Monday’s Mixed Bag By Andrew Zimmern AFAR, one of the best travel magazines out there, has launched new Travel Awards. Check it out if you ever intend to leave home this year. Speaking of leaving home, I am always asked about my obsessive use of my iPhone 24/7. I love being connected and many apps… Read More →
Memphis on the Rise As born and bred Memphians who grew up in large Italian families, it only makes sense that chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman cook a soulful fusion of Southern and Italian cuisines at their restaurants Hog & Hominy and Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen. This happy mash-up has garnered lots of rave… Read More →
Oh, Rats! I have eaten quite a few rats in my day, and I’m here to tell you they are pretty darn tasty. Bush and pack rats of several species in Arizona, jungle rats of several types in Ecuador and Suriname, Royal rats (gibnuts) in Belize, cane rats in Uganda, rice rats in Thailand, a giant… Read More →
Eight-Legged Treats Of all the foods I have eaten in my lifetime, the tarantula strikes me as one of the strangest from a psychological standpoint. We are pre-conditioned in this country to think of these fuzzy insects as scary and poisonous, belonging on Halloween decorations, not dinner plates. But they taste great, reminding me of… Read More →
The New Food & Wine Food & Wine magazine has tapped six Chefs-in-Residence to consult on monthly features, recipes and travel tips. I am honored to join world-class chefs Grant Achatz, Hugh Acheson, Mario Batali, David Chang and Eric Ripert as a recipe developer and travel guru in this exciting new partnership. More info at foodandwine.com:… Read More →
Japanese Soul Cooking When you think of Japanese food, staples from your local sushi bar might come to mind. But that’s just one itty-bitty fragment of Japan’s culinary traditions. Tadashi Ono, a chef and New York-based author, and Harris Salat, food writer and owner of Ganso in Brooklyn, have set out to give Japanese comfort food… Read More →
Spit Soup Every once in a while I stumble upon a food and think, “What sick mind came up with this idea in the first place?” Bird’s nest soup falls into that category. I’d like to meet whoever first decided to soak a bird’s nest in water overnight, then pick feathers and feces out of the… Read More →
One Good Dish New York Times columnist and author of A Platter of Figs and Heart of the Artichoke, David Tanis sits down to talk with us about his latest cookbook, working for Alice Waters and encouraging cooks to get back in the kitchen. The recently released One Good Dish is a compilation of simple,… Read More →
This Year’s Required Reading There have been too many wonderful cookbooks published in 2013 to mention, but here are 25 of my favorite. No matter what type of cook you consider yourself to be, these are cookbooks that should be in your library. From recipes for simple weeknight meals to authentic Asian dishes and impress-your-guests… Read More →
Welcome to the Future By Andrew Zimmern Apps and i-whatevers are old news in the venture capital meccas of San Francisco and Silicon Valley. The big investment frontier is now food, and what’s going on out there is revolutionizing what we eat, how we eat and how it gets to us. Hampton Creek Foods is… Read More →
Condiment Makeover Onion Crunch creator Nick Loeb talks about the inspiration behind his crunchy condiment, his favorite Onion Crunch pairings and date night with fiancé Sofia Vergara. AndrewZimmern.com: How did you go from working at Universal Studios to developing a condiment company? Nick Loeb: Well, there was a lot in between, a 12 year gap from… Read More →
Meat Jelly Headcheese is a meat jelly made from the head of a calf, pig, or sheep, typically served in aspic. “Aspic” might sound like a poisonous chemical, but it’s in fact just chopped-up ingredients held together with meat stock or consommé infused with gelatin. Meat jellies became popular many centuries ago when the head… Read More →
Or Else. From the Wild Midwest, Food Works would like to wish you a very happy holiday.
‘Tis the Season Here’s a little gift inspiration for the culinarian on your list this holiday season. I’ve included some of my favorite products for stocking stuffers – decadent caramels, artisan sea salt and small-batch soy sauce – as well as a few splurge-worthy items such as the classic chef’s knife from Shun and handmade… Read More →
Minnesota’s Blue Ribbon Bakers When it comes to prize-winning cakes, cookies, muffins and breads, Candy Freeman and Lois Thielen are the women to beat. The Minnesota natives jumped into the competition baking circuit nearly 20 years ago, and have since won too many ribbons to keep track. This year, Freeman’s orange bundt cake won Grand… Read More →
Waste Not, Want Not By Andrew Zimmern You have to check out a group I am working with out of Boston called Lovin’ Spoonfuls. Founded by my pal Ashley Stanley just a few years ago, this food-rescue operation has grown to a “fleet” of three vehicles. It just won Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good contest and… Read More →
Embracing a Proud Culinary Tradition Representing his adopted home town on the current season of Bravo’s Top Chef, Justin Devillier is the chef and owner of New Orleans’ fantastic neighborhood bistro, La Petite Grocery. Since taking the reins in 2007, the California-native has focused on traditional Louisiana flavors and ingredients in his contemporary cuisine – think turtle bolognese… Read More →
I’m Drinking What?! For those who seek a killer caffeine buzz, kopi luwak might be the Holy Grail. This Indonesian coffee is one of the rarest and most expensive beverages in the world. A pound of primo beans garners upwards of $500, and a single, thimble-sized cup of the brew can go for 10 bucks… Read More →
Celebrating Family and Food A multiple James Beard Award winning writer, chef and pioneer of American food, Judith Choate’s impressive culinary career spans more than 50 years and 100 cookbooks. Choate’s latest book, An American Family Cooks, is a prolific volume of recipes and kitchen memories from the Choate family archive. Below, Choate talks about… Read More →
For the Birds Sitting at the local Poultry A-Go-Go and fraught with worry over what to order? Order the turducken and get the best of everything. This ingenious dish is a boneless duck, stuffed inside a boneless duck, stuffed inside a boneless turkey… then roasted. In the United Kingdom, it goes by the Dickensian moniker… Read More →
I’m Over Sriracha By Andrew Zimmern Everyone loves Sriracha. It’s a great American success story. Chinese-born David Tran grew up in Vietnam where he first experimented with the hot chili concoction. After fleeing the war-torn country in the 70s, he settled in southern California, started a company called Huy Fong Foods and production of the… Read More →
Celebrating the Life of a Legendary Chef I have known Shin Tsujimura since his early days at Hatsuhana in New York City. He had come from Hatsuhana in Tokyo and after a brief run in the NYC outpost, he joined up with Nobu Matsuhisa and has been a part of that world class group for… Read More →
Discovering Culinary Extremes An author, prolific poet, teacher and staff writer for The New Yorker, Dana Goodyear is one of the most authoritative voices in food journalism today. In her new book, Anything That Moves, Goodyear explores the remaking of America’s modern food culture, following intrepid eaters and chefs to the margins of the culinary world. Below,… Read More →
Bizarre Foods: Thanksgiving Addition Alternative proteins are the future to our food safety and security here in America, so I think we should all get used to the idea of expanding what our idea of food is. People are accustomed to serving a nice roast or tenderloin for the holidays, but there is a lot… Read More →
Eating Queens Queens-based food writer Joe DiStefano has been covering the borough’s ethnic food beat for more than a decade. When it comes to ethnic diversity, some estimates name Queens as number one in the world – it’s so rich that DiStefano has made exploring the borough his life’s work. He’s our go-to guide for… Read More →
Jump Around They’re high in protein, low in fat, and rich in minerals, not to mention they’re delish! After ants, grasshoppers are the most popular insect eaten around the world. Unlike ants, grasshoppers have superior flavor profiles that vary from region to region depending on their diet, and grasshoppers can be cooked any way imaginable.… Read More →
Kings of Dude Food As chef/owners of the widely acclaimed restaurants Animal and the seafood-centric Son of a Gun, Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo are anchors of the Los Angeles food scene. These rockstar chefs turned successful restaurateurs also recently opened Trois Mec with pop-up king Ludo Lefebvre, plus another project in the works. Dotolo… Read More →
Try These at Your Next Tailgate Everyone has a go-to meal that fits right into the hearty, crowd-pleasing football food category. Some rely on hot wings and fall comfort-classics like chili and stew, others may boldly roast a whole steer head to make killer barbacoa tacos or light a kerosene-soaked fire for a fish boil. From… Read More →
The Intersection of Entrepreneurship & Food Hosted by Food Sol at Babson College, the third annual Babson Food Days (October 23-24, 2013) celebrated food “Entrepreneurship of All Kinds” with an assembly of food innovators, pioneers and leaders, including yours truly and my fellow Entrepreneur in Residence Gail Simmons. It’s a great event that seeds and… Read More →
A Weekend in Paris I’ve partnered with Thrillist to bring you my behind-the-scenes tips on where to eat, where to stay, and what to do when you are traveling across the globe. We’ve already covered Toronto, New York City and Montreal. Next up? The romantic, food-loving, pastry-worshipping City of Light. Check out my top picks, from the… Read More →
