Andrew Zimmern's Field Guide to Exceptionally Weird, Wild, and Wonderful Foods: An Intrepid Eater's Digest

by Andrew Zimmern

Andrew Zimmern loves food. In fact, there's practically nothing he won't try--at least once. As host of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern and Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods America on the Travel Channel, Andrew's passion is exploring how different foods are important to different cultures.

Now, Andrew is sharing his most hilarious culinary experiences--as well as fun facts about culture, geography, art, and history, to name a few--with readers of all ages. Don't like broccoli? Well, what if you were served up a plate of brains, instead? From alligator meat to wildebeest, this digest of Andrew's most memorable weird, wild, and wonderful foods will fascinate and delight eaters of all ages, intrepid and...not so much.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Cooking, Childrens, Middle Grade, Travel

208 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2012

About the author

Andrew Randy Sean Zimmern (born July 4, 1961 in New York City) is a James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, food writer, and teacher. As the co-creator, host, and consulting producer of Travel Channel's series Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern and Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World, he travels the world exploring food in its own native region, wherever it is found. He also hosts the show "Dining with Death" which explains some of the foods that could cause death.

Reviews

[tony dillard jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Zimmern. Host of Bizarre Foods and several spin-offs. Minnesota Chef and writer. Man who will eat just about anything.

I really like Zimmern. He seems authentic. I don't get the vibe that he's conceited or feels like he's the smartest person in the room compared to a lot of other celebrity and professional chefs that I know and watch. Zimmern has a world view that the things we eat are what can bring us together, despite differences in both opinion and taste. It's something I try to emulate in my culinary classes; especially when we discuss global food cultures.

Over the past 6 months, I've been trying to increase my culinary knowledge by reading all kinds of works about the food industry. After the recent loss of our oldest cat, Lily, I felt like I needed something light for a while. Thankfully, Andrew Zimmern's Field Guide to Exceptionally Weird, Wild and Wonderful Foods was sitting on my to-read shelf and it helped me during my time for grief and recovery immensely.

Though there are a few recipes in this book, this is not a cookbook. It's also not 100% culinary related. There are about 3 dozen alphabetical listings of foods that Zimmern finds to be kinda oddball. Some of the things he lists like Bird's Nest Soup and Durian (both of which I have sampled), I wholeheartedly agree with. Twinkies and Hot Dogs (again, things I have consumed), I just don't. I understand Chef's argument that how they are made with a terrifying assortment of parts, bits and chemicals can be looked upon as weird. I would define those foods as troubling. As for things like alligator, (one of my all-time fried favs), I would classify them as exotic. Wonderful, not Weird. But to a non-food professional, I can see those large lizards are being both weird and wild to eat.

Amazon rates this book as being for readers aged 8-12. Zimmern in his opening chapter says his book is for all ages. I know that kids and adults alike love Zimmern's TV travel series that explore foods that the common American kitchen lacks. So this book has a universal appeal to fans. However, with some very advanced terms and a frank but necessary discussion of how feces, urine and blood are often intertwined with some of these foods, I can see where not all readers will be fans of this book. OR that all readers would be ready for the material.

The all-age appeal that I think Zimmern is talking about is some of the additional factoids he includes. For example, under his chapter on bats, he includes facts about some of the greatest baseball hitters of all-time. That appeals to generations of readers. I know his TV shows cover non-culinary aspects of the cultures he visits and if Zimmern had stuck to that as additional information, I would totally be on board. I would have liked more entries of bizarre foods and less about how to defeat a zombie, as discussed in the chapter on brains. The off-the-wall non-culinary segments were fun. Just not what I wanted in a Bizarre Foods related read.

Going back to the bats. This book was written in 2012. Of course, many of us know of the urban legend that somebody in China eating a bat was who started COVID in 2019. I'd be interested to know how if this book was re-issued today how Andrew Zimmern would cover the eating of bats due to the rumors. It would be an opinion that I would definitely be interested in hearing.

[Darth Jader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty good book that details some bizarre foods that Andrew Zimmern has had the pleasure of eating throughout his life. The light hearted writing provides a good pace to this book and provided some laughs as well. There are also some fun facts about the animal or food type in the sections that are covered, but I wish more details/recipes were provided for how the foods are sourced, how they are made, and the history behind them. I guess that is what comes with the territory when it comes to reading a book primarily for kids. Some of the foods didn't seem too bizarre (SPAM, twinkies, and turducken are some examples) which makes the title a bit misleading, but I guess everyone has a different idea of what bizarre is. Overall, this is a pretty good book, and I would recommend to anyone who is interested in weird foods.

[Abbie Eklund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting facts so I definitely learned some new things. Only thing to beware of it, even though it's marketed as a book for young readers, there were some small things in it that I felt were not appropriate for kids under 13.

[Joy Bishop · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the show. This was ok.

[Tobias Ratschiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read for every foodie. Guaranteed to not make you hungry.

[Paper Privateer · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Andrew Zimmern, host of the TV show Bizarre Foods, no food is too weird. In this book, he explores foods from around the world that might seem unusual to eat, such as alligator meat, brains, cockroaches, dung beetles, garlic ice cream, haggis, liver, octopus, rabbit, stuffed lamb spleen, turducken, and many others. He discusses the benefits, or lack of benefits, from each food, but then expands the information with recipes, photos, related trivia about the area it comes from; famous sayings related to the food, the area it comes from, or other fun trivia.

This book is a great way to get kids reading nonfiction. Kids will be delighted with the trivia, both the gross facts and the other fun facts that Zimmern collected in this book. The pictures and sidebars break up the information so that it doesn’t ever get too gross or too boring. Because each chapter has different kinds of trivia and information, readers learn a lot not just about food but also about culture, geography, history, vocabulary, and art. The illustrations and pictures also help break up the words to keep things entertaining for young readers. Even reluctant readers can enjoy this laugh-out-loud look at the interesting foods that are eaten all over the world.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Zimmern thinks that "our biggest problem" is "practicing contempt prior to investigation. That's a fancy way to think about what happens when you tell your mom or dad you don't like a food before you've even tried it."

I cannot disagree with this sentiment. And it is way more thoughtful than I would expect from the author of a book about "weird, wild, and wonderful foods." I've never seen the guy's show - he apparently has a show - so I expected that this book was yet another catalog of EWWWWWW.

Approachable, conversational language does not diminish the authority of well-researched articles on crayfish, hot dogs (the word "buttholes" is employed and for that I thank you Andrew Zimmern), foie gras, and my personal favorite, head cheese.

The book is sidebar city, with vocabulary-inspired excursions into words beginning with 'octo,' people named Lucy, words for "fart", and buildings that look like durian fruit. Cartoony line drawings and snappy design invite browsing.

Among all the factoids and stories, Zimmern serves up a few recipes - King Cake, roasted rabbit, fake blood, and lung soup, among others.

A winner in any library.

[Sarah S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever eaten gator? Wildebeest? A bug? (On purpose?)

Andrew Zimmern has eaten all of these things and more. He's the host of Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel.

Here, he talks about a variety of foods that seem weird to people raised in the U.S., such as hissing cockroaches and sour lung soup. He also discusses the science and culture of the food. Don't worry--it never gets heavy. He sort of veers all over the place. In the section on brains, he tells how to make sauteed calves' brains and then how to escape a zombie attack. Zombies tend to eat brains raw.

Zimmern's funny because he seems to prefer maggot cheese to Twinkies. Yes, there's a section on Twinkies. If you're looking for something to do this summer, you might try making Twinkie sushi or using a Twinkie as a hot dog bun.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun distraction into the world of edible weirdness, much like his show Bizarre Foods. The book is done alphabetically although, curiously, not every letter is represented as it does come across as a book that kids would enjoy. Things like tarantulas, wildebeests, brains and maggot cheese are covered. The derivations off of each topic confused me some, especially when they didn't have much to do with food. Example: in the wildebeest section, there is a caption that states "Beast: Someone that is very good at something." Or something like that. I guess the younger readers would dig it. Anyways, not comprehensive, but informative nonetheless.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A first glance at the cover led me to believe this would be a cookbook which featured unusual ingredients. It's way more than that! This is a great introduction to the sociology of food, from the scary stuff, like haggis, to the familiar, like Twinkies, and everything in between. Segways happen on a regular basis, so you might find yourself suddenly reading about tattoos, or studying a timeline about dancing. A list of resources is included, as well as an index. Recommended for age 8 and up, but anyone seeking new experiences for their taste buds would enjoy.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely weird stuff mixed with gross, processed foods we wouldn't blink an eye at while scarfing down. Will be great for teen booktalks. Each food is 4-6 pages with info about the food and cooking then fun facts and something relating to that food, whether it is migration and other animals or movies related to something.

[Lavabearian (Jessica) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book with a scowl on my face. These recipes are really not my cup of tea. I would never even try any of those disgusting things. I get that times are hard and require humans to try new things, but yuck! I am not quite sure who will check this book out. It feels like it would be upper elementary/middle school boys and just for the disgusting facts. A YES vote for me.

[Lisa Delaine Youngblood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew Zimmern packs a lot in this bizarre book about weird food. Right up the alley of elementary studetns, middle school students, and the rest of us up for the queaziness likely to accompany reading it, the book guides readers around the world of fun food. Included are recipes, preparation hints, cultural analysis, and even barely related but incredibly cool digressions!

[Julia Rojas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book. It is well written and it talks about different types of food. It has information about the food and it has some tips on how to cook it. It has some pictures and drawings in it. I think this book has two flaws in it. Some of the information kind of wandered away from the topic and he sometimes bragged about himself in this book.

[Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Andrew Zimmern on his show Bizarre Foods. I followed every episode I could watch, given its limited run in the Philippines. In line with this, I had set expectations on this first AZ book that I purchased. Unfortunately this book fell short for me. It is chock full of information, but it failed to excite the foodie (and an avid AZ fan) in me. 4 stars just because I admire AZ very much.

[Benet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was in the junior section of our library so it was checked out with my 9-year-old in mind, but I loved it! Graphically pleasing and a good read for anyone that enjoys Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel.