Andrew Zimmern's is much more than a television host. His drive and passion
are based on a life philosophy that's sure to inspire anyone willing to listen.
This is the untold truth of the television host, restaurateur,
producer, journalist, author, and food critic, Andrew Zimmern.
Anyone who's worked in the restaurant industry knows late nights are part of the job.
Sometimes the nights are filled with heavy drinking after a shift, and possible
substance abuse. You'd never know it, but Andrew Zimmern succumbed to the worst of it years ago.
Even though Zimmern grew up privileged, he admits he never truly felt comfortable with himself,
which led to his first experience with marijuana at age 13, while away at summer camp. He then
started using alcohol as a coping mechanism to numb the intense emotions that came after his
mother was hospitalized in a coma after a botched surgery. This soon led to, quote, "pills, cocaine,
hallucinogens." Once he reached college, he, quote, "had already experimented with heroin."
At one point, he ended up homeless, sleeping in a flophouse on a pile of dirty clothes,
surrounded by cleaning powder to ward off rodents and roaches.
It got so bad that he nearly drank himself to death over the course of a few days.
Not long after a failed intervention, he finally called a friend, admitted he needed serious help,
and eventually cleaned himself up at the Hazelden Betty Ford rehabilitation center in Minnesota.
Kids naturally look to their parents when they're young for guidance as to what career
choice might interest them. Plenty of kids go the total opposite route of mom and dad,
but in Andrew Zimmern's case, he refers to his dad as a legendary
eater and traveler who instilled in him a passion for all things travel and food.
Zimmern's father played such an important role in his life that
the chef paid a touching tribute to him during an episode of The Zimmern List,
a show where the chef revealed his personal lists of favorite foods,
places, and experiences to viewers. On one Portland-centric episode, instead of traveling
to locations that were important to him, he brought viewers to the places his dad introduced
him to years before, helping to form Zimmern's love of all things culinary. Zimmern explained:
"The whole episode is really an homage to him.
I went to places that he first turned me on to. It was a very poignant and personal episode for me.
I think it's one of the better pieces I've done for television."
When you're a celebrity with a large following, you have to choose your words carefully.
Andrew Zimmern is a friendly guy who genuinely cares about the culinary world,
which is why fans were shocked when he made an offensive comment prior to the
grand opening of Lucky Cricket, his first sit-down restaurant.
During a conversation with Fast Company,
Zimmern explained the reason behind opening Lucky Cricket, stating:
"I think I'm saving the souls of all the people from having to dine at
these horses--t restaurants masquerading as Chinese food that are in the Midwest."
Yikes. That quote certainly hit viewers hard, and Zimmern quickly found himself on the backfoot
with Asian-Americans, who stated the comments were, quote, "colonizing and condescending."
Not long after the backlash, Zimmern issued a sincere apology:
"Let me start by saying most importantly how awful I feel and how sorry I am for my recent remarks.
Food should be for everyone, and yet culturally there is a terrible
and centuries-old history of white people profiting off of other cultures, in food,
music, and elsewhere. The upset that is felt in the Chinese American community is reasonable,
legitimate, and understandable. That is the very last thing I would ever want to
do. And in this case neither intentions nor context matter. Feelings matter."
Andrew Zimmern spends nearly all of the time on his multiple shows traveling, eating, and
conversing with the locals, so we don't often see him step behind the kitchen doors to whip up some
food of his own. He's a trained and very talented chef but rarely are those skills seen on camera.
That said, you might be surprised to know that he spends as much time cooking
as he does leading audiences on worldwide culinary experiences.
Andrew Zimmern's Youtube channel hosts hundreds of videos of the chef cooking up
some classic cuisines he loves, such as Chinese chicken wings, beef tataki, and spare ribs,
as well as other unique dishes sure to impress guests. He's a guy who loves food in all forms,
and he puts in the effort to encourage viewers to develop a similar passion.
Plus Zimmern sometimes features guests who help craft a delicious meal, and he's just
as likely to take viewers to the Minnesota State Fair to show them his favorite spots.
Whether you like seafood, barbecue, pasta, or dessert, Zimmern has a recipe for you.
Not everyone has the luck to make money off of their passion,
but Andrew Zimmern was fortunate enough to dig himself out of some of life's hardships.
Even dealing with substance abuse issues while growing up, he found an avenue that not only
offered him the ability to travel the world and eat awesome food, but earn quite the paycheck.
But first, he had to cut his teeth for years before finally earning a name
for himself and garnering interest from television studios and book publishers.
His drive for success all paid off, and now his net worth sits at about $8 million.
While filming Bizarre Foods, Zimmern was making $35,000 per episode,
all while hosting, writing and producing. Not bad for a guy who loves eating brains.
During nearly every episode of Bizarre Foods, there's at least one stomach-churning dish Andrew
Zimmern bravely tosses down like it's nothing more than a hamburger. Most would turn and run for the
hills if they even caught sight of something like stewed lamb brains, blood sausage, or rat on a
stick. But Zimmern straps on his metaphorical armor and steps into the culinary battledome
to go head-to-head with the oddest dishes. Even for a guy with a stomach of steel like Zimmern,
not everything in the world appeals to him. In fact, some dishes flat out ruin his appetite.
Zimmern was only able to choke down one single bite of a Swedish dish called Surstromming, which
is fermented canned herring. Just the smell of it alone is enough to make most people nauseated.
Another food Zimmern gave a hard pass to was Durian fruit. This incredibly pungent
food is banned from most forms of public transportation, smelling like, quote,
"pig-s--t, turpentine, and onions, garnished with a gym sock" according to one food writer.
Funny enough, Zimmern also despises everyday foods like oatmeal and walnuts.
Surely, someone who's traveled as much as Andrew Zimmern and indulged in such strange cuisine
has battled some serious food-related illnesses on a number of occasions,
right? How could you possibly ingest something raw or fermented many times and
not find yourself hunched over the toilet hours later? Well, according to Zimmern,
he's only found himself very sick one time, and it wasn't from what you'd think.
Nope. It wasn't the fermented shark of Iceland or fried bugs he shoveled down in Indonesia.
The food that really tripped him up was tainted cumin in Morocco,
a country known for its array of exotic spices.
Not long after ingesting the cumin, Zimmern fell ill with what's known as burning mouth syndrome,
which causes an intense burning sensation throughout the mouth. Luckily, it's not deadly,
and he only had to deal with the uncomfortable sensation for a bit before it subsided.
The syndrome never actually goes away, but it's only flared up for
Zimmern a handful of times since the cumin debacle. Still, to this day,
Zimmern carries with him a steroidal rinse, just in case it unexpectedly strikes.
When you have the kind of adventurous palate Andrew Zimmern does,
it's not exactly easy to convince others to try dishes you might toss down with gusto.
But that doesn't mean Zimmern won't at least try to share his favorite foods with friends.
That's why he couldn't wait to dine on some bizarre foods when he was a guest on The Late Show
with Stephen Colbert. And, surprisingly, Colbert handled the whole thing like a total champ.
"Alright, what are we eating, what are we eating tonight,
I hesitate to ask and I've braced myself."
Zimmern brought with him four dishes. The very first consisted of various pieces of a pig,
including the intestines, blood sausage, tripe, and foot. Colbert was game and didn't flinch.
Next up was raw goat, which Colbert grabbed between chopsticks and tossed down like a
piece of delicious sashimi. Easy peasy. The host then eagerly took down the third dish, possum,
and it seemed like he was on his way to the finish line.
But under the final lid sat a sheep skull on a cutting board,
staring out at the audience with its dead eyes. The brain of the sheep was
cut into slices resting next to the skull. But Colbert dove head-first in, took a huge bite,
and even grabbed a glass of Pinot Noir to finish it off while smiling. Well played, Colbert.
"I'm...hold on, I'm...I'm so sorry."
You'd think a host of a television series would approve of the name of the show upon which they
appear. The title Bizarre Foods definitely encapsulates what Andrew Zimmern does every
episode, but according to him, he never liked the name and would rename it tomorrow if possible.
Even so, things could always be worse. Bizarre Foods wasn't the original name Zimmern came up
with when bouncing ideas around before the show went into production. He admitted:
"One of the show's titles I threw out there was 'The Wandering Spoon.'
Thank God that didn't happen."
The host loves to give people unusual and bizarre experiences along his journeys,
but he doesn't want to label the important cuisine of other cultures bizarre,
even though it may seem that way to many. It's simply different,
and unique cuisines are part of what make the world such an interesting place.
There's no question that Andrew Zimmern is a decorated chef. His books have sold millions, his
shows have dedicated fans who tune in every week, and he's won awards for his work in the culinary
landscape. But no award is more coveted than the James Beard Award, and you bet your bottom dollar
Zimmern has landed himself several of them over the years because he's just that good.
The James Beard Foundation defines itself as a:
"Nonprofit organization whose mission is to celebrate, nurture, and honor chefs and
other leaders making America's food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone."
Zimmern certainly fits that criteria. Over the years he's won three different times for his
television hosting personality, and once for hosting Bizarre Foods. There are few people
who have just one James Beard Award, and this guy rocks four of them. Here's hoping Zimmern
keeps doing what he's doing. The world needs knowledge and enthusiasm now more than ever.
The Coronavirus pandemic brought the world to its knees. Andrew Zimmern,
being one of the most important figures of the hospitality industry,
wants people to understand how the pandemic shed light on the systemic problems with the
entire food industry, from the way America harvests food to the way they consume it.
In a Zoom conversation with Esquire, Zimmern brings up how the people who grow America's
crops have often been disparaged, even though they supply millions with food.
He points out how, after the pandemic struck, they were labeled, quote, "essential,
front-line workers," but no measures were taken to offer them extra protection.
Zimmern also explains that the United States will never run out of food.
We'll figure out ways to keep the harvests coming no matter how dire
the situation may seem. The problem is not having enough people to do the job,
especially when COVID hotspots keep creeping up around farming communities and processing
plants. It's a terrifying reality we all need to work to resolve, or major problems could arise.
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