Dear Travel Channel: Please Replace Andrew Zimmern With … Anyone Else

Yes – consider yourself lucky, leandra! =)

I’d like to see the show cancelled altogether. If you log on to Utube and type in animal cruelty you will be able to see videos by gaaradammit that show how asian countries torture dogs for hours because they think the meat tastes better the more the dog suffers before it finally dies. Now the travel channel is catering to this horrible cruelty and American tourists are eating dog because it is “cool”. Bears also are butchered alive.I hope A.Z. chokes on his next meal.I dare you to watch the videos, they will horrify you. Louise

Marcus, I like the content of the show, just not the character (read: host). Although, since the content is a direct rip on Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, that’s no surprise.

The bit about violent tendencies is in jest (sort of). Fortunately, I’ve been wise enough not to pop out any mini-me’s, so I stand no risk of beating any kids. Not my own anyway.

LOL, Chad! That’s why I’m here. Perhaps we should start a photo gallery of Zimmern stuffing his face? I can even find some “smacking” sounds to loop in the background.

You guys suck! Andrew rules, that is why I watch, to watch him. I think he is funny.

Ah come on, give him a brake,,All these guys are great,,,& interesting chefs too. Pay me that well & I’ll travel abroad & eat strange foods too,Thats what I look forward to watch while I work at my job taking care of a woman with dementia,,,so bug off & laugh it up.(Or should I say lap) thnx

I love anthony bourdain. Sure sometimes hes a little mellow dramatic or over the top, but his voice and writing style are awesome

To louisebakalik: I am asian and yes in my country there are groups of indigenous people who eat dogs and kill pigs in an unusal kind of way. Like they beat it until the blood clots and cook it. What’s up with that? It’s their culture, sometimes even part of their rituals. If tourists eat dogs or try that stuff, don’t blame shows like Zimmerns. Puhleaassse!

Ugh, I can’t _stand_ Andrew Zimmern!! Just his goofy act makes me want to slap him. Have any of you seen the episode where he invites Bourdain to New York and he gravels at his feet, “oh Anthony, you’re so amazing! I wanted to be just like you since the moment I saw you! Hey! Wouldn’t this be crazy of me? I could suck your cock, that’s crazy food, right?” He’s pathetic!

Este Andrew Zimmern é o maximo gostaria que viésse aqui no Brasil e eu ia te levar para comer coisas super exóticas!!!

LKub: That was positively painful. Thanks (or not =P ) for pointing that out.

Zimmerman’s show is great, mixing bizarre food,culture, and unusual destinations. But for the life of me I cant understand if you dont like it, why do you watch it.

Change channels. Not hard to figure out. Rest assured, he does not need you.

I would like to say that I LOVE the show! Andrew rocks and is by far way more exciting to watch than that boring snore anthony bordain. I hope that in the future the Travel Channel will feature more of this show. It shows everyone how we should be more culturally open to different foods which we have never tried, and to be diverse in the the way we think and live.

Go Andrew ,go.We love you.
For Mabuhay-get of the screen.

I am of the opposite opinion. Andrew’s show offers something the others do not. It’s unique and definitely different from Anthony Bourdain’s show, and I like that show too. If the host is all that Mike has an objection to, Mike should look deeper than skin deep. I do agree that the lip smacking is a bit much, but in some countries that is very acceptable and even desirable. Andrew seems to fit in quite well. Andrew seems more worldly than Mike. Would Mike have the guts to try some of the foods Andrew eats? I challenge Mike to go on the show with Andrew, and try some of the foods on camera with him. Hey Mike, walk a mile in Andrew’s shoes before you bash someone…now that would be an interesting show.

thanks for respecting my opinion on this. I do respect each and everyone’s opinion of Andrew Zimmern. If most people in this page find him gross or irritating, it’s ok. That doesn’t change my opinion of him.

If for you, killing animals is not a culture and so archaic, I beg to disagree.As what I’ve said, they don’t do it just for the heck of it. A thousand miles away from where you are now, there are still indigenous people out there. It’s not because it is 2008, they should conform to everything. I do not wish you to embrace this. You are entitled to your own opinion as well as these indigenous people. And culture as defined means it its the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations. It is their culture.

I can see now clearly the plight of these indigenous people.

Andrew is great, Impossible for anyone to do better than this guy. TR.

You look too cool, hip…hip for Andrew. He is just a regular guy. The program is very informative. He gets right into homes and kitchens. His show on Delhi was great.

You see as much of the culture as you do with the hipper-than-thou Tony Bourdain whose show is often as much about him as the country and food he is visiting.

My contention is the really hip like Andrew better than Tony.

All you idiots need to get a f@#$in job. If all you have to do is hate on another man, you need to see a shrink. Andrew’s show is as much like Anthony’s as Sandra Lee’s is like Giada DeLaurenta’s. Andrew doesn’t drink and smoke the whole entire show either. I like Tony and Andrew and have met them both in New York. You flunky’s hate him because you wish you could get paid for doing something as cool as these guys do. Now get in your tan minivan and go to your job at Best Buy.

hey kevin ..only idiot without a job is you, to take time and to reply to the coments of this so called “F@#$in idiots”…
Only an ignorant looser can make fun of people with a decent job…or maybe since you have nothing better to do, you make fun of the people with tan minivan and their jobs at best buy…atleast they have a job….you should get one to keep you busy….

I second Charlie Sommer’s assessment.

Baldy eats worms and almost convincingly fakes his ‘love’ for it, then cannot stomach a Durian sample. That, my friends separates a true lover of food from the pricks.

He also has a nauseatingly forced delivery and a vocabulary limited to 5 juvenile phrases recycled over and over and over again, show after show after show to describe all of the foods he shoves in his gullet:

1) Wow!
2) That’s really funky.
3) I love worms.
4) I like to suck the inside of [some food..or Bourdain (subconsciously)]
5) [loud lipsmack]

OMG….The smacking has got to GO….. I was so annoyed just a few minutes ago that I resorted to coming on line to see if others had a problem with it as well. Well this was my first stop. I seriously thought it was me until my 7 year old asked why he smacked so much. I can no longer tolerate the smacking. But otherwise he does a great job, he really does. It’s just the talking and smacking at the same time. And I also would suggest him getting braces, since he it on television now.

Thanks

I love Andrew Zimmern’s, show and I hope it doesn’t go off for a long time. Anthony Bourdain is just as entertaining to me as well. I DVR/Tivo their shows and watch regularly. They are both entertaining. I would love to travel just like them, but I have young children. I moved from NYC to Buffalo NY. The food in Buff. NY is boring. Mostly pizza, wings. subs/heros and beer. Some of the foods on Andrew’s show is what I’ve seen in NYC, not that I’ve tried a lot of them. However, for Bourdain & Zimmern being from NYC is where they get the nerve to eat the foods from those countries, due to NYC having everyone on the planet living there. Living in Buff. NY and watching Zimmern & Bourdain makes me always want to move back to NYC or travel the world for the ethnic diversity in food. Anyway Zimmern keep doing what you’re doing by bringing something different to the table. For all of you who are so repulsed by Zimmern’s show, why do you tune in. Is it that you like to be repulsed and disgusted by him?

Dear Cie Kay,

Your comment is something of a dichotomy, How can you be so against cruelty to an animal but recommend
it so fervently for one of your fellow
human beings?

Perhaps a less Draconian punishment would be more appropriate for poor Andrew. I don’t really like his show but I hardly think he should suffer death for it.
Perhaps making him eat a durian, which he hates, would suffice.

Well, we did not choose to be on top of the food chain. LOL!

Come on, this is going to be an endless debate. Just leave things at that Cie Kay. I respect your decision to avoid eating meat. I think your vegan. And go ahead, practice that. This is so preposterous.

Very good, Charlie! Thanks.

I did not come here to enter into a debate on this subject, Jade, dear. I made ONE COMMENT. You and Charlie chose to respond. And Charlie has been perfectly cordial in his replies.

Jade, your responsibility as “the top of the food chain” is to prevent the abuse of those living below. That is the only point I wanted to make. Why is that “preposterous”? Have you ever considered the feelings of an animal who is being slaughtered for your dinner plate? Go visit an abattoir before you insult me again.

Finally, Jade, you have NO right to tell me where I should “leave” anything. I’ll respond to any and all comments directed to me. Deal with it. It only stops where you let it stop.

Yes, I definitely agree with you Doc Feral. That is very rational.

Well then about feelings, I guess those bigger should be taught not to eat those smaller fish, for we all have feelings.

Doc Feral, you are in severe denial. Have you ever had a conversation with an animal? Ever walked up to a chicken and said, “Hi there! How would you like to be strung up by your feet and electrocuted, then have your feathers boiled off whether or not you’re dead or still alive, so I can then roast your carcass and eat it for dinner?”

No, I didn’t think so, unless you have a close, personal relationship with a psychiatrist who encourages your delusions.

Do you honestly think that a chicken, or any other creature, can decide on its own whether or not to let us kill them? Free will simply means that we have a choice to act morally. (Human beings are not carnivores, by the way. Just thought you should know that.) People aren’t born with the instinct to run out and gorge themselves at KFC or McDonald’s.

Jade: Yes, even fish have feelings, but your logic is so far off-base that it staggers the mind. The issue I brought up originally is not about the habits of animals, but about our treatment of them.

Bottom line: human beings are NOT superior to animals. In most ways, in fact, THEY are superior to us.

Man, Fuck all you guys that talk shit about andrew!! He is bizzare foods, he’s the only reason why i watch his show. anthony bourdain is a boring mofo and i preffer to watch bizzare foods anytime before the other show. i cant even stay awake on anthony bourdain. Andrew Zimmern 4 LIFE!

Close your mouth Andrew zimmern!!!!for all the fans of Andrew get some class and follow someone who actually has some proper etiquette!!!

You couldn’t be more wrong. i have the luxery of it’s obvious success to confirm my quote, but rest assure i would have said the same thing after the 1st show. And i love the sound of lip smacking. If it’s so much like No Reservations your problem is easily solved-don’t watch it. I am enjoying both more then any other shows available

Dear Concerned English Teacher,

If you are going to correct the grammar of others, you may wish to revisit it’s/its. “I have the luxury of ITS obvious success” would be correct as it is being used in the possessive form. Additionally, “I am enjoying them more THAN any other…” slipped by you.

CK,

It took you two weeks to call me an asshole and tell me to burn in hell..? Wow, a little slow there. Seems you’re as clueless as Palin is when it comes to right and wrong.

As for knowing more than you.. I think that’s more than been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. I can see you still have quite a bit to learn about life and people. When you’ve had a bit more experience with life you come back and we’ll have a serious conversation– but then I don’t see that happening with you anytime soon.

~ DF

Everyone also learns in Spelling 101 how to spell ‘manners’. Manors are homes in which some people live.

I’ll say I’ve continued to watch Bizzare Foods and I have yet to witness any of this lipsmacking, drooling, or percieved rudeness people have indicated they’ve witnessed.

As for defending Andrew, of course we will especially when others make ineffectual arguments as reasons to remove him. If you don’t like the show. Don’t watch it. Some of us do like it and him. Deal with it. When you see it coming on, turn the channel. If you don’t, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself for watching it.

~ DF

I think Doc Feral didn’t spend much time on that travel lover. I love Andrew Zimmern and will still watch it. If he irks you, then you better not watch him. To each his own.

I came across this posting after having my my own last straw with the open-mouth chewing! It disgusting and unnecessary and I cannot not stand this show. Otherwise I usually enjoy this type of program.

this series is a spin-off of a special about bizarre foods in asia that was aired before bourdain ever got a show. and the title is bizarre FOODS, there is nothing keeping bourdain from doing other things for his show. look at samantha brown for example, she actually does stuff besides eat. it’s silly to suggest that one show “ripped-off” the other…in fact the whole thing is stupid…why am i writing this?

Yes, there are people out there that share the same feelings that I have for Zimmern!!! I too came across this post when I was annoyed for the last time with the lip smacking!
Everything is” nutty” or “buttery” and everything is by the far the best thing he’s ever tasted! Is “Snaily” even a word?!
Yes the show is great and amazing to see other parts of the world. I will find myself watching the re-runs, but once the lip smacking gets in motion, I will turn it away or mute it. God forbid if I have the channel on while eating dinner. I wouldn’t be able to stomach it.
For those who have never heard him lip smack… try watching it with your eyes closed, it’s apparent you are visual occupied and your hearing senses are being challenged. I’ll guarantee the smacking will be amplified.

Bizarre Foods, is great too, but I can afford to lose to see the peach, orange, sherbet shirts with “camel toe” appearance. The cameraman should also be questioned for taking some awkward shots of his “down below”.
I won’t find myself eating behind Zimmern. All that lip smacking, there’s bound to be some fly away particles spewing out of his mouth and then he double dips out of the same sauce that he is sharing with other people! I don’t hate the man, and will respect the things that he eats. But dang, chill out with the lips smacks. I forget why I watch the show in the first place when I am drowned out the sound that comes out of that man’s mouth.
Anthony must think he’s a douche bag when he is sitting with him at the table.

Andrew Zimmern is awesome! He is like a real life Homer Simpson; and I mean that in the best way possible. He’s funny, descriptive, humble, and has an adventurous spirit. He is the perfect host for that show.

It’s hard to take an animal rights person seriously when they state something like…Cei kay- “If anyone deserves to be sliced and consumed while his heart is still beating, it should be Andrew Zimmern. And I hope they give him a taste while they feasting on his throbbing guts.”

He should be replaced with the ShamWow guy.

I think Zimmerns show is great. The thing that gets me is his critics are people who find his eating gross because they are wealthy enough to only eat the “prime meats”. Bourdain is great but his “talk show” special was horrible while Zimmers Halloween was great! Tipping a glass of blood with a British bobby? Brilliant!

man, I couldn’t agree with you more. His show is on right now and it prompted me to Google “Andrew Zimmern chewing sounds”. It’s like they mic’d his uvula.

what i can stand is the way he wags his hands/fingers after he’s put something in his mouth. it is so irritating

The most common complaint you’ll probably read on the web regarding Zimmern is his oafish insensitivity towards the various cultures he visits. It seems oddly ironic then that people from his own culture have such strong opinions about what ultimately is a cultural thing: lip smacking. Really, it is very funny, and I’m not dissing anyone for their opinions – the sound makes me crazy too – but I just can’t hate the guy for that. Bourdain, OTOH, is way too tortured; each episode feeling the need for verbal self-flagellating catharctic moments as though his viewers were some collective therapist who should be nodding his/her head in Jungian knowingness. Really, Tony, give it a rest, it’s okay to be imperfect. Americans are often accused of being culturally ugly unless they beat themselves up publically. Well, I like both the guys and their imperfections and their shows.

I am actually watching the show now and decided to google him. Why? Because I wondered what other people thought about him. Imagine my surprise when I clicked here!! I was yelling ‘close your mouth when you’re eating!!’, so I guess the lip smacking bothers me too.

And what is up with all the orange? How is it possible for one person to own so many orange clothes?

Crazy uncle for sure!

Liz

Love the show. But please stop pronouncing the “t” in often.

If lip-smacking drives you round the bend, I shudder to think how you would handle a real emergency. Whenever I have seen the show it seemed okay to me.

Also, this is a response to Chris: Have you considered seeing a psychiatrist for your hatred of fat people? “fat fingers, fat head, fat ass–waddle off” were your comments. Are you such a model of perfection that you can throw stones?

I actually like the show. It’s like watching a train wreck (although I don’t like watching trains or anything wreck for that matter.) Andrew does not make any of the food look appetizing at all not because of what it is but the way he eats it. He has bad table manners but I like the show. It always makes me crave actual good food though!

Oh Mike! You’ve done humanity a great service by publishing your rant on Andrew Zimmern. I, like others who’ve commented on your article, was so irritated by Zimmern’s exceedingly annoying lip smacking that I Googled “hate andrew zimmern’s smacking” —which is how I came across your article.

At first, I thought it was the fault of the soundman having made Zimmern’s microphone too sensitive and thus magnifying every one of his torturous smick-smack-grunt-n-drools. But, if that were the case, the mic would’ve picked up other environmental sounds, which we don’t hear—-thus proving that Zimmern is really no less repulsive than Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movie.

And I totally agree with you that Zimmern over dramatizes the “weirdness” in what he’s eating. But it’s not merely over-dramatization he’s guilty of. The way he does it seems so passive aggressive…so ethnocentric…so self-aggrandizing…so unappealing. It’s like having to watch that bloated swine masturbate with each gnarly mouthful—made only more gnarly because viewers are subjected to watching and hearing it all being gnashed about in Zimmern’s gaping maw.

I believe the general content of the show is interesting enough, but I find myself distracted by Zimmern’s piggishness and spending 80% of the time yelling things at the TV like, “SHUT YOUR FESTERING PIE-HOLE YOU RUDE SLOBBERING PIG!!” That said, I continue to watch certain episodes of his show (ones of locations I’m interested in) in hopes of picking up on some unique place to try on my own—–but I’ve been watching with the sound off…especially when Zimmern is eating (I’m also starting to need to turn away as soon as that cochon starts gripping at something and stuffing it into his flapping lips).

Mike…do you think the show’s producers would do tell Zimmern to close his mouth when he chews and to stop smacking if you started a petition? How many signatures do you think you’d need for them to get him to do the show with a canvas bag over his head?

Thanks for providing this forum to rant about all this!

I would actually like the show if it wasn’t for the lip smacking and chewing noises. Many people have a problem with people that eat that way.

I would like to let his producers know that the editors should simply equalize that stuff out during those parts.

Then people who are bothered by it could make it through an entire show instead of changing the channel when the chewing starts.

Jeez, unless you’re in the same situation my grandmother was in the early 70’s where she could only get 1 channel, could those who hate Zimmern just change it?
I for one enjoy seeing a host who resembles Homer Simpson rather then a cookie cutter kewpie doll or pretty boy host. It’s his everyday guy approach that 1st got my attention. I personally love the way Travel Channel has taken a quirky approach to their hosts. There’s something for everyone. And if you still can’t stomach a unique way someone approaches his show, you can switch to the italian chick on the Food Channel

Katrina start a petition?
You are beyond needing to “get a life”, your ready for a straight jacket!

The guy is a jerk. He’s arrogant and obviously a tourist no matter how much he’s traveled. He drives me crazy with both his eating with his mouth open and chewing only two or three times unless it’s a very chewy dish.

Ok…I promised myself to not talk about or watch his show again or write about him here as I have done in the past, But I am planning on a trip to Ethiopia to explore the culture and I thought I give it a shot…already knew about the awful eating habits he has…so I got myself ready to pass that…but my god he is just rude and unbearable…he gives a bad name to this country by representing it around the world, acting like a superior idiot….He insulted their food as they were trying to be hospitable and made disgusted faces, implying how can you eat s!#$ like this…

As we know these places can be very poor at times and food is hard to come by…they killed one of their few cows for him and as he mentioned they only afford to eat meat couple of times a year….ungrateful bastard…he said after tasting one of the dishes..ahhh in this culture when you touch the food you have to eat it…oh man…do I have to?…making nasty faces….

The worst is when he tries to take a comedians job and be funny.
He act superior to these cultures and that is not the purpose of the show…you were lucky enough to born in a place that food is easier to come by on the supermarket shelves…just educate and explain…don’t judge….I will just depend on the internet and books for my trip

I couldn’t care less if he was gnawing the heads off live kittens in Bangladesh as long as he kept his damn mouth closed while doing so

He’s the most annoying person ever i tried watching his show so many times I CANT DO IT hes rude and ANNOYING if that’s what your into well have fun with him you can keep him.

I havent watched his show in some time in protest. Just thinking about him makes my blood pressure rise…….

If I ever saw this guy on the streets I would literally try to choke him out. Not kill him, but inflict much much pain

This guy is a complete dumbass. He’s like an overgrown 5 year old. And his vocabulary is ridiculous. He just adds a “y” to the end of any word and uses it as a adjective. I’ve heard him say the following throughout various episodes: “it tastes very porky” (while eating pork…), “it’s very seafoody”, “it’s horsey”, “it’s very…mineraly” While in Vietnam “this place is a foody mecca”, and many many more. This guy is a joke.

Funny I’ve never really noticed his slopping noises when he eats. Probably because I just focus on the way he speaks and relates to other people, which is horrendous. But I’m gonna start looking out for his slopping so I have something else to make fun of him for.

It’s awful watching Andrew Zimmern attempt to be charming with his guests who clearly are just faking a smile just because they want to be on TV.

Seriously he is lacking in the social skills.

However, the show is interesting and while I don’t really like him as a host (especially when he’s being a dick)…the show itself is pretty interesting and definitely watchable.

I’d rather have a show about Bizarre Foods with a semi-likeable host rather than no show at all.

Ha Ha haaa. oh, how I love google….

I’ve always had this dislike for Andrew Zimmern, so a quick search for ” I hate andrew zimmern” gave me like a gazillion hits, and numerous devoted sies!
The more I watch, the more I hate him, and I’m really TRYING to like him. because, really, the format, the (stolen) concept, exotic locations, etc. all make for good tv.
BUT Damn, isn’t there anyone better than A.Z.? Some one commented earlier, to describe him best, as funny, in the crazy uncle way. But I don’t get any satisfaction from watching rambling about how disgusting or CrAzY something is. I don’t know if he does more to help people open up and try new things, or the complete opposite and run from trying anything different, all while making stupid faces. He sure loves big fat nasty American cheese-goober-burgers and hang over the plate weiners, but doesn’t some other fat guy have that show already?

The thing I hate about AZ so much is his arrogant, fat, obviously American ignorance. He travels to so many countries and sees so many different cultures, and yet his comments are so….kindergarten.

“oh, that’s gross!”
“wow, is that cool, or what?”
“Now that’s the wackiest thing I’ve ever put in my mouth”

Not once have I ever heard him try to greet, or even thank people in their own language. He knows nothing of world cultures, religion, history or food for that matter.
Who the hell gave him a show anyway?

Last night was horrible. I think he was in S. Africa, bungee jumping. Except he gets to the edge and….fails. Why bother airing that? What a waste-of-time douche bag! What a complete let down. And then they continued to show 10 more minutes of him blabbering about “i had no problem until I got to the edge….I was gonna do it” What a waste of time you are.

What makes me so upset about this whole show is the failure to use it’s popularity and its reach to reach millions of close minded americans to try new things but completely obliterates it by overly dramatic and dumbed-down reactions to everything. This show has the chance to do good. A chance to fight ignorance. And what a superb job in failure.

No wonder us Americans (US americans) are so unpopular accross the world. Because people like Az and his show spawn more dumb people to say and do stupid things in other countries.
what a disgrace.

So, Andrew, I hope your reading this. You need to do some research before setting out to the next CrAzY place and eating/sharing your host’s meager meal and hurling it up in front of them. You are a disgusting pig (and not just the way you stuff your face) and the reason why we american are so dumb. You are the Rachel Ray of travel shows. I’d rather you do what she did, and get a day time show and leave the travel-ogues to the pro’s. You discourage smart, intellectual and curious travels from ever leaving American soil. Sad, sad sad…

Quick story about Mr. Zimmern . . .

I live in the Twin Cities suburb of St. Louis Park. After dropping my kids off at school today, I went to the local coffee shop to get a cup. Wouldn’t you know it, but Mr. Zimmern was there with his young son. I made I contact with him, and said “I know you’re with your son, but I’d like to shake your hand. I’m a big fan”. His response: “Yes, I am with my son.” He then turned his back to me. I’m a father of three – I know time with the little ones is precious. But for christ’s sakes, all I wanted to do was shake the man’s hand. He was a total DICK. Needless to say, I won’t be watching his show anymore. Fat prick.

wow how rude! I put up with the chewing noise cause i thought he might be a nice guy. now I REALLY dislike him.

I think it’s rude to not realize with how much he’s on the road in regards to his show. That being the case, time with his kids is even more precious then might think. If I was Andrew here’s what I’d see… 3-4 weeks away at a shot. home for maybe a day or two before hitting the road again. So must spend time with off-spring during that time. Here I am with my child and some knuckle-head wants to shake my hand. Sorry, this is child’s time, not some stranger’s.

Maybe if you offered to buy his coffee for being so rude, he would have been more congenial.

The person who contributed with the screen name of “Who Cares” said even more good stuff than I did. It’s worth reading. Thank you for contributing. I like your fuckin style….

Hey Zimmern’s Tiny Penis. I agree with you 110%. But I have one problem. What do you mean barbarize a foreign language? That soft, white, silly, son of a bitch has never even once tried to say anything in a foreign tongue. If he had, then yes, he would have destroyed it completely. And by the way, the reason his penis is tiny is because he ate the rest of it. He should have his lips sewn shut so he can’t pollute the airwaves with lip smacking-drooling-or foot in mouth gagging while visiting distant lands.

And yes the word bizarre pisses me off to no end. It’s highly offensive to assume that every other culture, other than the supposed american culture, is somehow strange and weird. I think the The Travel Channel should pull its head out of its ass also. Do you really want “this” as your representative of americans? It sucks to admit but AZ does represent a cross section of americans. A large cross section. Fat, stupid, ethnocentric, mouth breathers who can’t even leave their Lazy Boy chair, let alone their own county (I mean country).

I saw a show on the food network with Jeff Corwin (sp?) along the same premises as AZ’s pathetic show. It’s pretty good, we all need to start patronizing his show instead of AZ’s.

And to the post directly above me…….I feel ya buddy, if I ever met AZ I just might see red and do something I’ll regret. I’d like to snatch AZ for a few hours and stick him in a room filled with ripe durian fruit.

On a tangent, I’d just like to point out that when Bourdain travels to different countries, the culinary elite all welcome him with open arms. AZ has to hire travel aids who smile at him through clenched jaws. Working as a chef for 6 years has made me jaded perhaps, but I just can’t stand how the Travel Channel allows this guy’s buffoonery. Man vs. Food is bad enough. Wow giy, you talk like a frat-boy dropout and you eat til’ you hurt. Standards, Travel Channel, it’s called standards.
And Bali looks amazing. Ive been to mainland China and Japan several times, but I long to go to SE Asia.

I concur with the author! I almost want to like Andrew but his stupid gestures when hes eating make him look like an idiot and the chewing noise has got to go! PRODUCERS MOVE THE MICROPHONE!!!!!

I agree with MAQ. I hope someone slaughters HIS fat ass alive one day and feeds him to the jackals.

Oh god, here we go with the “clean and sober contingent”, get a life beyond your AA meetings. By the way people, we don’t watch AZ’s show, we do change the channel when he’s on, that’s not the point. The point is we don’t want him representing the rest of us as travellers. We don’t want simple minded Americans watching his show for knowledge of other cultures and countries with AZ as a representative. That is the reason for this site. So those of us who want him flogged can band together. The people who are sticking up for him must lead really interesting lives, because they have nothing better to do than stick up for this bald, bloated, american idiot.

Nice screen name Sober297. You write like you’re a 13 yr. old girl. What is it with you AA types? You just can’t move on can you? By the way, alcohol lubricates conversation and connections throughout the world so don’t bag on Anthony Bourdain for being able to handle his liquor. It sounds to me like jealousy on your part. This is coming from an ex-addict so don’t try to respond with some AA/NA propaganda, I’ve heard it all before.

I LOVE your post Mike… I agree with everything you have to say about this convoluted, ego-maniac, grossly embarrassing representation of an American. Shouldn’t a rule on a food show be, “Do not smack your lips when you’re eating. It makes other people sick?” Since all he does on air is eat… you’d think he’d TONE IT DOWN.
I also cannot stand how he sticks his tongue out before each bite- to bring the fork closer to his mouth… Is this laziness? Or just to make him more disgusting?
Have you also noticed- he does look like a big penis in a collared shirt?

I’m waiting for him to actually eat nuts to see the pained look of confusion on his face when he realizes he can’t describe them as “nutty”

I agree he needs to be replaced. But not for his unhealthy obesity, lip smacking and lack of charisma.

He displays general tactlessness for the local culture and people. I find that in each of his clips he’s non-accepting and fairly closed minded. It feels as if he describes food from the perspective of a semi-stubborn American stereotype (perhaps the obtuse marketing angle of the show- tittle in mind- seeing regular food as bizzare only to a painfully mainstream American audience). Frankly, he looks like he just doesn’t want to be there in the first place. Keep in mind he has never actually fully complimented a food or its origins without describing it’s negatives.

I believe Anthony Bourdain pulls off eating these “interesting” foods better. The man has more brain cells which makes him more in tuned the culture around him and selection of words used to describe something. He also has more hair, which aids view ability.

Agree with AZsucks, The guy takes a trip to Tanzania watches how they make banana beer and goes on to say: “i don’t drink, but I am told that the flavor of this beer is very special.” How lame is this fucking guy! And that Hawaii episode I saw it too, how fucking insulting was that! Get this guy of the air and give Bourdain a 2 hour show….

Stella….wow… if you like him, some day you will have your own show and you will have a page just like this…good luck

So, I guess the whole lip smacking, greasy lip, bug crunching thing dont bother ya? Oh, and the time he ate the back off the horses or the cats?

sad…

I don’t get what it is with people who think just because someone has a show or is celebrity of some sort that they should just drop everything they may be doing just because a fan comes up to them.. Gimme a break. The two instance I’ve seen noted on here, the person who approached him was rude themselves. Hell, one even said something to Andrew about it, Andrew agreed and reacted accordingly. Good for him. People on here talk about his lip-smacking and other noises (I have yet to witness while watching the show), yet no one even thinks that it may be socially acceptable to do that in that particular culture. No, they’d rather keep close their minds to that possibility. Americans seem to think that their way is the only way and as such that is how every other culture is. So much for Freedom of Expression.

@DocFeral

It’s not as if he is licking his lips in appreciation of a good dish. It sounds like a cow is chewing cud and the microphone is in its mouth. And like fairyface5 (there were 4 others?:P) said, it happens throughout the entirety of every show. You may want to have your ears checked.

And I think the issue some people take with rude celebrities is that they have spent a lifetime striving to get everyone to know who they are. Day in and day out everything they do is focused towards becoming more recognizable. And then if they act like it’s this burden they have to carry or that it has been thrust upon them unwillingly people call bullshit. and rightly so. It’s the definition of hypocrisy.

The fact of the matter is, if you want to say something like “Hey, nice show..” drop him an e-mail or send him a message on Facebook. Something that may not be intrusive to either his work life or his private life. Sure you may think walking up to him in an airport when he’s alone may not be intruding. The question is what was he doing before you walked up? What was his listening to/watching? Was it some random vid or was it a vid from his kids that they made just for Dad..? Was he listening to useful phrases for the next country he’s in the airport waiting to go to..? Fact of the matter is, you don’t know…So when you go up to him in the airport as he’s sitting there with his headphones on watching something on his computer..you expect him to just stop what he’s doing just to say “thank you” to you? If I was him – my job and my family (who, I’m sure, he doesn’t see too often) are more important then random person just walking to him to say “Nice job”…

@ Micheal.. Funny you should mention having my hearing checked. Just had it checked a few weeks back. It’s above average. I think people’s pre-occupation with his chewing deals more with the nit-picking attitude of the American Culture then it does to anything else.. I think the only hypocrisy here is we say celebs should have a private life, yet we want to know everything about them and think they’re accessible to us. Just because they’re on our TV’s every night does NOT give us any right to intrude on their privacy. I also think you’re conception of what defines celebrity is

Andrew is rude, unappealing, uncultured and corny as all hell. Get this guy off the AIR.

No, based on this logic you don’t intrude on celebrites you may run across. Unless you want to be as rude as you claim they are when you just walk up to them on intrude on them.

[...] http://www.vagabondish.com/dea.....yone-else/ [...]

It is the nature of the beast… You never want to be bothered as you walk down the street, become an librarian not a public figure…..

Stinky Tofu,

are those real books you authored? Amazon doesnt carry them.
If not, you should. You sound like a trip. and oh yea, Zimmern sucks ass. TRAVEL CHANNEL!!! WAKE UP!!!!GET RID OF AZ!!!!

Zimmern has some sort of speech impediment that makes him completely mangle and mispronounce every single foreign word he tries to say…. and that’s his more charming quality

I’d say that there’s a bit of jealousy showing here. He’s very popular, and Vagabondish? Hardly no one has heard of this site. Wonder why? Sorry Mike, you’ll never be a household name. Get used to it and stop crying.

jealous? teehee.

I think Curt might actually BE az.

@ Curt
The Macarena was popular too and that did not make it the less annoying…. eh Macarena! ahai!

Azure sky: Would that be from the same places that never heard of spelling and proper grammar?

Ok Azure, sorry.

By the way, Andrew was on a show today and he was helping rescue penguins in South Africa. I truly applaud his effort at this, I think it actually affected him quite deeply. Hopefully he will gain a better understanding of saving the planet’s resources instead of just eating them. He actually has a very nice speaking voice and is interesting, most of the complaints on here have been about endangered species and lack of grace. Peace!

We ain’t just talking turtle here, he eats anything and everything – horse, cat, dog, etc
Notes/Featured Bizarre Foods
23 (1) September 9, 2008 Phuket, Thailand Fried grasshoppers, pork liver and beef stomach & intestine soups, coconut balls, stretched squid, stuffed mackerel, wasp larvae, stir-fried stingray, mole crabs, wasabi-, chili-, and tom yum-flavored cashews and cashew apple juice at a cashew factory, red weaver ants, forest lizards, fish stomach sauce, deep-fried fish skin, horseshoe crab, sea whelk.
24 (2) September 16, 2008 Sicily Cow stomach soup, mystery meat soup, beef spleen sandwich, sardine meatballs, gourmet cow’s mouth, Cerda Artichoke festival: fried, roasted, marinated, and frittata artichoke, and artichoke gelato on a bun, chocolate rabbit, cinnamon pudding, bottarga, tuna heart and sperm, cuttlefish eggs and pasta with ink, sea snails.
25 (3) September 23, 2008 Goa, India Bora berry, chouricos (spicy pig offal and fat sausage), pickled mackerel, Vindaloo, hilsa fish roe, Bombay Duck, chicken Xacuti, pomfret, prawns, chickpea sandwich, golgappa (chickpea-stuffed pastries), chili fritters, betel nuts, sorpotel, mushroom and lentil curry, potatoes and rice in sour mango sauce cow urine herb drink
Andrew visits the Sahakari Spice Farm and tries Ayurveda and yoga.

26 (4) September 30, 2008 Samoa Samoan apple, se’a (sea cucumber intestines), pork pies, mutton, umu-cooked eel, whole pig cooked in ‘umu oven, raw tuna eyeballs and still-beating heart, giant clam, roasted tree grubs, fruit bat roasted on coconut husks.
27 (5) October 7, 2008 Paris Terrine, head cheese, lardo, pressed duck with duck sauce and marrow, blood sausage, squab, gourmet mustard, truffles, refined cheese, rabbit liver, bacon and eggs ice cream, lamb tongues, sea urchin, snail caviar, escargot.
Andrew visited the Rungis market, a mustard shop, Paris’s best cheese shop, and a snail farm.

28 (6) October 14, 2008 Los Angeles Head cheese, slow-cooked piglet in goose fat, pig ears, tongue salad, and eyeballs, scorpions on toast, South American ants on string potatoes, crickets, worms, shot of wheat grass and barley, “rawsagna” with ground sunflower seeds, flax, cherry tomatoes, and dates, hemp-sunburger on flax flatbread, coconut-durian smoothie, soondae, hot dog burrito, cow’s tongue sandwich from the taco truck, monkfish with caviar, sea urchin roe, Santa Barbara shrimp saashimi, octopus tirodido, menudo, corn smut, nopal salad, grasshoppers, whole catfish, deep-fried chicken testicles, Peking duck, cockscombs.
Andrew went to a vegan supper and a Hispanic family’s feast. Featuring special guest chefs Wolfgang Puck, Ben Ford and Ani Phyo and Los Angeles food blogger Eddie Lin [1].

29 (7) October 21, 2008 Halloween Special This special discussed unfamiliar foods that are considered scary and what made Westerners uneasy about them. Andrew then hosted a Halloween party with Bizarre Foods fans where he served his favorite fares. He discussed drinking blood with food historian and author Linda Civitello, which is based on culture and status. Anthropology director at the University of Minnesota William Beeman explained about fear of bugs and organ meat, saying that people are more likely to eat insects with a side. Chef Patrick Lue Chai, whose restaurant Andrew ate at in LA, cooked fried crickets with potato strings as well as other insects for the party. Appetizers at Andrew’s feast were tarantula, waterbugs, grasshoppers, hissing cockroaches, and Thai stir-fried ants and crickts. The entrees were fresh cow’s blood, raw goat kidney, chicken feet, and guinea pig.
30 (8) October 28, 2008 Hawaii Imu-cooked kalua pig, poi, a’ama crab, he’e luau (octopus w/ taro leaves), bonefish, Spam musubi, Pineapple upside-down cake with Spam, guava-glazed Spam, tempura Spam, Na’au (wild boar offal and blood), ono with lavender sauce, lamb with lavender salt and pepper, goat with Maui onion and chilipeppers, Hawaiian fusian – natto, clams, wasabi, and soy, local escargot, caviar, seaweed, goat stew with intestines and bile, opihi.
31 (9) November 11, 2008 Ethiopia Fermented Enset fiber pancakes and porridge, raw sauted beef, ibe cheese, unfiltered honey, berbere, goat organs in ox intestines, crepe with chicken and onion, coffee, sorghum popcorn, fresh raw beef and camel kidney.
In Addis Ababa Andrew shopped at Africa’s largest market and in Harar he fed meat to wild hyenas.

32 (10) November 18, 2008 Maine Flounder roe soup with seaweed, sea cucumber, fiddleheads, beaver chili, bean-hole beans, wild ramps, stinging nettle soup, Indian cucumber, cattail, raw lobster, whelks, cod sperm chowder, monkfish head stew, BBQ junebugs, oysters with ramps, snails with periwinkle and beurre, moose and venisen terrine, duck tartare.
Andrew went lobster fishing with Linda Greenlaw and judged a Deathmatch Maine Bizarre Foods contest with his father, a native of Portland.

33 (11) November 25, 2008 Holiday Special Braised dried oysters with black hair moss, English goose, pig’s feet and lentils, snot (sweet potato starch), cow cod soup, rabbit and wheatberries, Swedish meatballs, cuttlefish eggs, pork intestine soup with red dates, tobacco-wrapped cheese, porcupine stuffed with potatoes and bacon, sweet noodle kugel, spritz cookies, sweet fish-shaped cake.
Andrew hosted a holiday pitch-in party with chefs and friends he made around the world. It was at a historic mansion in Minneapolis and the food was cooked at the Calhoun Beach Club.

34 (12) December 2, 2008 Uganda Lungfish, white ants lured by drumming, steamed plantains, braised goat with peanut and sesame sauce, grasshopper, squirrel, millet bread, goat stomach lining and intestines, Nile perch, rotten goat meat from a Ugandan drive-through, roasted corn, mixed grill (intestine-encased organs), cane rat with tilapia from Lake Victoria and raw Nile crocodile.
Andrew takes part in a spiritual possession ceremony while in one village.

35 (13) December 9, 2008 Japan River eels, sea squirts, stonefish liver, Bluefin Tuna eyeballs, mayonnaise fondue and milkshake, octopus egg sac, sea cucumber egg jerky, turtle blood sake, octopus ice cream, pit viper ice cream, beef tongue ice cream, horumon, takoyaki, raw horse mane, funazushi, squid ink soup, stewed tuna eyes in mirin, giant sea snail, sea snake soup (smelling sea snake anus in the market), raw goat testicles with scrotum.
36 (14) February 10, 2009 Sexy food This episode was a Valentine’s Day special. It was a compilation episode about the cultural connections between food and sex, featuring foods that are supposed to be aphrodisiacs or are made of sexual organs of animals. Andrew visited the Mall of America where he gave out samples of bull testicles to see people’s reactions and if they would eat it when told it would help their sex life. Author and food historian Linda Civitello talked about the history of eating reproductive organs. At the Midtown Global Market Andrew interviewed people about foods that were aphrodisiacs, including chocolate and oysters. He handed out chocolate-covered meal worms and crickets that tricked people into thinking they were pretzels. At the end Andrew and some others ate sushi off a naked woman, a practice called nyotai mori.

First, horse was till fairly recently a meat that was popular even in america, my grand pairents use to talk about how they missed it being avalible at grocery stores and butcher shops because it was so much better then beef.

inkorea horse is still a far more common meat then beef for example.

cat/dog/rat/guinea pig/exct, not my thing but guess what, a large portion of the world see them as nothing more then what you see a chicken or cow as FOOD.

i have seen most bizzare foods eps and most of what he’s eaten isn’t to me anything that “bad” I wouldn’t eat alot of it, BUT i don’t see him/others eating it as evil or wrong.

if you think talking about a guy eating penis is gonna get me to dislike the guy, your either a homophobe or far right “Christian” because, i hate to tell u this but cultures world wide have eaten testicles/genitals since before recorded time, again, not my thing, doesn’t sound yummy to me.

watch this
http://www.tmz.com/2009/06/02/.....-the-soul/

then say Tony doesn’t “eat cock”

and are you starting petitions to stop reality tv shows and shows like some of the weird Asian/Japanese stuff that i have seen on US CABLE TV where they eat live animals to win money or prises?

some classics of shock “reality tv”

the live rat “smoothie” on fearfactor, they sent LIVE RATS thru a grinder and have people drink it….

people eating live live bugs like worms, spiders, crickets, cockroaches and even bee’s are staples of reality tv, and you are upset over AZ eating stuff the way SOME other cultures eat it(or tell him they eat it anyway)

If my hand wasn’t still seriously messed up, I would happily post you a STACK of clips of Anthony Bourdain killing animals such as the pig he STABBED WITH A SPEAR in the first season……how inhumane, he didn’t even knock it out first…..

I have all of no reservations recorded at work(to watch as I sit and wait for something to do)
Oh found something for you
http://www.listener.co.nz/issu.....rdain.html
Is there anything you won’t eat on moral grounds?
I’m not going to eat a live monkey brain out of a screaming monkey’s head. Because I don’t think it’s food.

note, he didnt say anything about lobster or horse or or or……

and people wonder why Americans are so looked down apon when they are visiting the rest of the world, Americans CANT accept that other cultures and societies have different morals and ideas of what makes something “good eats”

personally, I find chitins more nauseating them most of what AZ or AB eat that grosses you people out.

oh watch this from 8:00 on how crewl they stabbed it in the neck!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cOfXjm0FXA

when will you have the petition to stop no reservations up?

I am a fan of both shows, they are both entertaining and fun to watch.

I would like to add “I think” that when the derogatory phrase “honky” was coined Andrew Zimmerns voice was what was used as the role model-lol. His voice to me is what slurping is to you.
He also let slip in one recent show he has to be careful because he has trouble with his intestinal tract due to the “stuff” he ingests.

I just saw Andrew Zimmern on TV and had to run to the computer and type in “Is Andrew Zimmern an Asshole?” He drives me crazy. He is so smug, such an attention getter, such an idiot about eating his “exotic” food. I don’t even care about his lip smacking because his other traits are much worse. I imagine there is some native watching him eat some of his strange meals and thinking, “What an dope! We have to eat this junk because we don’t have enough money to buy a steak!” He’s the biggest food show-off around and tho he visits interesting places I can’t stand watching him when he goes overboard about how he can eat anything. Just eat it quietly and shut up!

p.s. that pic looks like he is eating fried donkey dk, and enjoying it

Andrew is # 1 i watch him every time he is on.