We have been watching Andrew Zimmern travel the world in search of exotic foods on the Travel Channel for years now. He must have an iron stomach. Could you do his job? What is the most exotic food item you have experienced? Thanks…
We had rat and fried bugs in Thailand a year ago. The rats come out of the rice fields so they’re quite ‘pure.’
(BTW, I follow Zimmern on FB and he’s one of the biggest narcissists I’ve ever seen.)
No way! Just thinking of some icky foods makes me gag, and a nasty smell would set me off.
I’ve eaten horsemeat, it wasn’t bad but I wouldn’t do it again.
Absolutely not. I draw a hard and fast line at bugs (and worms, maggots, etc.).
I wouldn’t eat horse or dog or cat because I’ve had them as pets. In Vietnam you’re traveling down a street and suddenly realize that the meat that’s hanging on hooks are dogs. I didn’t look away quickly enough and it still haunts me.
Rat was just a novelty for us tourists but a source of income and food for the locals. As I mentioned, they come from the rice fields so they’re clean. The people who trap the rats, sell them to the people who cook them on roadside grills. Everyone profits. What we had was fried to death so had no taste or texture unfortunately.
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I’m not sure what “clean” means when it comes to wild rats - rice fields or no. I would have had to pass on the rats …
His is a job I would never want. I am up for trying new things but would want the option to pass and would hate a staff who’s job it is to seek out the most “unusual” things people eat … eeew.
Oh I get it. I have plenty of irrational fears 
By “clean,” let me show you a picture of a rice field.
These are totally, as far as the eye can see, agricultural fields. So unlike city rats who scavenge through sewers etc., these are probably healthier than most meat you’d buy in a grocery.
As far as bugs, I ate a couple of crispy ones not the maggot-y type
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Horse is surprisingly popular here in Quebec. It’s sold at the supermarket, as steaks and ground, and on many French restaurant menus. I do have a personal problem with it, and like you, I certainly would never eat dog or cat. I found some cat bones recently on a hike near my home and I was heartbroken.
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I couldn’t do what Zimmern does (I also used to follow him on IG until I got tired of his high horse attitude). He eats things that I couldn’t eat, like penis soup.
That being said, I have tried fried crickets here in LA (Mexican hole in the wall place a friend took me to), wild boar in Malaysia (freshly killed in the jungle, dressed and cooked within a few hours), pig’s blood cubes, toad at a Chinese restaurant in Malaysia (but, I was a teen and my uncle didn’t tell me what it was until after I tried it), and have grown up eating Zimmern’s arch nemesis, DURIAN, which I happen to love. I’ve seen scorpions and other creepy crawlie eats at markets and stands in Malaysia, but never tried them. Not interested in trying rat or guinea pig or anything like that either.
What’s IG?
Forgot to mention blood cubes.
I’m afraid of durian mainly because of his reaction to it but also Bob told me they don’t allow them on the subway in Singapore.
I ate guinea pig/cuy in Peru but I never had them as pets.
Donkey sausage in Germany . It was excellent . I wish they sold it in the US .
I was looking at the episode guide for Chile to see what he ate and where he went. Too bad he didn’t go farther south. There he could have eaten “Piure” (P. Chilensis), which is the closest thing to getting blood from a stone. Another “bizarre” food in southern Chile would be Cochayuyo/bull kelp (Durvillaea antarctica). Sold in bundles like this in (super)markets.
You will know dried Piure when you see it: deep red, has in intense smell, sold hung on ropes. (my pic on Flickr). To see the live/raw version do an image search for “pyura chilensis” (not for the squeamish). I didn’t even know what it was til after I ate it. Then I looked it up…W.T.F!!!.. Would eat it again when I make it to Chile (again)!
I enjoyed eating seafood in southern Chile. More about this fascinatin creature P. Chilensis here (text only).
Have seen a list of almost everything he has eaten and I think many of those things are bizarre to Americans, mostly. OK, save for “medicinal dirt”.
I don’t know, it depends. My idea of exotic/bizarre foods may be different from yours and others. I like gooseneck barnacles, seal, minke whale, whelk/snail and many more. Looking forward to eating smoked puffin in a few months time.
Instagram.
Durian’s got a very… distinct aroma. That’s why it’s not allowed on the MRT-- the smell tends to linger. Many people eat it outdoors, so you don’t have to worry about stinking up your dining area.
Sign me up for:
And his entire eating adventure he detailed on the Greek Island of Cyprus!
I’m not much for “stunt” eating, but I will eat any kind of seafood or plant if I think it will taste good. Percebes (goose barnacles) and tarantula* are probably the most exotic things I’ve ever eaten. But that’s just because I’ve gotten used to uni and nieuwe haring and quenepas and like that.
*token stunt food
I waited a long time to eat uni, wanting it to be at a place where I could count on it being good. Didn’t care for the texture. At all.
It’s a very polarizing food. And not at all difficult to get a sketchy piece, which will scar you for life. If my first taste of uni had been my worst taste of uni, I’d never have eaten it again.
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This was part of a tasting menu at Jean Georges. Gratefully it was my friend’s choice so I only had to have a ‘taste.’ It was just the texture.
Yeah, I haven’t tried rat AFAIK but I’m pretty sure I’d prefer a nice grain-fattened field rat than a garbage eating city rat. Same with squab/pigeon. (I mean I’ve had squab and it was good but wouldn’t want to eat city pigeon.)
I’d love to try a lot of things that AZ eats, but not all of them. Just the delicious ones 
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No.
There’s not a wine in the world that would enable me to wash down a warthog anus.
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