked pig, poi, crab, he'e (mashed octopus), bonefish, Spam musubi, Pineapple upside-down cake with Spam, guava-glazed Spam, tempura Spam, Na'au (wild boar offal and blood), ono with lavender sauce, lamb with lavender salt and pepper, goat with Maui onion and chilipeppers, Hawaiian fusian - natto, clams, wasabi, and soy, local escargot, caviar, seaweed, goat stew with intestines and bile, opihi.
31	November 11, 2008	Ethiopia	Fermented Enset fiber pancakes and porridge, raw sauted beef, ibe cheese, unfiltered honey, berbere, goat organs in ox intestines, crepe with chicken and onion, coffee, sorghum popcorn, fresh raw beef and camel kidney. In Addis Ababa Andrew shopped at Africa's largest market and in Harar he fed meat to wild hyenas.
32	November 18, 2008	Maine
33	November 25, 2008	Holiday Special
34	December 2,2008	Japan
35	December 9, 2008	Uganda

Media

A DVD set (2 discs) called Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern: Collection 1 was released on January 8, 2008. It includes the following episodes:

Morocco
Spain
Philippines
Ecuador
New York City
United Kingdom
America's Gulf Coast
Mexico

A second DVD set (2 discs) called Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern: Collection 2 is due to be released on October 7, 2008. It includes the following episodes:

Iceland
St. Petersburg
Minnesota
Guangzhou, China
Beijing, China
Bolivia
Chile
Best Bites
Delhi, India

External links