Bizarre Foods: Pony Express Premieres Tuesday July 3, 9/8c on Travel Channel! We filmed in some truly amazing locations for this season of Bizarre Foods. There were moments in each episode where I just had to pinch myself—whether it was driving a real World War II tank in Belgium, trout fishing in Scotland with Angus… Read More →
Bizarre Foods Season Premiere January 23 9|8c on Travel Channel From the North Woods of the fabled Paul Bunyan to the Mexico City of the Aztecs, this is one of the most exciting seasons of Bizarre Foods we’ve ever made. I’m revealing the food and stories behind notable characters, cultures and mythology, both here in the… Read More →
Tune in for Bizarre Foods: Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride Aug. 29 at 9|8c on Travel Channel The midnight ride of Paul Revere marked the beginning of a war that changed our world forever. On this episode of Bizarre Foods, I’m following in the footsteps of this great patriot, revealing layers of history and food traditions… Read More →
Tune in for Bizarre Foods: Cajun Country Aug. 15 at 9|8c on Travel Channel On this episode of Bizarre Foods, I’m traversing the heart of Acadiana, an untouched bastion of American history where centuries-old traditions remain a way of life. A region of swamps, bayous and gulf coast marshes, people in Cajun country still live… Read More →
Tune in for Bizarre Foods: The Magnificent Mississippi River Aug. 8 at 9|8c on Travel Channel On this episode of Bizarre Foods, I had the pleasure of traveling from Memphis to Natchez by boat, and got a real taste of life on the Mississippi. This majestic river is a refuge for a slower-paced, nature-based way of… Read More →
Bizarre Foods: Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail Premieres Tuesday, August 1 at 9|8c on Travel Channel On this episode of Bizarre Foods, I’m following in the footsteps of famed frontiersman Daniel Boone, from colonial Virginia to the fertile lands of Kentucky. While visiting the re-constructed frontier fort at Martin’s Station, reeling in flathead catfish on the Kentucky… Read More →
Bizarre Foods Season Premiere Tuesday July 25, 9|8c on Travel Channel On the season premiere of Bizarre Foods, I’m headed to Texas to explore American cowboy life, past and present. The cowboy is the last great American icon, a romantic, rugged symbol of our frontier past. Camping along the Chisholm trail—the storied bovine highway that… Read More →
Authentic Americana Cuisine Tune in for Bizarre Foods: Route 66 on Tuesday, February 21 at 9|8c on Travel Channel. Stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles, Route 66 is the most historic road in the country, an emblem of the American Dream. The fabled highway, also known as “the mother road,” is not just a means… Read More →
Highlights from the Southern Barbecue Trail I’ll line up at Aaron Franklin’s a thousand times to eat his brisket, but traveling through Georgia and the Carolinas along the Southern barbecue trail was truly unforgettable. Barbecue has humble beginnings. It’s essentially American, a meal for gatherings that has a diverse range of styles, techniques and influences.… Read More →
What is the best thing you ate while filming these episodes of Bizarre Foods? The classic fixins’ from the inside of the hog at Gerald Lemoine’s farm in Moreauville, Louisiana. They shoot a hog, clean all the entrails and collect the blood. The hog goes on the spit, split-open to be turned into their version of cochon… Read More →
All-American Road Trip In the all-new season of Bizarre Foods, I’m exploring America’s rich history and diverse cuisine along the country’s most famous historic routes. For me, traveling in the USA is all about the legendary trips that define our culture, from de Tocqueville to Huck Finn to Kesey’s Merry Pranksters. Our history can be defined by… Read More →
Mediterranean Food Heaven in Cyprus Cyprus is an island paradise, and a crossroads of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern culture. It’s also a nation ripped in half by decades of conflict. In Nicosia, Cyprus, the world’s last remaining occupied and divided city, there is a small café called the Berlin 2 Wall Kebab House. They serve a… Read More →
Modern Food, Age-Old Technique Defined more than a decade ago by chefs Claus Meyer and Rene Redzepi, the New Nordic food movement is reimagining what Scandinavian cuisine is, with a focus on seasonality, sustainability, animal welfare and traditional Nordic ingredients. And while this ground breaking philosophy has famously fueled avant-garde creativity, exploring old traditions is… Read More →
Shengjian Bao with a Cult Following Eating your way through the world’s most populous city is one of life’s greatest pleasures. As Shanghai’s landscape becomes more international, many traditional places have disappeared, but thankfully Da Hu Chun has stood the test of time. Open along the river since the 1930s, this restaurant is known for shengjian… Read More →
Kansas City Competitive Barbecue Once known for its stockyards, Kansas City is still famous for its incredibly diverse barbecue scene. It’s a barbecue obsessed town, with dozens of restaurants serving amazing ribs, burnt ends, pulled pork and brisket. But I found that some of the best barbecue is in the backyard smokers getting ready for the competition circuit. Here,… Read More →
Where to Eat Tuna Eyes in Okinawa Japan’s version of a neighborhood bar, the izakaya has been an integral part of the country’s culture since the 1600s. They were the original gastropubs, serving shareable tapas-style small plates to sake-soaked patrons way before it was the trend. Today, izakaya specialties are some of the most beloved… Read More →
Honest Puerto Rican Food in the Bronx An international community of settlers, the Bronx celebrates diversity everywhere you look. Today, as immigrant success stories become the new norm, the borough is a far cry from the symbol of decay it represented a few decades ago. And with such a vibrant and constantly evolving immigrant community, it’s easy to stumble… Read More →
Celebrating North Carolina’s Culinary History Chef Vivian Howard worked in New York City at Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50 and Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market before packing up and heading home to Kinston with her husband to open Chef & the Farmer. Like many residents of Eastern North Carolina, chef Howard has an ingrained pride for her rural… Read More →
Chez Amy takes Dakar’s multi-cultural influence to an inspiring level. The French colonization of Vietnam, Lebanon and Senegal left a definitive stamp on Senegalese cuisine. At Chez Amy, you can experience a confluence of the country’s colonial influences in one amazing bite. The hole-in-the-wall food stand near Dakar’s Castor Market sells a few of Senegal’s favorite… Read More →
Bizarre Foods with Stephen Colbert It was an honor to be a guest last night on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. I can cross that off my bucket list now. We tried a buffet of interesting dishes featured in the 10th season of Bizarre Foods, starting with a a classic meat stew from Spain with every… Read More →
Reinventing Offal Dishes Forgotten for Decades Javi Estevez has created something truly unique in Madrid’s upscale Chamberi neighborhood, a modern tasca (or tavern) devoted to serving locally-sourced offal. The 32-year-old chef is reigniting a passion for ingredients and dishes made popular during the post-war era of his grandparents’ generation. An obsession for creating dishes from other… Read More →
The Best Thing I Ate Last Week By Andrew Zimmern In Nicosia, Cyprus, the world’s last remaining occupied and divided city, there is a small café called the Berlin 2 Wall. They serve a simple set meal with plenty of mezze—from snails to tahini, from tomato and feta salad to brined caper branches dressed with… Read More →
Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market Jerusalem’s 800,000 inhabitants are a dizzying blend of cultures, all influential in the shaping of this incredible and contentious space. The riches of this tiny and diverse country converge at Mahane Yehuda. Established by Arab traders during the Ottoman Empire in the late 1800s, the shuk is a place where all walks… Read More →
A Diverse Collection of Oaxacan Food Oaxaca is Mexico’s undisputed culinary capital, and the birthplace of some of the richest traditions on the planet. Every Sunday the communities of the central Oaxacan valley converge on the Tlacolula market to buy and sell one-of-a-kind Oaxacan staples. This is one of the oldest markets in North America, and a direct… Read More →
Charcuterie from a Master Culinary Craftsman With two charcuterie shops in Paris and chefs from New York to London seeking out his meat arts for their Michelin-starred menus, chef Gilles Verot is the first charcutier to become an international super star. He’s the third generation in a family of charcutiers, bringing traditional country foods onto center stage… Read More →
Deeply Rooted to the Land & Sea Located on Croatia’s beautiful Dalmatian coast in the ancient city of Split, Villa Spiza is one of my favorite restaurants in the entire world. With wooden beams and exposed stone walls, it’s a cozy pint-size neighborhood taverna within the palace walls that holds only a handful of guests at… Read More →
I’ve eaten a lot of strange vegetables, insects, fermented foods, sea creatures and animal odd bits in the past decade, but these 10 items from all over the globe made it to the top of the list. Article original published on travelchannel.com. Enset in Ethiopia Enset is one of the two species of vinifera in… Read More →
Authentic Maya Cuisine For the past 20 years, owner Doña Ofira de Urquizú and her family have served dishes from the 21 unique Maya cultures. Facing the old cobblestone streets of Antigua, the restaurant’s storefront is lined with ceramic pots of thick rustic stews that are the heart and soul of Maya cooking. One of the specialties… Read More →
Guatemala is an amazing country that’s overlooked by most travelers. It’s not filled with sexy beach resorts or swanky nightlife, but the rainforests, coastline, jungles and river systems are second to none in terms of natural beauty. One of the most fascinating things about this country is the 21 ethnic Maya peoples that are still in numbers… Read More →
Brilliant, Progressive Mexican Cuisine In a pint-sized, 12-seat restaurant operating out of a once abandoned rail car on the outskirts of San Antonio, chefs Diego Galicia, Rico Torres and the rest of their 5-person team showcase regional Mexican cuisine with modernist techniques. Every six weeks they create an entirely new menu highlighting specialties from one… Read More →
