Yep, as of yesterday, Andrews Zimmern has been the "If it looks good, EAT IT!" host of perhaps the most unusual/disgusting/informative food show on cable, Bizarre Foods America, for 100 episodes. Most of the time, fans such as myself tune in, prepare to gag, have a barfee-in-the-tum-tum-moment, compose ourselves, and then continue to watch him swallow or regurgitate something offensive. But do we change the channel? No.
Zimmern has ingested live giant toads in Japan, chicken uteruses in Taiwan, hooves, ears, pulsating frog hearts, warm lamb brains, and freshly fried tarantulas and he always comes up with a unique way of describing his nibbles.
Some of his descriptives: poofy, gooey, like soap from the '70s, gelatinous, rancid, tongue-infested, fatty, cow-foot jam, yucky, like Vaseline gumballs, crispy, bizarre, coppery, slimy, pulsating, grubby, heaving, crunchy, odiferous, snarly, rotten, putrid, rancid, play-dough-ish, smelly, and of course his favorites, nutty and woody.
If Zimmern can enjoy undulating grubs that he describes as "wowza," or tasteless penises and wildly unappealing fallopian tubes, we food writers should be able to do better.
Zimmern said, "I never in my wildest dreams, I never thought this program would touch as many people all over the world as it has. It's a lot to swallow. I'm so proud when people from everywhere come up to me to tell me that thanks to my TV show, they have become more adventurous with what they want to eat."
What can I add? Bizzare Foods with Andrew Zimmern sincerely makes me dry-heave. Let's hope to see another hundred shows, A.Z. And to the food writers out there: Be creative.
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