Seven Reasons Why I Hate Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern

Village Voice ^ | Apr. 15 2009 | Sarah DiGregorio

[nickcarraway]

Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern airs on the Travel Channel. I hate it. Here's why.

1. Zimmern chews with his mouth open.

2. Zimmern insists on dressing in brightly hued shorts and polo shirts, clothes that scream "stereotypical American tourist!" so loudly that not even real, live, stereotypical American tourists would wear them.

3. Zimmern condescendingly explains the food to the very people who just made it for him: "You know this is sweet, and...it's chewy. It's got an undertone of citrus."

4. Zimmern mugs shamelessly at the camera, usually while some sainted grandma is cooking her specialty just for him, as if we're all in on this big joke. The joke being: Wow, these strange people eat really disgusting things, don't they?! Can you believe they eat this stuff? I could really go for a cheeseburger right now. You know, normal food!

5. On a recent episode in Japan, Zimmern visits a funazushi (fermented raw fish) maker, a guy whose family has been making funazushi for 18 generations. As this fellow is proudly showing Zimmern around the centuries-old operation, he opens a barrel filled with fermented fish. Zimmern makes a disgusted face, and says something about how revolting it is. His Japanese host looks embarrassed.

6. Zimmern often visits poor countries, where people don't always have enough to eat. He visits people in their homes, eats their hard-won, homemade food, and explains to them that their food is bizarre, all the while making faces to indicate just how grossed out he is. It really makes you appreciate Anthony Bourdain, who, in similar situations, is unfailingly polite.

7. Didn't your mother ever teach you that it's rude to say that someone's food is disgusting or weird?

[doodad]

I always feel like Bourdain is looking for a $2 Malaysian hooker when the camera is off.

Nah, he has Nari and she is cute.

[Recon Dad]

Ditto to everything you said. Love the show even while gagging on my lunch.

[12Gauge687]

I ate it while visiting Indonesia and it’s like spoiled fruit; if it’s sweet and delicious to someone then good for them. The smell alone would make you barf.

[240B]

Uuuuummmmm...he is...

And a stiff drink

[blackminorca]

I dont think the people are insulted - I love to see people grimace with raw oysters, anchovies, and stuff much less gross than that fermented fish.

[Vendome]

I will give you one:

Andrew Zimmer.

Like the concept but the guy grates on me.

[golf lover]

Someone please tell Sarah DiGregorio to get a life!

[Viking2002]

I like Zimmern. And the fact that he's being skewered by some dyke from The Village Voice makes me like him that much more. That rag is nothing more than the program schedule for the slimy underbelly of Left-wing nihilism in that fetid garbage dump of failed social engineering known as New Yawk.

[I Buried My Guns]

"...bull testicles or whatever..."

Hey, he's going to live forever, apparently:

[I Buried My Guns]

Don’t hold back!

[I Buried My Guns]

Don’t hold back!

[trisham]

I can't watch the show because it makes me nauseous. Other than that, I have no objection at all.