Gritty and ugly, elegant and mysterious, monkeys crawling on rooftops overlooking crowded city streets, Sikh temples, red clay mosques, poverty and sickness, beggars in the streets, serene parks, gracious hosts, outrageously good food…Delhi is a city of incredibly diverse character- an international mega city where travelers can be found in great numbers. With a population of over 13 million people it the second largest city in India (after Mumbai) and there are dozens of indigenous ethnic groups and religious cultures from all parts of the country who can be found here. Mix in the ex pats, and a thriving tourist business, and you can see why Delhi is a pretty potent cultural masala. From some of the best restaurants in the world to humble everyday cafes, the Delhi food scene represents the national cuisine.

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Posted by Andrew Zimmern at 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Few people in the world have a more passionate relationship with food than the Chinese. And thanks to the large-scale emigration of Chinese from the southern province of Guangdong to elsewhere in the world, Cantonese is by far China’s best-known cuisine. Cantonese food originates from Guangzhou, the city that used to be called Canton. Today, Guangzhou’s food culture is known as one of the cuisines that worships unusual foods in China. In fact, a popular saying describes Cantonese food like this: “Anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies is edible.”

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Posted by Andrew Zimmern at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Of all the places I have visited so far this year, Chile is my favorite. You are always only an hour away from snow capped mountains or stunning beach-scapes. The wine scene here is second to none and is easy to plug into, much different than in the USA or in Europe. The countryside is rustic, with teeny beach towns that remind me of the way Malibu must have looked 100 years ago. The people are friendly, the weather is perfect and the food is fantastic. I could live in Chile!

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Posted by Andrew Zimmern at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)

Flying into the highest major city in the world is a little bit of a misdirection play. You land at the airport, gasp for air and if you need it you avail yourself of the free oxygen tanks while you await baggage delivery. The 10 minute trip across the plateau leaves you wondering where the heck La Paz is. After a few miles more you turn a corner and begin the descent down into the valley and can see the entire city in one magnificent vista, framed by snow capped Andean peaks and you can’t help but feel a spark of excitement. La Paz is simply thrilling.

Continue reading "Variety... the spice of Bolivia!" »

Posted by Andrew Zimmern at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)

Proving once again that the most bizarre foods and adventures are usually found right in your own back yard, I give you my whirlwind tour of my adopted home state, Minnesota. I could have shot an entire show in one day in the Twin Cities alone actually. Tongue tacos on Lake Street at Pineda Tacqueria, fish maw and spicy pig intestines at my favorite Chinese restaurant (Shuang Cheng, Little Szechuan and The Teahouse all rock these dishes), homemade head cheese at Kramarczuk's. I could go on and on.

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Posted by Andrew Zimmern at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (35)

My first day in Russia was a disaster. We landed at the airport at 5-ish, and checked into our hotel, hit the sack and got up early only to find that the night before the Stones had played in the town’s main square and we could have bought general admission tix for a few dollars each. I was crushed, that would have been a hot show to catch. But it was all downhill from that point on…

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Posted by Andrew Zimmern at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

I fell in love with Iceland last summer. Here are a few of the reasons why….

Amphetamine Effect…long days and short nights (2 hours) mean plenty of time to get things done. After 17 hours of daylight, you don’t even feel tired, you eat dinner, grab a steam and a schvitz in a public bath and shazam, you are ready to hit the hot spots all night, I mean twi-light, long. I have never had as much energy as I did during my week in Iceland.

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Posted by Andrew Zimmern at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)

I love China … the crowds, the smog, the food, the scenesters, the temples, the Forbidden City, the shopping, the growth, the confusion, the serenity, the people ... I love China.
Ten years ago, check that, even 5 years ago on my second visit there, I only saw the tourists China, but mostly that was because that’s all there was to see. Not that there was only a tourists China that was extant, but because the real China was hard to access in Beijing. Today, with an explosively developed middle class, there are stores and hotels, restaurants and nightclubs, young scenesters in the parks and business men on lunch breaks. Beijing is a happening baby.

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Posted by Andrew Zimmern at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (54)

Hello Andrew Zimmern fans. Keep reading and posting comments. Andrew will return later this season with all new posts.

Season 2 of 'Bizarre Foods' starts Tuesday, March 4 at 10 p.m. ET/PT!

Posted by Rani at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

Vietnam is a country on the move. A thousand years of Chinese rule, a hundred years of the French, a couple decades of us. These people have something to prove. Vietnam is a country essentially self-created over the last thirty years, but nobody in this long, toothpick-thin nation is interested in abandoning any of their traditional food pathways. In fact, modern restaurant culture is just beginning here in Vietnam and it seems to be solely the domain of the business traveler and tourist. But I digress.

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Posted by Andrew Zimmern at 2:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (62)